My Guide to Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
*All work including photos and writing on this page is my own, except the link to the Expedia video, freely available on Youtube.
Bologna, there is so much more to this elegant city than Spaghetti Bolognese, which by the way isn't even a thing anyway. Spaghetti is from southern Italy. They use tagliatelle here and the sauce or Ragu is very different to the U.K version. The one i sampled didn't even seem to contain tomatoes. It was delicious though. This city is however very well known for it's quality food and in 2018 has just been voted one of the top ten cities in the world for food lovers by National Geographic. It is Italy's culinary capital. We certainly all loved every meal we tried!
The city has a medieval centre, but on the outskirts of the city is a modern metropolis. It houses the oldest university in the world, the University of Bologna dating back to 1088. In 2006 Bologna was awarded the title of UNESCO city of music as it is very well known for art, music and culture. It is an affluent city and voted the best for quality of life in Italy, by being more affordable to live in than Milan.
It is also known as the city of porticos, with these alluring porticos stretching for over 40 kilometers, it has the most of any city in Italy. This makes it the perfect city to explore in the summer heat as you can walk under the porticos for miles in the cool shade they provide.
Bologna, there is so much more to this elegant city than Spaghetti Bolognese, which by the way isn't even a thing anyway. Spaghetti is from southern Italy. They use tagliatelle here and the sauce or Ragu is very different to the U.K version. The one i sampled didn't even seem to contain tomatoes. It was delicious though. This city is however very well known for it's quality food and in 2018 has just been voted one of the top ten cities in the world for food lovers by National Geographic. It is Italy's culinary capital. We certainly all loved every meal we tried!
The city has a medieval centre, but on the outskirts of the city is a modern metropolis. It houses the oldest university in the world, the University of Bologna dating back to 1088. In 2006 Bologna was awarded the title of UNESCO city of music as it is very well known for art, music and culture. It is an affluent city and voted the best for quality of life in Italy, by being more affordable to live in than Milan.
It is also known as the city of porticos, with these alluring porticos stretching for over 40 kilometers, it has the most of any city in Italy. This makes it the perfect city to explore in the summer heat as you can walk under the porticos for miles in the cool shade they provide.
Weather
The weather in Bologna ranges from around 6c on average in the winter to over 30c in the summer. It didn't feel humid at all when we were there in June 2018 with a temperature of 28c. The main rainfall is November to January.
Crime Whilst not as safe as Milan, Florence and Rome, it is safer than Siena, Verona and Naples. Like most cities pick pockets are a possibility and as a university city with a large population of young people,from all over the world, sexual assaults are sometimes experienced. I felt very safe there with my daughter though, but no city has no crime at all. We loved it.
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FOOD
As a world famous culinary city, you will not be disappointed in the food on offer here and we found it to be very reasonably priced too compared to other cities in Italy.
The main local dishes are Tortellini, Lasagne, Mortadella meat, ragu or Bolognese sauce, served with tagliatelle. Gelato although not from Bologna was first exported to the world from Bologna. Below was a quick simple lunch we had featuring the local Mortadella. One restaurant I would recommend was Ristorante Bolognese, great staff and food! Other popular restaurants are: Indegno-La Crescentina 2.0, Local food The Gallery Pizzart Food & Drink, Pizza Mo Mortadella Lab, Italian fast food Ristorante Satto L'Arco, Italian and Seafood Cuoco di Latta Amole Cucina Cinese, Chinese Ristorante Giapponese Yoshi, Japanese La Trattoria del Tempo Buono, Mediterranean |
Where to stay
Bologna is a small city, so it isn't very important where you stay really. I would recommend somewhere near Centrale Station as there is an airport bus from there for just 6 Euros.(2018 prices). The station is just on the northern edge of the city, just a few minutes walk into the old town. We stayed a ten minute walk north of the station to get a good value hotel and this was a good loctaion for us, with many restaurants and a supermarket nearby.
Places to visit in Bologna
If you are walking from Centrale station walk south along Via Dell' Indipenza. This is the main street into the city and it is beautiful with shops, cafes and restaurants all along it, as pictured below.
Places to visit from here include:
1) Basilica Santuario di santa Stefano
2) Torri Degli Asinelli e Garisenda (The towers of Bologna) seen below.
1) Basilica Santuario di santa Stefano
2) Torri Degli Asinelli e Garisenda (The towers of Bologna) seen below.
3) Salumeria Simoni A famous food market area.
4) Chiesa di santa Maria della Vita
5) Piazza Maggiore (The main square with the statue of Neptune)
6) Quadrilatero This is the old market area.
7) Basilica di San Domenica
4) Chiesa di santa Maria della Vita
5) Piazza Maggiore (The main square with the statue of Neptune)
6) Quadrilatero This is the old market area.
7) Basilica di San Domenica
Day trips from Bologna
1) Venice is 1 1/2 hours away by car or train. Venice is such a romantic city, which I loved, but is best avoided in the summer. We had a great time there in the spring.
2) Florence is just 35 minutes away by train. See my page on Tuscany for some of the abundant things to do in one of Italy's best and most beautiful cities.
3) Milan is under two hours by train, some of the high speed ones can do it in an hour. See my page on Milan for what to do in Italy's financial city.
4) Modena 50 minute drive or 30 mins by train. It's where Balsamic vinegar comes from.
As Bologna is a small city, a weekend would be long enough there really, then combine it with at least one of the cities mentioned above or head to the coast afterwards to rest your feet after a weekend of walking along the cobbled streets here.
2) Florence is just 35 minutes away by train. See my page on Tuscany for some of the abundant things to do in one of Italy's best and most beautiful cities.
3) Milan is under two hours by train, some of the high speed ones can do it in an hour. See my page on Milan for what to do in Italy's financial city.
4) Modena 50 minute drive or 30 mins by train. It's where Balsamic vinegar comes from.
As Bologna is a small city, a weekend would be long enough there really, then combine it with at least one of the cities mentioned above or head to the coast afterwards to rest your feet after a weekend of walking along the cobbled streets here.
For more info on Bologna, see the tourist info website.