Modena Transportation

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Modena Centrale, its train station for Trenitalia Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato, is located at Piazza Dante, 14.

Modena’s train line is the (Milano-) Piacenza-Parma-Modena-Bologna; it is easily reached from the main nearest towns. The train station is not far from the town center, it is easy to reach on foot.

Hours for window service to buy tickets for national and international rail travel are Monday through Sunday, 6.00 a.m. - 9.00 p.m. Self-service ticket machines are available. There is not a luggage drop-off office.

The Italian love of art is on display at Modena Centrale. A mosaic of an early 19th-century train carriage entitled “Vis a Vis” (see photo #3) helps to relieve the tedium of the waiting room.

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Modena lies a short distance north-west of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. It sits along the ancient road, Via Emilia, which links Rimini with Piacenza and eventually Milano. The easiest way to reach Modena is by train from Bologna, which takes merely 20 minutes and is quite inexpensive. Bologna is a much bigger city, with an airport, more hotels, and connects with major cities via Eurostar, the very fast trains, so it will likely be your gateway to Modena.

We drove to Modena from Bologna (via some sights on route) - the trip is around 40kms. The hardest part of it was getting on the right road out of Bologna, the rest was fairly easy. We didn't have to worry about parking when we arrived as our hotel had private parking. We left the car there and walked into the centre of town (only about 10 mins from where we were staying). There is limited parking in the centre of town, so best to park a little out and walk in.

If you are not driving to Modena you can catch a train from Bologna which takes about 30 mins. This is how we got there the first time we visited back on Sep 2002. The train line also has services to/from Parma, Rome, Milan and plenty of other places.

There are also ATCM buses to/from other cities in the region.

If flying to Modena the best way to get there is to fly to Bologna, catch a bus into town and then get the train from platfrom 1 (west) to Modena, it takes around twenty minutes. There are trains every twenty minutes and it is definately quickest to arrive by train.
The best way to get around the centre of Modena is on foot.

Alternatively, in order to travel from one side of town to the other there are lots of buses from outside the bus station or all the way along via emilia. Most people in Modena travel around on rickety old bikes - it might seem odd at first but the terrain is very flat and this is a very practical method.