Why this trip
Italy is the country everyone tells you they "did" in a week. We wanted to slow it down. Rome for the obvious reasons — Trevi, Pantheon, carbonara — but the real plan was to spend most of our days in Bologna, the home of ragù, mortadella and tortellini, with a side-quest to Parma for the cheese and the ham. The result was a route where every train transfer was a meal upgrade.
If you only have time for one city, skip Rome and go straight to Bologna. We're aware that's a heretical opening line.
We worked four of the nine days remotely — Bologna is genuinely excellent for that. Strong WiFi, great coffee, the kind of lunch breaks that turn a Tuesday into a holiday.
At a glance
- Route: London → Rome (2 nights, 1 working day) → Bologna (5 nights, 3 working days) → Parma (day trip) → Bologna → London
- When we went: mid-April. Mild, occasionally hot, mercifully un-crowded.
- Trains: Rome–Bologna direct on the high-speed line, ~2 hours. Bologna–Parma on a regional train, ~1 hour. Book ahead on Trenitalia or Italo for ~€30-40 a head; walk-up rates spike.
Day 1 — Rome: arrival, porchetta, pasta
Morning flight from London Gatwick lands at Fiumicino early afternoon. The fastest, least painful way into the centre is the Leonardo Express to Termini (€14) — taxis are slower in traffic and you'll arrive sweating.
We dropped bags at our hostel near Termini and went straight to a late lunch at Cioli 1917 al Colosseo for porchetta sandwiches. It's a stand-up, paper-plate kind of place. You'll be eating the best pork roll of your life ten minutes after stepping off the train. Cash helps.
Coffee afterwards at Faro – Luminari del Caffè. Specialty roaster, sit-down service, the antidote to the cheap-and-cheerful espresso bars if you want a flat white that means something.
For dinner, Tonnarello in Trastevere — touristy, yes, but the cacio e pepe is genuinely good and they don't take reservations, so the queue is the social part of the evening. Order the tonnarelli (their namesake pasta) and the supplì.
TODO insert affiliate booking widget — primary hotel for Rome here. We stayed at a hostel close to Termini, but a quieter base for two would be in Monti or Trastevere.
Day 2 — Rome: the highlights, eaten
Breakfast: maritozzo at Pasticceria Leonardo Roma. A maritozzo is a brioche stuffed with chantilly cream that defies the laws of breakfast economics. Get one. Get two.
The classic sightseeing loop, done in walking order to avoid backtracking:
- Colosseum (book ahead — combined ticket includes the Roman Forum)
- Roman Forum
- Walk along the Tiber
- Lunch at Poldo e Gianna Osteria — get there for 12:30 when it opens, no reservations. The amatriciana is the reason you're there.
- Pantheon (free entry on most days, the dome is the architectural punch in the chest you came for)
- Piazza Navona
- Coffee at Barnum Café
- Trevi Fountain — yes, it's busy. Yes, go anyway. Visit at dusk if you can.
Dinner at Luciano Cucina Italiano — book a week ahead. The carbonara is the version you've been told about your whole life.
Day 3 — Rome to Bologna by train
We worked from a cafe in the morning. Le Levain Cafe opens at 7:30 and is a quiet, plug-friendly space if you have a remote-work day. Lunch from Trattoria Della Stampa — Roman, no-frills, perfect.
Late afternoon: walk to Roma Termini, board the 19:05 Frecciarossa to Bologna Centrale. Two hours of espresso-fast countryside and you're there.
We stayed in a Wonderful Italy apartment near the centre — a flat with a kitchen is genuinely useful in Bologna because the deli scene is so good you'll want to take dinner home some nights.
Late dinner at Via Pescherie Vecchie — the food-market street in the old centre. Tagliatelle al ragù until you go home a different person.
Day 4 — Bologna: working, but eating well
Breakfast at Aroma Specialty Coffees (opens 8am — third-wave espresso done right, by Bolognese standards).
Lunch was the day's main event: takeout from Ragū, ordering both the "antica" and "moderna" versions to compare. The antica is closer to the historical recipe (less tomato, more wine and slow-cooked meat); the moderna is what you've eaten at home and thought was Bolognese. Compare them on the same plate. Decide which one is right.
Late dinner at Trattoria da Me (book ahead). The cheese ice cream — yes, savoury — is the one to order. So is the agnolotti.
Optional gelato at VERO on the way home.
Day 5 — Bologna: the proper sights between meals
Breakfast at Nectare. Coffee chaser at Caffè Terzi Bologna — small, serious, espresso done with precision.
Working morning. Lunch at Mò Mortadella Lab — mortadella, squacquerone cheese, pistachio pesto. Three ingredients, no further conversation needed.
Dinner at Al Sangiovese (book): the gramigna con salsiccia is the order. Lasagna is also non-negotiable in Bologna.
Day 6 — Bologna sunset hike, then the best meal of the trip
Breakfast at Mister Coffee Bistrò — bigger menu, better for a working morning.
Lunch at Pasta Fresca Naldi — the lasagna here is the platonic ideal.
Evening: walk up to the Sanctuary of Madonna di San Luca. It's a 3.5km uphill walk along a portico (Bologna is a city of porticoes — UNESCO-listed) that ends with a sunset view back over the city. Free, low-effort, the best non-food thing we did.
Dinner at Da Cesari (book): the Bolognese is the one to order at the place you should leave Bologna having eaten it at.
Day 7 — Day trip to Parma
The morning train from Bologna Centrale gets you into Parma by mid-morning. Coffee at Mōca Café Store to settle in.
We built the day as a self-guided food tour, hitting one specialty per stop:
- Charcuterie (prosciutto di Parma, culatello, Parmigiano-Reggiano, tortelli) — Trattoria Corrieri
- Tigelle (the flat round bread of Emilia, eaten with cured meats) — Mama Mia Bottega & Piaceri
- Duchessa cake (Parma's local pastry) — Pasticceria Bombé Parma
- Gelato and chocolate — Cioccolateria Gelateria Banchini
- Shop for take-home meat and cheese — La Prosciutteria
In between meals: Piazza Duomo, the Baptistery (the pink marble octagon is striking), and Teatro Farnese. A park walk to digest. Train back to Bologna for the evening.
This is the day that proves the thesis of the whole trip: small Italian cities reward the slow eater.
TODO insert affiliate booking widget — GetYourGuide has small group Parma food tours if you'd rather hand the planning to someone else.
Day 8 — Last full day in Bologna
Breakfast at Mister Coffee. Visit the Basilica di San Petronio — Bologna's enormous, half-finished main church. Pick up coke and snacks from Eataly. Final tigelle stop. Vintage shopping in the Quadrilatero. Final gelato at Cremeria Santo Stefano.
Dinner at da Zero — Neapolitan pizza in the heart of pasta country, which sounds wrong but is a useful palate reset after a week of ragù.
Day 9 — Goodbye, Italy
Brunch at Burō Café before the airport run. Drop the rolling weight of cured meats into your suitcase. Fly home heavier and happier than you arrived.
How we got around
- Flights: London Gatwick → Rome Fiumicino, return from Bologna Airport. Easier than connecting back through Rome.
- Rome → Bologna: Frecciarossa high-speed, ~2 hours, book on Trenitalia or Italo. Around €30-50 per person if booked a few weeks out.
- Bologna → Parma: Regional train, ~1 hour, ~€10. No need to book ahead.
Where we stayed
- Rome: The Rome Hello Hostel (functional, near Termini). For a proper hotel, the Monti or Trastevere neighbourhoods are where we'd return.
- Bologna: An apartment via Wonderful Italy in the city centre. Kitchen + central location was the right call for a week.
TODO insert affiliate booking widget — Booking.com links to alternatives in each city.
What we'd skip
- Rome's Vatican on a tight schedule. It's spectacular but ate half a day we'd rather have spent eating.
- "Authentic Bolognese spaghetti" — it doesn't exist. Tagliatelle is the right shape. Don't be charmed by tourist menus.
What we'd add if we did it again
- A wine-region day trip from Bologna out to Modena (balsamic) or Imola (Lambrusco country).
- An overnight in Parma instead of a day trip — there's enough food for two days and the evenings are quieter than Bologna's.
What it cost
Two people, nine days, mid-April: roughly £TODO all in. Flights and trains were £TODO of that; accommodation £TODO; the rest was food, which is the only line item we'd happily double.
Some links in this post are affiliate links — if you book through them we may earn a small commission at no cost to you. We don't accept money to recommend places, only to refer them after we've been ourselves.