A Modena day trip from Bologna

Modena is the easiest serious day trip you can do from Bologna. Trains run all day, the ride is short, and the old centre is small enough to walk end to end in fifteen minutes. You come for a UNESCO cathedral and square, a leaning bell tower you can climb, a food market that feeds three-Michelin-star kitchens, and the Ferrari museums on the edge of town. That's a full day without ever feeling rushed.

Distance

~58 km west of Bologna

Train time

~17–35 min each way

How often

Several trains an hour

Time needed

Half to a full day

Getting there by train

This is the simple part. Fast trains cover Bologna to Modena in under 20 minutes; regional trains take a touch longer but cost a fraction of the price, so for a day trip the regionale is the smart pick. Buy at the machine, validate the regional ticket before you board, and step out at Modena station about a ten-minute walk north of the old centre. No need to book ahead unless you specifically want a high-speed train at a fixed time.

Modena pairs nicely with other stops on the line if you want to chain a longer route. It sits between Bologna and Parma, home of the real parmigiano, and the whole corridor is what people mean by the Emilia-Romagna food valley. If trains are your thing, see our roundup of the easiest day trips you can reach by rail.

Piazza Grande and the Duomo

Start in the centre. Piazza Grande, the Duomo and the Ghirlandina tower were jointly named a UNESCO World Heritage Site back in 1997, and together they're one of the great set pieces of European Romanesque architecture. The cathedral is the star: a 12th-century church covered in stone carvings of Bible scenes and everyday medieval life, with a cool, austere interior that feels much older than Bologna's brick churches. Entry to the Duomo is free; check official hours before you go, since it closes around services.

Climb the Ghirlandina

The Ghirlandina is Modena's leaning bell tower and the thing you'll spot from across the city. It stands more than 86 metres tall, and a spiral staircase of roughly 200 steps takes you up for a view over the terracotta rooftops and out toward the plain. It's a fair bit gentler than the climb up the Asinelli back in Bologna, but opening times are limited and seasonal, so plan around them rather than assuming you can just turn up.

Mercato Albinelli and the food

If you do one thing in Modena, make it the Mercato Albinelli. Built in 1931 under a glorious Art Nouveau iron roof, it's a working food market where around 60-odd stalls sell handmade tortellini, cured meats, parmesan by the wedge, fresh produce and Lambrusco. This is where Massimo Bottura shops for Osteria Francescana, the three-Michelin-star restaurant a few streets away. You don't need a reservation at the market: grab a seat at one of the stalls near the entrance for a bowl of tortellini in brodo and you've had a proper Modenese lunch.

The local plates here overlap with what you'll eat in Bologna but lean their own way. Tortellini in broth, gnocco fritto with cured pork, zampone in winter. If you want the full picture of the region's pasta and ragù, our guide to eating in Bologna and the deep dive on what the food is actually called both apply across this whole corner of Italy. One thing worth repeating: the real local pasta is tagliatelle al ragù, not spaghetti bolognese, which isn't an Italian dish at all.

Real balsamic vinegar

The stuff in the supermarket back home is industrial vinegar with caramel. Traditional balsamic vinegar of Modena is something else entirely: aged a minimum of 12 years, and up to 25 or more for the "extravecchio," in a battery of small wooden barrels stored in family attics. It comes out thick, dark and almost syrupy, and a few drops cost real money. The best way to understand it is to visit an acetaia, the producing farms in the countryside around the city, where families walk you through the barrels and let you taste across the ages. These are usually by appointment, so book ahead or join an organised tasting rather than hoping to drop in.

Cars: the Enzo Ferrari museum

Modena is the gateway to Italy's Motor Valley. In the city itself, the Museo Enzo Ferrari is built around the house where Enzo Ferrari was born, pairing his life story with a hall of gleaming cars under a sweeping yellow roof. It's an easy walk or short ride from the centre. If you're a serious petrolhead, the bigger draw is the official Ferrari museum out in Maranello, about half an hour south, which you can reach by a local bus or as part of a tour. Trying to do both museums plus the old town in one day is tight, so pick your priority.

Car people chaining trips together often combine this with Imola and its Formula 1 circuit on a separate day. Different direction, same obsession.

How to plan the day

A relaxed version: late-morning train, lunch at the Albinelli market, an hour in Piazza Grande and the Duomo, the Ghirlandina climb, an afternoon acetaia tasting, home for dinner in Bologna. If cars are the point, swap the tasting for the Enzo Ferrari museum or a run out to Maranello, and keep the old town brief.

More day trips from Bologna

Modena is one stop on a region thick with them. West for cheese country in Parma, north to the Renaissance streets of Ferrara, or down to the Byzantine mosaics of Ravenna. Big-name escapes like a day in Florence and the run up to Venice are also within reach. See the full list of day trips from Bologna to build your week, and check how to get around the region before you set off.

← Back to all Bologna day trips