Singlespeed & Fixed Gear - One Night/Day in Bologna, 3 In Tuscany

Tough to narrow down your favorite spots...but I'm travelling to Europe for two weeks including a drive from Milan through Bologna (on New Years,) down to Florence and then out to Pisa. (Yeah, I know I should be riding fixed all the way...but not this time!)

All told, I know there's just way too much to see in the area to consider doing anything more than the tip of the iceberg. This is my first but hopefully not the last trip to Emiglia-Romana and Tuscany.

What are your favortie spots along this route?

I've got lots of my own ideas, many of which have been spawned by others who have been there, but the BFFGSS is pretty well travelled and often with great suggestions.

Any ideas much appreciated.

cinque terre is essential.

I stayed in Italy for two months last summer trying to get more fluent in Italian. If you are in Rome you can definitely see all the usual stuff. Colleseum, Vatican, Pantheon, etc. There is a lot of neat stuff in rome that you usually don't hear about. There is a cool church near the hardrock cafe where their is sculptures made out of bones of monks. If you get a travel book you can find way more fun stuff to look at. Florence is awesome too, but I don't recommend Venice. If you have more questions holla at your boy. P.S. Go to Sicily it is the best place ever. Catch a train to Ceffalu and get a taxi to a place called Castelbuono. It is unreal. Have a good time!

2 things in Bologna:

There is a free museum that is part of the university that houses some of the oldest wax replicas of human anatomy for medical training. Entire wax cadavers in different states of dissection. It's a little bizarre but extremely interesting. It is coupled with a display of some incredible scale wooden ships. Hey, what do you want?...its free.

Also, if they are open I highly recommend taking the free tour of the Ducati factory. You will see some awesome machines, and their onsite free museum damn near brought me to tears. MANY retired race bikes...including Mike Hailwoods actual (so claimed) #12 Isle of man winning bike. And some early bicycle frame prototypes. Very sexy. VERY Italian. You'll need a cab ride to get there...its outside town a bit.

If you do by chance make it to Venice, check out the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. It is her house in Venice turned showcase for her personal collections including Pollock, Picasso, Calder, Klee, Miro...pretty stunning. She is also buried there...with her dogs. Odd.

Livorno, which is about 10 minutes from Pisa and on the Med. Spent a week there, it's a tiny town but really fun. I'd also try to go up to the Marble Mountains, i think the Alpinini's. Really breathtaking, and it is amazing to see how marble is cut.

[edit] Don't drive unless you're really confident about your driving skillz. Especially in tight spaces, and don't be freaked out to see someone driving the wrong way on a 1 way or down a sidewalk.

Awesome...I did Italy last year to visit my father, who was on sabatical in Bologna at the time...a beautiful town. Most of what you'll need to know will be in the travel books, but if you're stuck for a book there's an english bookstore right at the middle of town by the leaning towers. Pisa is quite a view, though the drive there is 9/10ths of the fun (I heart Tuscany), but if I had to choose I'd pick Venice to spend a day...imagine a city without cars, built like a maze...