The best things to do in Bologna

The big sights

Medieval Bologna, almost all of it within ten minutes' walk of the main square.

1. 01

   Piazza Maggiore

   Landmark

   

   The great square at the heart of the city is ringed by medieval and Renaissance palaces, with the vast brick front of San Petronio filling one side. Bologna meets here, gossips here and, on summer nights, watches films here on a giant open-air screen.

   Just off the corner stands the Fountain of Neptune, a muscular bronze sea god by Giambologna that locals simply call the Giant. Under the arches of Palazzo del Podestà, try the whispering vault: speak into one corner and a friend hears you in the opposite one.

2. 02

   Basilica di San Petronio

   Landmark

   

   One of the largest churches in the world, and one that was never finished: marble covers the lower half of the façade, then it stops and bare brick takes over. Inside, the space is enormous and calm. Look for the long brass meridian line set into the floor, laid out by the astronomer Cassini in the 17th century, which a spot of sunlight still crosses at midday.

3. 03

   The Two Towers

   Landmark

   

   Medieval Bologna bristled with tower-houses built by rival families. Only a couple of dozen survive, and these two are the emblem of the city. The Asinelli is the tall one, nearly a hundred metres of brick; the stubby Garisenda beside it leans so alarmingly that Dante gave it a mention in the Inferno.

   They stand where the old streets fan out towards the city gates, and the view of them from Via Rizzoli is the classic Bologna photograph.

   Tip: The towers have been closed at times for conservation work on the Garisenda. Check what is open before you plan a climb.

4. 04

   The porticoes

   Landmark

   

   Bologna has nearly forty kilometres of covered arcades in its centre alone, built over the centuries in wood, brick and stone, and listed by UNESCO as World Heritage. They are the city's living room: you can cross town in a downpour without opening an umbrella, past cafés, bookshops and pasta shops with their windows full of tortellini.

   Some are plain, some are frescoed and grand. The wooden ones on Strada Maggiore are among the oldest; those around Piazza Cavour have the prettiest painted ceilings.

5. 05

   Sanctuary of San Luca

   Landmark

   

   A domed church on a wooded hill south-west of the centre, joined to the city by the longest portico in the world: 666 arches climbing for nearly four kilometres from the Saragozza gate. Walking it is a Bologna ritual, part pilgrimage, part workout, and the view from the top takes in the red city on one side and the green Apennine foothills on the other.

   Tip: If the climb doesn't appeal, a little tourist train runs up from Piazza Maggiore. Walk down instead.

Churches, art and learning

1. 06

   The Archiginnasio

   Museum

   

   The first permanent home of Bologna's university, the oldest in the Western world, is a 16th-century palace whose walls and staircases are covered with thousands of painted coats of arms left by students. Upstairs is the Anatomical Theatre, a room panelled entirely in carved wood where medical students once watched dissections on a marble table. It is small, strange and unforgettable.

2. 07

   Basilica di Santo Stefano

   Landmark

   

   Known as the Seven Churches, Santo Stefano is a cluster of ancient chapels, courtyards and cloisters that grew together over many centuries. You pass from one dim, brick-vaulted space to the next, each older than the last. The triangular cobbled piazza outside is one of the loveliest spots in the city for an evening drink.

3. 08

   Pinacoteca Nazionale

   Museum

   Bologna's main picture gallery, in the university quarter, is the place to meet the city's own painters: the Carracci family, Guido Reni and Guercino. Its star turn is Raphael's Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia. It is rarely crowded, which makes it a pleasure after the queues of Florence.

Neighbourhoods to wander

1. 09

   The Quadrilatero

   Market

   The tight grid of lanes east of Piazza Maggiore has been the city's food market since the Middle Ages. Stalls and shopfronts are piled with Parmigiano wheels, hanging hams, fresh pasta, fruit and fish, and the street names still record the old trades. By early evening the delis turn into bars and the lanes fill with people sharing boards of cured meat and cheese.

   Tip: Come before lunch for the market at full tilt, then again at aperitivo time.

2. 10

   The university quarter

   Neighbourhood

   Via Zamboni and the streets around it belong to the students: posters on every pillar, cheap and cheerful bars, bookshops, and the grand palaces that house the faculties. This is where Bologna feels youngest and loudest, particularly around Piazza Verdi after dark. On graduation days you'll see new graduates paraded through the streets in laurel wreaths.

3. 11

   Finestrella di Via Piella

   Landmark

   

   Bologna was once a city of canals, most of them now hidden beneath the streets. On Via Piella a small shuttered window in a wall opens on to one that survives: a strip of water running between the backs of ochre houses, for all the world like a corner of Venice. It takes a minute to see and makes everyone smile.

Eat and drink

Nobody leaves Bologna hungry. These are the essentials.

1. 12

   Tagliatelle al ragù

   Food

   

   The dish the rest of the world calls spaghetti bolognese does not exist here. The real thing is a slow-cooked meat sauce served on fresh egg tagliatelle, ribbons wide enough to hold it. Order it in any traditional trattoria and you will understand why the locals are so particular. Ask for spaghetti and expect a raised eyebrow.

2. 13

   Tortellini in brodo

   Food

   

   Tiny parcels of pasta stuffed with meat and cheese, folded by hand and served in a clear, golden broth. This is Bologna's Sunday and Christmas dish and its greatest comfort food. You can watch the sfogline, the pasta-makers, rolling and folding at speed in shop windows all over the centre.

3. 14

   Mortadella

   Food

   

   The big pink sausage of Bologna, silky, scented and studded with cubes of fat, is the ancestor of every sad slice of baloney and nothing like it. Eat it cut thick in cubes with a glass of sparkling Pignoletto, or folded into a warm bread roll from a Quadrilatero deli.

4. 15

   Mercato delle Erbe

   Market

   The city's main covered market, on Via Ugo Bassi, is where residents do their shopping: fruit and vegetables in the central hall, butchers, cheesemongers and fresh pasta around the edge. The side halls have been turned into a lively food court of small restaurants and bars, busy from lunch until late.

Day trips

1. 16

   Modena

   Day trip

   A short train ride away, Modena packs a great deal into a small centre: a Romanesque cathedral and bell tower listed by UNESCO, arcaded squares, and the home of traditional balsamic vinegar. It is also Ferrari country, with museums to Enzo Ferrari in the city and to the cars at nearby Maranello.

2. 17

   Ravenna

   Day trip

   

   Ravenna was a capital in the last days of the Western Roman Empire and afterwards, and it has the mosaics to prove it. Step out of the plain brick churches and mausoleums into interiors that glitter with gold, deep blue and green, fifteen centuries old and astonishingly fresh. The early Christian monuments are a UNESCO World Heritage site, and Dante is buried here.

Where to stay in Bologna

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  Art Hotel Orologio

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  From £204 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 14:37

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  From £563 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 14:37

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  NH Bologna de la Gare

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  From £147 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 14:37

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  AC Bologna

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  From £135 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 14:37

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  051B Room Breakfast

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  From £106 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 14:37

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  Palazzo di Varignana Resort & Spa

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  From £278 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 14:37

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  Central City Rooms

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  From £115 a night, taxes incl.2 adults · checked 14 Nov, 14:37

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