Elevated view of old town, Bologna, Italy

©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

  • Bologna, Italy - 18 June 2022: A photo of the Lucio Dalla's house in a beautiful day; Shutterstock ID 2185058975; purchase_order: 65050; job: poi; client: ; other: 2185058975

    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 …

  • Bologna, Italy - The basilica of Santo Stefano, Holy Jerusalem, known as Seven Churches. Emilia-Romagna region.; Shutterstock ID 660489289; purchase_order: 65050; job: poi; client: ; other: 660489289

    Basilica di Santo Stefano

    Bologna

    Bologna's most unique religious site is this atmospheric labyrinth of interlocking ecclesiastical structures, whose architecture spans centuries of…

  • Wide-angle interior view of the Basilica of San Petronio, Piazza Maggiore, Bologna, Italy showing the marble columns and ornate gilded cross above the altar. 656090378 campanile, palazzo

    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…

  • San Colombano – Collezione Tagliavini

    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…

  • BOLOGNA, ITALY - CIRCA DECEMBER, 2017: Parmiggiano Reggiano store inside Fico Eataly World, located in Bologna, is the largest agrofood park in the world. Internal view.; Shutterstock ID 768732697; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

    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…

  • Bologna, Italy - Two Towers (Due Torri), Asinelli and Garisenda, symbols of medieval Bologna towers. 814346692

    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…

  • Quadrilatero

    Quadrilatero

    Bologna

    To the east of Piazza Maggiore, the grid of streets around Via Clavature (Street of Locksmiths) sits on what was once Roman Bologna. Known as the…

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Destination Practicalities

The Lonely Planet guide to Bologna

Dec 4, 2023 • 6 min read

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