Bologna tips
 

I am traveling to Bologna, Italy, at the start of October for about 4 days. If you have traveled there already, what are the places that I should not miss and any other tips you have on experiencing the city. I plan to spend 3 days exploring Bologna and a take 1 day trip to Ravenna.
Thanks!

Some sights that are unique to Bologna and important to its character:

The anatomical theater in the Archigginasio

The terracotta statues in the church of Santa Maria della Vita

The historic food markets

The Due Torri and the Palazzo della Mercanzia

The complex of 7 churches at Santo Stefano and the surrounding piazza

The upstairs of the Palazzo Communale (sometimes called the Palazzo d'Accursio and the fountain of Neptune and the memorial to those who fought the Nazis outside

The Oratoria of St Cecilia


And if you particularly love art:

The church of San Domenico, including the wooden church choir behind the altar
The Pinocoteca di Nazionale

If you particularly love history:

The Civic Medieval Museum (in particular for its carved tombs)

If you particularly love music:

The international museum and library of music on the Strada Maggiore

If you particularly like interesting walks:

The old Jewish Quarter
The neighborhood of the Collegio di Spagna
The walk to the sanctuary of San Luca
A walk through the University district
A walk along the via del Pratello

Special tip:

One day for lunch make a point of shopping in the markets for a picnic and take your lunch to Osteria del Sole. Buy a glass of wine and sit at one of the communal tables and eat the lunch you brought.

Have a lovely time. Ravenna is a spectacular place and very wonderful to see. Don't miss the Galla Placida mausoleum as part of visiting the mosaics in the city.

Sorry for my typo: Oratorio of Santa Cecilia

I should also have mentioned that if you particularly love music there are concerts all over town and you might want to visit the opera house.

This is really great info. Saving in case I'm lucky enough to return to Bologna. Thanks for posting, S!

We just returned from a week in Bologna and here are some things we really enjoyed that were not mentioned above...

-Wonderful chocolate shop - Majani - at Via de Carbonesi 5. It's among the best chocolate I've ever had.

-Civic Museum of Archeology at via Dell Archiginnasio 2 has a great Egyptian collection on the lower level.

-Lunch at Tamburini (deli) was a fun experience. Via Drapperie 1.

-We climbed Torre Asinelli and saw beautiful views of the surrounding area.

We found Bologna to be a great place to enjoy Italian culture at a much slower pace than, for example, Rome. We had fun sitting outside at bars and restaurants for aperitivo (drinks and appetizers). I hope you enjoy Bologna as much as we did.

In Bologna I love getting lost in the little streets.
Search the Finestrella di Via Piella, a window overlooking the canal, one of the few stretches of water that in the early twentieth century and in the post-war period was not covered with asphalt: this corner of the city is known as Little Venice.

For the restaurants I suggest you:
- Trattoria da Biagi where eat handmade tagliatelle alla bolognese or tortellini
- Trattoria Serghei with lasagne, roastbeef and faboulous cakes.

silviuflorins:

This small piece on Bologna was in the NY Times Sunday section:

BOLOGNA
A Culinary Shopping Spree
By Evan Rail

From Palermo to Trieste, there’s almost too much to see in Italy, but I still somehow visit the same place over and over again. Each spring while traveling to the Birra dell’Anno beer festival in Rimini, I pass through the somewhat gritty northern city of Bologna, and stroll through its ancient market quarter, the Quadrilatero.

Located between the Piazza Maggiore and Via Castiglione, a couple of short blocks to the east, the neighborhood shows off the bounty of what has to be Italy’s culinary capital, the hometown of tortellini, tagliatelle, mortadella and ragù Bolognese. Numerous cheeses, hams, oils and vinegars originated in the surrounding region of Emilia-Romagna.

Shopping in the Quadrilatero is an almost overwhelming sensory experience. When you walk through the creaky doors of one of the district’s great delis, like Tamburini, the rich aromas of hanging hams and the giant, aged blocks of Parmigiano-Reggiano and other cheeses hit you square in the nose. Despite the narrowness of the streets, the creak and scrape of rusty old bicycles cuts through the crowds in front of places like the Gilberto enoteca, which stocks great wine, spirits and chocolates and its own limoncello.

The greatest impressions, however, are visual: hundred-year-old shop interiors, filled with dark wood and gleaming brass fittings, multicolored variations on pastas, and foods with confusing names, like “ravioline arancia-mostarda,” that you’ll want to look up later (in this case, a soft, sugar-dusted cookie with a bittersweet orange-mustard filling).

Despite its age, the Quadrilatero now has several new arrivals, including a bookstore-meets-trattoria branch of Eataly, the Italian culinary powerhouse. Eataly has branches all over the world, from Chicago to Tokyo. But in the old shops of the Quadrilatero, you get the impression that you’re seeing — and hearing, smelling and tasting — something with a very real sense of place.

So glad you are going to Ravenna -- lovely old center (walking and bikes only), good food, wonderful passagiata, and of course the World Heritage mosaics -- do not miss Basilica of San Vitale, whatever else you see -- my next favorite is Mausoleum of Galla Placidia -- smaller "jewel box" circa 430 AD -- you buy a ticket for admission to multiple sites around the city.

I've spent many days in Ravenna but it can be a doable day trip from Bologna to hit the highlights.

The aperitivo scene in Bologna is great (buy a glass of wine, and feast on some really nice spreads). If you Google, there are lots of blogs and articles, like this one: http://italyproject365.com/bolognas-best-aperitivo/

I went the first week in November a little while ago and loved it - - here are the moody November piccies (including a side-trip to Parma): https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougla...7632060233870/