©Damien Tachoires/500px

Bologna

Fusing haughty elegance with down-to-earth grit in one beautifully colonnaded medieval grid, Bologna is a city of two intriguing halves. One side is a hard-working, high-tech city located in the super-rich Po valley where suave opera-goers waltz out of regal theatres and into some of the nation's finest restaurants. The other is a bolshie, politically edgy city that hosts the world's oldest university and is famous for its graffiti-embellished piazzas filled with mildly inebriated students swapping Gothic fashion tips.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Casa di Lucio Dalla
Bologna
The 15th-century Palazzo Casa Fontana poi Gamberini – the fascinating, pricier-than-the-Colosseum home of eccentric Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla …
Basilica di Santo Stefano
Bologna
Bologna's most unique religious site is this atmospheric labyrinth of interlocking ecclesiastical structures, whose architecture spans centuries of…
Basilica di San Petronio
Bologna
Bologna's hulking Gothic basilica is Europe's sixth-largest church, measuring 132m by 66m by 47m. Work began on it in 1390, but it was never finished, and…
Museo Internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica di Bologna
Bologna
This mouthful of a museum inside Palazzo Sanguinetti – the former home of Napoleon's Italian minister – chronicles six centuries of European musical…
San Colombano – Collezione Tagliavini
Bologna
An absolutely stunningly restored church with original frescoes and a medieval crypt rediscovered in 2005, the San Colombano hosts a wonderful collection…
FICO Eataly World
Bologna
FICO, the world's largest agri-food park, opened in 2017 to equal parts cheering and sneering in a formerly dilapidated wholesale farmers' market 7km…
Palazzo Comunale
Bologna
The palace that forms the western flank of Piazza Maggiore has been home to the Bologna city council since 1336. A salad of architectural styles, it owes…
Torre degli Asinelli
Bologna
Bologna's two leaning towers are the city's main symbol. The taller of the two, the 97.2m-high Torre degli Asinelli (the tallest leaning medieval tower in…

View more attractions

placement: fullWidth
path: destinations/top
possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [300, 250], [320, 50], [1, 1],

targeting:

{
  "destination": "Bologna",
  "city": "Bologna",
  "region": "Emilia-Romagna",
  "continent": "Europe",
  "country": "Italy"
}

Plan with a local

Articles

Latest stories from Bologna

Bologna, Italy - Sep 15th, 2024: Busy street with people enjoying outdoor dining and the Torre dell'Arengo in the background; Shutterstock ID 2528022745; purchase_order: 65050 - Digital Destinations and Articles ; job: Lonely Planet; client: Where to eat in Bologna; other: Sasha Brady
2528022745
Outdoor restaurant terraces in Bologna

Tips & Advice

13 amazing places to eat in Bologna right now

Oct 16, 2024 • 8 min read

Eating in Bologna is divine.

Articles
Plan your perfect trip to Italy with these 5 incredible itineraries
Sep 3, 2024 • 12 min read
Destination Practicalities
The Lonely Planet guide to Bologna
Dec 4, 2023 • 6 min read
Art and Culture
A new way to see Bologna's porticoes, one of Italy's newest Unesco World Heritage sites
Feb 11, 2022 • 4 min read
Food
As Italy's famed restaurants reopen, here's what dining out is like
May 20, 2020 • 5 min read
History
A remarkable Renaissance masterpiece is returning to its Italian home for the first time in 300 years
Feb 12, 2020 • 2 min read
History
Where to find your favourite pasta shapes
Oct 18, 2019 • 5 min read
Art
Cuisine, cars and culture: nine reasons to visit Emilia-Romagna
Mar 27, 2018 • 6 min read

in partnership with getyourguide

Book popular activities in Bologna

placement: fullWidth
path: destinations/bottom
possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [300, 250], [320, 50], [1, 1],

targeting:

{
  "destination": "Bologna",
  "city": "Bologna",
  "region": "Emilia-Romagna",
  "continent": "Europe",
  "country": "Italy"
}