Flight time
2h 10m
Best season
April–June & September–October
Budget
Mid-range
Best for
Food, porticoes, university life, day trips
Overview
Why Bologna for a city break?
Bologna is Italy's food capital — the city that gave the world ragù (bolognese, in its real form), mortadella, tortellini, tagliatelle and lasagne, and that produces more great restaurants per capita than any other Italian city. It is also a university town of extraordinary vitality, a medieval city of 40km of covered porticoes (a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021), and a place that most visitors to Italy entirely skip in favour of Florence and Venice. This is their loss and your gain.
From most UK airports Bologna is just over two hours — direct flights from London and good connections from elsewhere. The airport is 6km from the centre (shuttle bus, €7, 20 minutes). Bologna rewards those who give it two full days rather than a rushed overnight: the market at Quadrilatero, the tower climb, the portico walk to the Sanctuary of San Luca, and the sheer quantity of remarkable food deserve proper time. It is also an ideal base for day trips to Modena (Ferrari Museum, Pavarotti museum, the finest aceto balsamico in the world), Parma (prosciutto, Parmigiano Reggiano, the Farnese Theatre) and Ferrara (Renaissance city, entirely bike-navigable).
Where to stay & explore
Bologna's best neighbourhoods
Quadrilatero
The ancient market district east of Piazza Maggiore — the medieval streets of Via Drapperie, Via Pescherie Vecchie and Via Caprarie are lined with market stalls, salumerias and food shops unchanged in centuries.
University Quarter (around Via Zamboni)
The medieval university neighbourhood — the oldest university in the world (founded 1088), student bars along Via del Pratello, and the Pinacoteca Nazionale in a former Jesuit college.
Santo Stefano
The complex of seven churches around the extraordinary Piazza Santo Stefano — the most atmospheric corner of Bologna, surrounded by excellent restaurants and quieter than the city centre.
Things to do
What to see in Bologna
1
Piazza Maggiore & the Two Towers
The great medieval square — the Basilica di San Petronio (the fifth-largest church in the world, with an unfinished facade that was never completed), the Palazzo del Podestà and the Neptune Fountain are all here. Five minutes east, the Due Torri (Two Towers): the Asinelli Tower (498 steps, the finest panorama in Bologna) and the leaning Garisenda Tower beside it. Book the tower climb online; the queue without a ticket can be an hour.
2
The Quadrilatero market
The finest food market neighbourhood in Italy — the medieval streets between Piazza Maggiore and Via Rizzoli are dense with specialist food shops, market stalls and salumerias selling every kind of cured meat, cheese, pasta and fresh food. The Tamburini deli (in operation since 1932) has the finest selection of mortadella, prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano in the city. Go in the morning when it's at full trading; eat at the stalls for the finest cheap lunch in Bologna.
3
Portico di San Luca
The longest porticoed walkway in the world — 3.8km of 666 consecutive arches climbing the hill from the Porta Saragozza gate to the Sanctuary of San Luca above the city. Built between 1674 and 1739 so pilgrims could walk in the rain. The view from the sanctuary over Bologna and the Po Valley is extraordinary. Allow 90 minutes for the full walk up; the return can be made by bus.
4
Pinacoteca Nazionale & the University Museums
The National Gallery in the former Jesuit college houses the finest collection of Bolognese painting — Raphael's Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia, the Carracci altarpieces, Guercino, Guido Reni. The University of Bologna's anatomical theatre (Teatro Anatomico, 1637) in the Archiginnasio palace is one of the most extraordinary rooms in Italy — an octagonal chamber of carved wooden galleries where anatomy lessons were performed for 200 years.
Food & drink
Where to eat in Bologna
Osteria Francescana (day trip to Modena)
Three Michelin stars / world's best
Massimo Bottura's three-Michelin-star restaurant in Modena (30 minutes by train) has been named the world's best restaurant twice. The tasting menu reimagines the food culture of Emilia-Romagna with extraordinary intelligence and wit. Book exactly two months ahead on the exact date reservations open — it sells out in minutes. One of the great meals available anywhere in the world.
Trattoria Anna Maria
Traditional Bolognese
The finest traditional Bolognese trattoria — the tagliatelle al ragù here is the benchmark against which all others are measured. Run by Anna Maria Monari since 1978, with photographs of celebrity guests covering every wall. The tortellini in brodo (in capon broth) in winter is exceptional. Book well ahead.
Tamburini
Salumeria & tavola calda
The greatest deli counter in Bologna — mortadella sliced to order, tortellini fresh from the kitchen, Parmigiano Reggiano aged to different grades. The tavola calda (hot food counter) serves a changing menu of Bolognese classics at lunch. Under €15 for a complete meal of extraordinary quality. Queue at the counter; eat at the marble tables.
Itinerary
3 days in Bologna — a suggested itinerary
Day 1
Piazza Maggiore, the towers, the Quadrilatero, an Emilian dinner
Shuttle bus from the airport to the centre (€7, 20 minutes). Walk straight to Piazza Maggiore: San Petronio's extraordinary unfinished Gothic facade, the Neptune Fountain, the Palazzo Comunale. The Asinelli Tower is 5 minutes east — 498 steps to the finest view in Bologna (book online). Come back down through the Quadrilatero: the Via Drapperie market stalls for mortadella tastings, the Tamburini counter for lunch. Afternoon in the portico city: walk the medieval porticoed streets south to the Santo Stefano complex — seven medieval churches around a beautiful Romanesque courtyard, one of the most atmospheric spaces in Italy. Dinner at Trattoria Anna Maria (booked weeks ahead): tagliatelle al ragù, then tortellini in brodo, then a dessert of torta di riso. Finish with a glass of Sangiovese at one of the enotecas along Via del Pratello.
Day 2
San Luca pilgrimage, Pinacoteca, day trip to Modena
Start the San Luca portico walk at 8am from the Porta Saragozza — the 3.8km of 666 arches in the morning light, with the city below and the Apennines above. The Sanctuary opens at 9am; the view from the terrace is the finest in Bologna. Bus 20 back to the centre. Pinacoteca Nazionale for the Raphael and the Carracci rooms. Afternoon: train to Modena (30 minutes, €6) for the Romanesque Cathedral (a UNESCO marvel), the Palazzo dei Musei (with the Este collection and the Pavarotti archive), and the acetaia balsamica producers on the outskirts (book a tasting of authentic aged balsamic at one of the family producers — Acetaia Giusti or Acetaia San Giacomo). Ferrari Museum at Maranello is a further 20 minutes if that appeals. Back to Bologna for dinner — the osteria along Via Augusto Righi or the newer natural wine bars of the university quarter.
Day 3
Archiginnasio, the anatomical theatre, a final tortellino
The Archiginnasio — the original palace of the University of Bologna, now a public library — has the most extraordinary room in the city: the Teatro Anatomico, a 17th-century oval lecture theatre of carved walnut where Marcello Malpighi and Galeazzo Gnudi performed dissections. The Hall of Stables below has 7,000 coats of arms of former students on the walls. Free to enter. Walk through the medieval streets to the Mercato delle Erbe (the covered food market, the more local alternative to the Quadrilatero) for a final market lunch. One last tortellino — in brodo at any of the city's good trattorias, with a glass of Pignoletto Frizzante. Shuttle bus to the airport from the city centre.
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