Top Things to Do in the Bologna | Must-See Attractions & Experiences

Plan Your Travel To Bologna

Places To Visit In Bologna

Food Tours Malaga

A visit to Bologna is incomplete without enjoying a food tour experience. This city is known as Fat City due to its rich, delectable Italian cuisine. It offers nuggets of history, the development of culinary style, and other exciting tidbits. It allows you to taste the best of multiple restaurants. The pasta, pizzas, meat dishes, gelato and other Italian delicacies here are unique to the city and much different than in any other part of the world. You will also get to taste some fine Italian wine and other beverages. Read More

The Gelato Museum Carpigiani in Anzola dell’Emilia is a one-of-a-kind museum dedicated to the history and making of gelato. It takes you through the evolution of gelato over time. You can try artisanal gelato machines and explore how gelato-making technology has advanced. The tour even allows you to even get a hands-on experience and make your sorbet and gelato.Italy is famous for its gelato, and this museum is a tribute to this fact. It was opened in the year 2012. The museum has 20 vintage gelato-making machines, tons of photographs of how gelato-making has developed, multimedia projections and various tools and equipment. You get to see all these during a tour followed by a gourmet gelato tasting. The museum also offers a gelato-making class so you can experience being a gelatiere for a day. Read More

The Giardini Margherita is one of the most extensive city parks in Bologna. These green landscapes cover an area of 26 hectares with lush tree-lined avenues, ponds, kiosks, cafes, a wifi connection, and a basketball court. There’s also a vegan restaurant (Vetro) in the park. This is a perfect spot to set up a picnic, kick back and relax. On the park’s south side is the Savena canal, a part of the city’s waterways centuries ago. The Villanovan hut here is a full-size facsimile of houses built by ancient Etruscans. The park gets a little busy in the daytime and evening when the children come to play. Read More

The Hidden or Secret Canals of Bologna Is an ancient system of canals that existed centuries ago in the city. They are now hidden by the city infrastructure which has been built over them. On the Via Piella, peer into a tiny window to get a look at the hidden canal, a remnant of the old canal system. This canal, called Canale di Reno, runs at right angles and underneath the Via Malcontenti, Via Piella and Via Oberdan. The area is called ‘Little Venice’; the entire canal structure was similar to what Venice has today. Read More

The International Museum and Library of Music sit inside the magnificent Palazzo Sanguinetti in Bologna. It proclaims more than 80 musical instruments from the Medieval and post-Medieval periods. It was previously known as the Musicale. The palace's first floor has nine rooms dedicated to six centuries of European musical works. In addition, the museum houses sundry musical documents like incunabula, precious manuscripts, opera librettos, etc., from the 16th to the 18th centuries. The museum was previously known as the Musicale and was established in 1959. Its name was changed to the International Museum and Library of Music in 2004 when the Palazzo Sanguinetti was opened to the public. The Library is a memorial to Bologna's rich historical musical culture and heritage. Along with the assortment of musical equipment and archives, it also has the paintings of cherished artists who have contributed to the musical world. They are displayed inside the palace in a picture gallery started by Padre Giovanni Battista Martini. Purchasing the audio guide available inside is recommended as most of the written information is in Italian. Read More

MAMbo - Museo d’Arte Moderna di Bologna is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Bologna. It features art created after the end of WWⅡ and is frequently updated by the art of the present times. It also houses the Morandi Museum. Homage to the Hollywood Squares (featuring Bridget Riley), a tapestry by Francesco Vezzoli, is one of the well-known artworks here. Some noteworthy artists include Marina Abramovic e Ulay, Gina Pane, Hermann Nitsch, Gianni Colombo, Luigi Ontani, Enrico Castellani, Giovanni Korompay and Antoni Tàpies. MAMbo was a part of the Galleria d'Arte Moderna di Bologna, founded in 1925. It later took its own identity as a separate museum. The art here focuses on 9 different modern themes—Art and Ideology, 1968 I new perspectives, 1968 II Arte Povera, 1977 Art and Action, Forma I, The Informal, Arcangeli, Focus on Contemporary Italian Art, and New Acquisitions. It also houses the Morandi Museum, which has the skilled Giorgio Morandi’s paintings and sketches on display. MAMbo also hosts temporary art exhibits. Read More

Monumental Cemetery is a beautiful open-air museum cemetery with admirably decorated graves. Not just tombs, the museum also extends its grounds to Italian sculptures, Greek temples, obelisks and even a tiny version of Trajan's Column. Renowned artists or architects decorate some of the tombs. It might seem otherwise, but visiting the Monumental Cemetery in Milan is not gloomy or macabre.Some strikingly decorated tombs are—a white carved column depicting the life and death of Jesus Christ, a bronze recreation of the "Last Supper", and the tomb of Arturo Toscanini. The cemetery is trifurcated so that the central part hosts the tombs of Catholics, the right part hosts tombs of the Jewish, and the left hosts tombs of the non-Catholics. The sculptures and paintings adorning the cemetery are works of great talents such as Floriano Bodini, Adolfo Wildt, Mario Palanti, Giacomo Manzù, Giò Ponti, Lucio Fontana, and others. It was initially designed to bury prominent citizens; some famous people buried here include the renowned writer Alessandro Manzoni, Milanese painter Francesco Hayez, Herbert Kilpin, founder of football club A.C. Milan, etc. Read More

Museum of San Colombano - Tagliavini Collection

The Museum of San Colombano is a church museum in Bologna. It houses the exquisite Tagliavini Collection of Musical Instruments, which consists of over 80 instruments, such as clavichords, spinets, oboes, etc. It is located on Via Parigi. The Oratory of San Colombano is adorned with patterns of 17th-century frescoes designed by artists like Ludovico Carracci, Guido Reni, Francesco Albani, and Domenichino. In addition, there is a music library here that belonged to the musicologist Oscar Mischiati. Maestro Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini has collected instruments from the 16th to the 20th century as part of his collection of instruments—the Tagliavini Collection. All of these are still in working condition. The church itself is worth looking at with its exceptional architecture designed by Oratorio. The Oratory was built in 1591, and the Passion of Christ inspired the frescoes here. A Medieval-age crypt was discovered here decorated with a mural depicting Jesus on the cross between the Virgin and St. John. On Saturday afternoons, you can listen to and enjoy a free concert performed by students of Bologna’s music academy. Read More

The National Art Gallery is located in what was formerly the Jesuit novitiate of Sant'Ignazio. An excellent place for art lovers, the Gallery owns numerous paintings by Emilian and other non-Bolognese artists from the 13th to the 18th century and painting of tempera and gilded wood. In addition, it boasts the famous Polyptych of Bologna painting of tempera and gilded wood. Notable artists here include Raphael, Titian, Giotto and the Caraccis. The National Art Gallery was established in 1808 as the Academy of Fine Arts picture gallery. The Academy is housed in the same building as the Gallery. Giotto's Polyptych of Bologna is located in the Saletta di Giotto. It depicts Madonna in a way that is unique considering his previous work. The Ecstasy of Saint Cecilia is a remarkable oil painting by none other than the talented Raphael. It was stolen to Paris once, during Napoleon's rule, but was brought back in 1815. Other celebrated artworks include Titian's Christ and the Good Thief and El Greco's The Last Supper. The Caracci's also have significantly contributed to the art here. They were also the ones who instituted the Academy of Fine Arts in Bologna in the 16th century. The National Art Gallery holds various temporary art exhibitions, just as impressive as the permanent collection. Read More

The Neptune Fountain is situated at the center of Bologna. A bronze statue of the Roman God Neptune, exuding masculinity and godliness, stands imposingly in the middle with a trident in hand. Surrounding him are four putti representing the Ganges, the Nile, the Amazon and the Danube rivers. Finally, at the base are four nymphs with water ejecting from their breasts. The talented Giambologna, commissioned by Pope Pius IV in the 16th century, designed the fountain. The Pope was concerned by the size of Neptune’s genitalia and ordered Giambologna to make the necessary adjustments. Giambologna obliged but did end up showing what he wanted; he sculpted the arm and the thumb so that it looked like an extension of the genitalia from a certain angle. There is also a popular superstition surrounding the fountain. Before an exam, students circle it twice in the counter-clockwise direction. Giambologna himself used to walk around while building the fountain so that he could perfect his work. It is meant to be looked at from all sides and angles and is highly symmetrical. The Bologna-based luxury car manufacturer Maserati’s logo is inspired by the trident brandished by Neptune. Read More