EZTrip.com International Destination Guide and Hotel Listings

East of Ímola, cypress trees and umbrella pines, gentler hills and vineyards signal the fact that you're leaving Emilia and entering the Romagna - although strictly speaking there's no distinct boundary between the two regions. FAENZA , 12km from Ímola, gives its name to the faïence-ware it has been producing for the last 600 years. This style of decorated ceramic ware reached its zenith in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and the town is worth a visit for the vast Museo delle Ceramiche alone (May-Oct Tues-Sat 9am-7pm, Sun 9.30am-1pm & 3-7pm; Nov-April Tues-Fri 9am-1.30pm, Sat & Sun 9.30am-1pm & 3-6pm; L10,000/¬5.17); it's at Viale Baccarini 19 - take Corso D. Baccarini from the station, and it's on the left. The massive collection includes early work painted in the characteristic blue and ochre, and later more colourful work, often incorporating portraits and landscapes. There's a section devoted to ceramics from other parts of the world, too, including ceramic art by Picasso, Matisse and Chagall.

Faenza is still home to one of Italy's leading ceramics schools, teaching techniques of tin-glazing first introduced in the fourteenth century - the ceramics are decorated after glazing and are given a final lead-based, lustrous wash. The town is also a major production centre, with small workshops down most of its sidestreets; the tourist office in Piazza del Popolo 1 (June-Oct Mon-Sat 9.30am-12.30pm & 3.30-6.30pm, Sun 9.30am-12.30pm; Nov-May Tues-Sat 9.30am-12.30pm & 4-6pm; tel 0546.25.231) has details of where to buy.

The rest of Faenza is fairly ordinary, although the town's medieval centre is appealing enough. The long, crenellated Palazzo del Podesta and the Piazza del Popolo together make up Faenza's medieval heart, linked to Piazza Martiri della Libertà , the main marketplace, through an archway. There's a market here on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, when the trattorias that surround it are packed out. Another good time to be in Faenza is for the Palio del Niballo (jousting and flag twirling), which takes place on the last Sunday in June. If you want to stay in Faenza, bed-and-breakfast options are around half the price of the hotels - ask the tourist office for the list of affittacamere . The best hotel in town is the Vittoria , Corso Garibaldi 23 (tel 0546.21.508, fax 0546.29.136; L150,000-200,000/¬77.47-103.29), a few blocks away from the Duomo, featuring nineteenth-century decor and a dining room with a frescoed ceiling. Eating prospects are favourable - try the Osteria del Mercato in Piazza Martiri della Libertà (closed Sun), a good, lively place frequented by locals.

South of Faenza, and accessible by train, the village of BRISIGHELLA , halfway up a hillside, is famed for its restaurants (visited by people from as far afield as Milan) and its Via degli Asini - a raised, covered lane once part of the town fortifications, used to protect mule trains carrying olive oil and clay for making ceramics. The medieval fortress topping the cliffs over the town was held first by the local Manfredi family, then successively by Cesare Borgia, the Venetians and the pope. It now houses a Museo del Lavoro Contadino (summer daily 10am-noon & 3.30-7pm; winter Sat 2.30-4.30pm only; L3500/¬1.81) with a collection of tools and other objects evoking the region's traditional rural life. The thirteenth-century Torre dell'Orologio sits on a spur of rock opposite, while below the town, down by the River Lamone, is the Pieve del Tho - an eleventh-century church, built on top of the remains of an earlier temple to Jupiter. It's worth coming here at carnival time and in July for the Feste Medievali as well as the Sagra della Polenta, del Tartufo (truffle) and dell'Ulivo in October, November and December respectively.

Of Brisighella's restaurants , La Grotta Osteria con Uso di Cucina serves excellent Romagnolo dishes, albeit at very high prices - although it does offer an affordable fixed-price menu (tel 0546.81.829; closed Tues); or there's the more modest Tre Colli , Via Gramsci 9 (closed Mon), the other side of the level crossing below town. Brisighella's hotels are disappointing - all are expensive for their standard of accommodation. Stay in an agriturismo place instead; the tourist office at Porta Gabolo 5 (Mon-Fri 10am-noon & 4-6pm; tel 0546.81.166) has details of these.