Modena

Modena is a small city that punches absurdly above its weight. This is where they build Ferraris, Maseratis, and Lamborghinis, where the world's finest balsamic vinegar is aged for decades in attic barrels, and where Luciano Pavarotti was born and sang. For a place of under 200,000 people, that is an extraordinary concentration of Italian passion, speed, food, and voice all in one prosperous town on the Po plain. And like its neighbors along the Via Emilia, it happens to be one of the most livable cities in the country.