*POST UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
Hello sweet friends! Welcome to Two Days in Modena | Our Mini-Moon in Italy; the third and final post in my mini-moon series! The previous two posts in the series cover all things Bologna and Ravenna, and they can be found here and here, respectively. Now though, let’s talk MODENA! I think, maybe, that we saved the best for last? For me, Modena was the real sleeper hit of the whole mini-moon; I was looking forward to exploring the town, but I genuinely had no idea how many delightful foodie moments we’d have there! To give you an idea of how much we enjoyed the food scene in Modena, alternative titles for this post were Eating Our Way Around Modena / Modena, A Foodie’s Paradise / Over-Indulging in Modena, etc. You get the gist. It was exactly what we were looking for in a mini-moon destination!
As usual, there’s a whole bunch of helpful information & recommendations listed below. This includes useful things to know before visiting, how to get there, where to stay, have coffee, eat, stop for a drink, and lastly, where to tourist.
Let’s dive in!
before you visit & fun facts
You know I love a good fun fact! Listed below are some of the best, but they also happen to be very useful to know before you go. Twofers of sorts, ya know?
three of the main Modena landmarks – Modena Cathedral, Ghirlandina Tower & Piazza Grande – are listed together as a UNESCO World Heritage Site! The cathedral, which dates back to the 12th century, is a “supreme example of early Romanesque art”, while the tower and piazza testify to the faith & power of those who commissioned it! Together, they’ve been on the list since 1997.
Modena is world famous for three mouthwateringly delicious foods: balsamic vinegar, prosciutto, and Parmigiano Reggiano. While those are undeniably great, we also were very pleased to discover another Modenese specialty: gnocco fritto, literally ‘fried dough’ in English. These are little puffed up squares of light-as-air bread made of flour, water, and lard. We became obsessed with them during our time in town; they’re so tasty!! If you’re visiting, definitely have an open mind and try some! Mmm, lard.
Modena is the birthplace of the world-famous racing car: Ferrari! Vroom vroom! Fun fact: the first time Husband and I ever visited Bologna together, we got talking to a couple in our B&B who were genuinely confused why anyone would travel to Bologna if they weren’t simply using it as a base for visiting the Ferrari museum in Modena. Lol.
Modena is also the birthplace of Luciano Pavarotti!
getting there
As Modena was the third & final stop of our mini-moon, we entered the city via Bologna from Ravenna. I’m not normally a huge fan of connecting or transferring here, there or everywhere – but this was largely painless. Here’s how we did it:
the day before we planned to leave Ravenna, we purchased our train tickets online on the Trenitalia website. Said tickets were emailed to us instantly, cost just €10.80 each, and were easy to display on our phones in the form of a QR code. Before we got onto the train on the day of departure, we clicked a button on the email for ‘self check-in’.
from Ravenna station, we took a regional train to Bologna Centrale, where we disembarked to switch trains. This initial first train took 1-hour and 11-minutes, and we had a leisurely 38-min wait in Bologna Centrale before our next train.
from Bologna Centrale, we took another regional train all the way to Modena; the journey was a quick 26-minutes.
from Modena train station – which is rather nice, by the way! – we strolled the 15-minutes to our apartment, below.
where we stayed
