Visiting Bologna

The next place we stopped at on our trip around Italy was Bologna. It's definitely one of Italy's most underrated cities with a lot less tourists choosing to go here, however, it was nice to have a break from the busyness of Milan. We stayed on the main street in Bologna - Via dell'Indipendenza - and everything we went to see was no more than a 10 minute walk from there.

Where to visit:
Piazza Maggiore is the main square in Bologna and when we arrived there was some sort of music festival going on here which was free to enter. If you look up the square before you go then you might find that there's something happening there when you're in Bologna. The Basilica di San Petronio is at the Piazza Maggiore and is one of the largest churches in the world. It's free to enter, however, if you want to visit the museum inside the church then you have to pay for that. Bologna has it's own version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, called the Aniselli Tower, which you can climb up. Unfortunately, when we were in Bologna the tower was closed until July. Although that could be a good thing because legend has it that anyone who climbs the tower before graduating won't finish their degree! Another great place to visit in Bologna is some of the university buildings, since it's the oldest in Europe, and allows the public to visit certain areas of it. We went to see the Teotro Anatomico, which is decorated with lots of statues and is known as the birthplace of cosmetic surgery.

Where to eat:
On our first night in Bologna we found a lovely gastropub down one of the streets off of Piazza Maggiore. The food and drink was great value for money and gave us the opportunity to try lots of different meats and cheeses from around the area. Simoni also have a shop further down the street where you can buy some of the products which they serve. This was by far the best meal we had whilst we were in Bologna and also the cheapest! If you're only in Bologna for one night then I would definitely recommend going to this place.

Day trip:
Only 30 minutes away on the train is the Ferrari Museum in Modena and Ferrari offer a coach service from the Modena train station to the other Ferrari Museum in Maranello. We first went to the museum in Maranello which contains a lot of history about the making of the cars and about the Formula 1 team. We then got the coach back to the museum in Modena which currently has an exhibition called 'Driving with the Stars' that shows some of the Ferraris which celebrity's have driven over the years - I picked out a couple which I liked! If you're interested in cars, the Ferrari Museums make a great day trip as they're not too far from Bologna.

Hopefully this post has given you a good insight into Bologna. Will you be visiting Bologna any time soon?
SaveSave