What to see in Bologna and around

The main square, with San Petronio, Palazzo d'Accursio and Palazzo del Podestà. Everything starts here.

Always open — it's a square. Lovely in the evening too

The basilica on the square, enormous, its façade left half-finished for six hundred years. Inside is Cassini's meridian line, a brass strip sixty-six metres long set into the floor: at noon the sun strikes it.

Free entry. Taking photos inside asks for a small contribution

Go behind the Neptune, towards the Sala Borsa: at the foot of the steps there's a stone darker than the rest. Stand on it and look at the statue — the thumb of his outstretched hand turns into something else. Giambologna's revenge, they say.

The palace on the square named after King Enzo, son of Frederick II: they held him prisoner inside for twenty-three years, until he died. You only get in when there's an exhibition or an event; the courtyard and the portico are always open to walk through.

The tower of Palazzo d'Accursio, also called Torre Accursi. Since the Two Towers can't be climbed, this is the view from above over Piazza Maggiore: you come out on the clock terrace and see the city from the right angle.

Booking required. Ticket €10, reduced €7. First entry at 10am; the last at 6:20pm, in summer 8:20pm

Asinelli and Garisenda — the ones we're named after. You admire them from below, in Piazza di Porta Ravegnana: climbing the Asinelli isn't possible at the moment.

Closed to visitors since 2023, due to the Garisenda works

Up on the hill, reached under the longest portico in the world: almost four kilometres and 666 arches.

March to October 6:30am–7pm. November to February 6:30–12:30 and 14:30–17:00. Reach it on foot under the portico, by the San Luca Express train from Piazza Malpighi, or bus 58

The little streets behind Piazza Maggiore, full of stalls, delis and taverns. Where Bologna has always done its shopping.

The stalls work in the morning, the taverns until evening. Closed on Sundays

The street running from Piazza Maggiore to the station, entirely under the porticoes: shops, people, and shelter from the rain for a kilometre and a half. Bologna's porticoes are a World Heritage site, and this is the one you walk without noticing.

Bologna's cathedral is on via Indipendenza, and almost everyone walks past without going in. You can climb the bell tower, up a staircase that winds around an older tower left standing inside it: something you won't see anywhere else.

The bell tower opens on Saturdays from 2pm to 4:30pm, and on summer evenings too. The hours change often: ring 051 222112 before you go

A handful of narrow lanes between via Zamboni and via Oberdan, with covered passages and tall houses that almost touch. Bologna's Jews were shut in here from 1556. There's no ticket and no opening time: you just walk it, best without hurrying.

The fourteenth-century Pepoli palace, on via Castiglione, with its brick front and twin-arched windows. It used to house the Museum of the History of Bologna; since the foundation that ran it was wound up, the programme has changed more than once.

Check on the site what's open on the days you're here: things keep moving

The house where Lucio Dalla lived and wrote, on via D'Azeglio, left as it was: the paintings, the instruments, his own mess. Entry is by guided visit only, an hour long, and it tells you more about the man than any song does.

Booking only, on set days, and places run out. Ticket around €18. You meet in Piazza dei Celestini, not at the house itself: arrive fifteen minutes early

The rooftop where you meet the Two Towers almost at eye level.

By booking only, in time slots. Places are few — book well ahead

The 17th-century cedar-wood anatomy theatre, inside the old university building.

Monday to Saturday 10am–6pm, closed Sunday. €10 with audioguide, booking required

The Basilica of the Seven Churches. Go in the evening too — the square in front is one of the loveliest in the city.

Tuesday to Friday 9:30–12:30 and 14:30–19:00. Saturday and Sunday until 19:30. Closed Monday. Free entry

Half an hour by train

The Castello Estense with its moat still full of water, right in the middle of town. Around it, nine kilometres of walls you can cycle: in Ferrara everyone rides a bike, elderly gentlemen in jackets included.

Where to eat: Hostaria Savonarola, on Piazza Savonarola, open for lunch and dinner every day. The dish to order is salama da sugo with mashed potato — a dense spiced sausage cooked for hours, and the thing Ferrara is known for. Worth booking: 0532 208681

Twenty minutes by train

The cathedral with the Ghirlandina tower, a World Heritage site, and the Mercato Albinelli to eat in. This is the city of real balsamic vinegar, the kind that ages twelve years.

Train to Modena, then the shuttle

There are two and you can do both in one day: the Museo Enzo Ferrari is in Modena itself; the Maranello one is reached by the shuttle leaving from platform 4 of Modena station, two runs a day. There's a single ticket for both, around €40.

Check the shuttle times and tickets on the Ferrari site before you set off.

An hour by train

The Byzantine mosaics, which don't describe well and only make sense once you're inside. Eight World Heritage monuments, all within walking distance of each other.

An hour and three quarters, changing at Modena

Palazzo Ducale and the Camera degli Sposi painted by Mantegna, plus the city on its lakes. It works as a day trip, but leave early and book the palace: the Camera degli Sposi admits only a few people at a time.

Porrettana line, get off at Riola: then a kilometre on foot

A Moorish castle in the middle of the Apennines, arches and domes that look as if they came from Andalusia. Count Cesare Mattei built it for himself in the 1800s, while treating people by a method all his own.

Guided visits only, booking always required. Open Saturdays and Sundays. Ticket €10, reduced €5

Forty minutes by car

A village on a hilltop where the houses are painted: since 1960, every two years artists come and leave a wall behind. You can walk it in an hour, there's the castle at the end, and vineyards all around.

Awkward by public transport: bus 101 from the coach station to Toscanella, then line 147, which must be booked the day before

Bus 576 from the coach station, 55 minutes

The factory museum, at Sant'Agata Bolognese: the Miuras, the Countachs, the racing cars, and the assembly line, which is a separate tour. This is the company's own museum.

Ticket €18, reduced €14. From Bologna's coach station take bus 576 towards Crevalcore, about 55 minutes, stop «S. Agata B. Chiesa Frati»

Train to Funo-Centergross

The other one, the family's, at Funo di Argelato: Ferruccio's private collection, with the tractors he started from before the cars. Smaller, and more personal.

The easiest to reach without a car: a train on the Bologna–Ferrara line, stop Funo-Centergross, then fifteen minutes on foot

An hour by train

The cathedral with Antelami's pink Baptistery, and inside Palazzo della Pilotta the Teatro Farnese, built entirely of wood. But you go to Parma above all to eat: the ham, the Parmesan and the culatello are all born within a few kilometres of here.

Where to eat: Trattoria del Tribunale, Vicolo Politi 5, open for lunch and dinner every day. Worth booking: 0521 285527