Modena recommended on Forbes and CNBC by Kathy McCabe from Dream of Italy during the Jubilee Year
Forbes
"Visitors who want to take a break from the crowds in Rome and venture elsewhere in Italy may want to follow some of McCabe’s suggestions. She warns that other popular tourist destinations, including Florence, Milan, Naples and Venice, will be also “be packed,” because they are easily accessible by train from Rome.
“If you love food and quaint Italian cities, Modena is a must, and I promise you won’t see many other tourists,” McCabe says about the city that’s about a 4 1/2-hour drive north of Rome. “Modena is at the epicenter of Italy’s Food Valley, where you find balsamic vinegar and parmigiano reggiano cheese, and Motor Valley, where you think of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati. Modena was also the birthplace of opera great Luciano Pavarotti, and I highly recommend seeing an opera at Teatro Comunale Pavarotti Freni.”
CNSB
Avoiding Rome’s crowds
As for travelers who want to skip Rome during the year of the Jubilee, TV presenter and producer Kathy McCabe isn’t short of alternatives.
McCabe said she is a big fan of Modena, a city around five hours north of Rome that’s also the home of Luciano Pavarotti and balsamic vinegar.
She said that while filming two episodes of “Dream of Italy,” a travel series on PBS, she met famed chef Massimo Bottura. He runs the world-renowned Osteria Francescana, and the more casual Franceschetta58, which she said makes the world’s best tortellini.
“Modena is the Italy of 20 or 30 years ago that you long for, and I hope it never changes. It’s such a quaint city with hardly any tourists or souvenir shops,” said McCabe, who is based in Colorado.
Kathy McCabe visited Modena during the filming of the third season Dream of Italy
