About 90km (56 miles) northwest of Bologna, Parma has given the world Parmigiano (Parmesan cheese), its delicious sweet cured ham, and once disgraced (for fraud), but now resurgent food company Parmalat. But this prosperous, elegant city is much more than Italy's glorified larder. Parma boasts a fine musical tradition (this is Verdi country), is home to one of Italy's most important opera venues, the Regio Theatre (tel: 0521 039 393; website: www.teatroregioparma.org), and has a magnificent Romanesque Cathedral and National Gallery (tel: 05212 33309). Trains depart for Parma from Bologna's central station every hour (journey time - about 45 minutes). The tourist office, Via Melloni 1/B (tel: 05212 18889; website: http://turismo.comune.parma.it), has more information.

The artistic orgy of Florence (Firenze) is one of the key reasons why Bologna has so often been overlooked by visitors to Italy. Some 80km (50 miles) south of Bologna, just an hour by train, the city lies at the heart of the Renaissance and is home to some of the world's greatest works of art, including Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Michelangelo's David and Masaccio's Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. Architecturally, the gravity-defying dome of Brunelleschi's cathedral and Giotto's elegant campanile dominate the skyline, but every nook and cranny of Florence holds a surprise. From the Ponte Vecchio to Santa Croce, the city dazzles with genius. Florence is easy on the eye but often hard on the feet. Any visit should include a cappuccino in one of the famous piazzas or a picnic in the Boboli Gardens, surrounded by gargoyles and the local cats. The tourist office, Via A Manzon, 16I (tel: 0552 3320; website: www.firenzeturismo.it) can provide further information.