Bologna
From World travel guide
Bologna is an historic city, the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, famous for its cuisine and for its architectural palette of reds, oranges, and yellows. Buildings in the city are painted in these colors, marking the city's twentieth-century history as a communist strongold. The city has grown in popularity for tourists who see it as an excellent destination for a one day stopover on the way from Venice to Florence.
Contents |
Understand
When to visit
Bologna is a heavily polluted city (like most other large Italian cities). This is especially noticeable in the summertime.
Get in
By plane
- Bologna's closest airport is Guglielmo Marconi (Bologna) International Airport (BLQ) [1]
By train
On account of its central location and geography, Bologna has emerged as the main rail transport hub of northern Italy, making it extremely well-connected with other major Italian centres.
Get around
Layout of the city
Looking at a map of the city, such as the free one distributed at the Tourist Information Center in Piazza Maggiore, here is a bit to orient yourself: the Due Torri landmark is located at the center of this map. The northeast quadrant of the map is the university district. The two southern quadrants of your city map are residential sections of the city, and while living in Bologna, I never came upon a tourist walking around here. However, walking outside the city center, further to the south, you will come upon hills. There is, as well, the Giardini Margherita, the large park of the city -- not so much a tourist destination.
See
What not to see
Tourists wandered aimlessly to the porte - decent-sized arches - at the bounds between the city and its periferia. This seems like a waste of money - to go to Bologna just to see such things. But people do.
Do
Via Mascarella, in the northeast area of the city, has nightspots, among them two jazz clubs.
Buy
Eat
There are many choices for where to eat, among them the McDonalds (to be avoided) near the tourist landmark of the Due Torri in the center of the city. There are plenty of other options of good quality. Don't neglect restaurants owned by the non-EU population of Bologna, if you happen upon one. Enter Via Zamboni (a street which begins at the Due Torri). To your right, a few shops down, will be a Libreria Feltrinelli. Go here, browse the tourist section for an English-language guide to the city to find places to see and the recommended restaurants.
Via del Pratello has lots of bars and restaurants/osterie. There's lots to choose from here. Walk past, look at the menus. It is located towards the middle of the 'western' part of the map.
The "Diana" on Via dell'Indipendenza is the most famous and apparently most expensive restaurant in the city. Foreign tourists - the Japanese, and businessmen, primarily - come here.
Drink
Sleep
Get out
External links
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