The best things to do in Bologna will exceed every expectation you arrive with. Bologna is Italy’s most underrated major city — consistently overlooked by tourists rushing between Florence, Venice and Rome, yet consistently rated by Italians themselves as one of the finest cities in the country to actually live in.
The reasons are immediately clear when you arrive: extraordinary food, beautiful medieval architecture, the oldest university in the world, 40 kilometres of elegant porticoed streets, a vibrant student population that gives the city extraordinary energy, and prices significantly lower than the more famous tourist cities. The best things to do in Bologna span world-class art and medieval towers to the greatest food market in Italy.
1. Climb the Two Towers
Climbing the Two Towers — the Asinelli and Garisenda towers — is one of the best things to do in Bologna and the most iconic experience the city offers. Built by rival noble families in the 12th century as symbols of wealth and power, these extraordinary medieval towers dominate Bologna’s skyline. The taller Asinelli tower stands 97 metres high — climbing its 498 steps rewards you with the finest panoramic view of Bologna, with the terracotta rooftops stretching to the Apennine hills beyond.
The Garisenda tower leans more dramatically than the Leaning Tower of Pisa — visible from the street below.
Asinelli tower entry from €5. ✅
2. Explore the Quadrilatero Market
Exploring the Quadrilatero — Bologna’s extraordinary medieval food market — is one of the best things to do in Bologna for food lovers and one of the finest free experiences the city offers. The network of streets around Via Drapperie and Via Pescherie Vecchie has been Bologna’s market district for over a thousand years — and today it remains the finest concentration of Italian food shops in the country.
The marble counters piled with mortadella, culatello, Parmigiano Reggiano, fresh pasta, truffles and extraordinary local specialities make the Quadrilatero a genuinely overwhelming sensory experience. Eat lunch at one of the market stalls — tagliatelle al ragù costs €8-12 and is the finest version you’ll eat anywhere.
Free to walk through. ✅
3. Visit the Basilica di San Petronio
The Basilica di San Petronio is one of the best things to do in Bologna — the fifth largest church in the world and one of the most impressive Gothic buildings in Italy. Construction began in 1390 and the church was never actually finished — the facade remains half clad in marble and half in plain brick — which somehow makes it even more magnificent.
Inside, the church is vast and atmospheric. The famous sundial — the longest in the world at 67 metres — runs along the floor of the nave and was used for centuries to determine the date of Easter.
Free to enter. ✅
4. Walk the Porticoes
Walking Bologna’s extraordinary porticoes is one of the best things to do in Bologna — and one of the most unique urban experiences in Italy. Bologna has over 40 kilometres of covered porticoes — arcaded walkways that line the streets and allow residents to walk across the entire city without getting wet in the rain.
The porticoes were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021. Walking under them from the city centre to the Sanctuary of San Luca — a 3.8 kilometre procession route under the longest portico in the world — is one of the most distinctive Bologna experiences.
Free — no ticket needed. ✅
5. Visit the Sanctuary of San Luca
Visiting the Sanctuary of San Luca — the extraordinary baroque church perched on a hilltop above Bologna — is one of the best things to do in Bologna for views and architecture. The 3.8 kilometre covered portico connecting the city to the sanctuary is the longest in the world — 666 arches climbing steadily to the hilltop. The views from the sanctuary terrace over Bologna and the surrounding hills are magnificent.
Walk up (allow 1 hour each way) or take the San Luca Express tourist train from Piazza Maggiore (€10 return).
Sanctuary free. ✅
6. Explore Piazza Maggiore
Piazza Maggiore is the magnificent heart of Bologna and one of the best free things to do in Bologna. This extraordinary medieval square — surrounded by the Basilica di San Petronio, the Palazzo dei Banchi, the Palazzo del Podestà and the Palazzo Comunale — is one of the finest public spaces in Italy.
The Neptune Fountain at the adjacent Piazza del Nettuno — Giambologna’s extraordinary bronze Neptune — is one of the finest Renaissance fountains in Italy and completely free to view.
Free — no ticket needed. ✅
7. Visit the National Art Gallery
The National Art Gallery of Bologna — Pinacoteca Nazionale — is one of the best things to do in Bologna for art lovers. Housing one of the finest collections of Bolognese and Emilian Renaissance and Baroque painting in the world, the gallery contains masterpieces by Raphael, Tintoretto, Guercino and the extraordinary Carracci family — who founded the Bolognese school of painting that influenced European art for centuries.
Entry from €5. Free on first Sunday of the month. ✅
8. Eat Authentic Bolognese Pasta
Eating authentic Bolognese pasta — tagliatelle al ragù — is one of the most important best things to do in Bologna and one of the great food experiences in Italy. The real Bolognese — a slow-cooked meat sauce made from beef and pork, enriched with wine and milk, served on fresh egg tagliatelle — bears no resemblance to the spaghetti bolognese served elsewhere in the world.
The official recipe for authentic Bolognese ragù — registered with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce in 1982 — specifies tagliatelle specifically. Anyone serving it on spaghetti in Bologna is immediately recognisable as a tourist trap.
Budget: €10-15 for a bowl of authentic tagliatelle al ragù. ✅
9. Visit the Anatomical Theatre
The Anatomical Theatre of the University of Bologna is one of the most fascinating best things to do in Bologna. Inside the world’s oldest university — founded in 1088 — this extraordinary 17th-century wooden theatre was used for public dissections of human bodies for medical education. The ornately carved wooden interior is spectacular and the history is genuinely fascinating.
The University of Bologna itself — with its medieval courtyards and extraordinary history — is worth exploring freely.
Entry from €3. ✅
10. Day Trip to Modena
Taking a day trip to Modena — birthplace of Luciano Pavarotti, home of Ferrari and Lamborghini and the most important food city in Emilia-Romagna — is one of the best things to do in Bologna as a base. Just 30 minutes by train, Modena offers the finest balsamic vinegar in the world, a magnificent cathedral, the Ferrari Museum and Massimo Bottura’s three-Michelin-star Osteria Francescana.
Train from Bologna to Modena: 30 minutes, from €5. Book on ourcheap train tickets page.
Practical Tips for Bologna
- Eat lunch at the Quadrilatero.Bologna’s food market at lunchtime is one of the greatest eating experiences in Italy — and significantly cheaper than restaurants.
- Visit on a weekday.Bologna’s university gives it a completely different energy during term time — livelier, more authentic and more affordable than at weekends.
- Walk the porticoes.The 3.8km walk to San Luca under the world’s longest portico is one of the finest free experiences in northern Italy — allow a morning.
- Book the Two Towers in advance.The Asinelli tower has limited daily visitor numbers — book online before you go.
For official travel information visit theItalian Tourism Board.
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