When traveling, what draws you to visit a new city?
Bologna was our intended first stop in Italy after spending two weeks in Portugal. The city intrigued us with its colors, old architecture, history, and food. We took the train from our Couchsurfing stay in Reggio Emilia, and discovered all the main attractions of the city. We liked Bologna more than we expected.
Bologna is the historical capital of the Emilia-Romagna Region in Northern Italy. It is also home to a University, which brings a cultural and foodie element to the city. It is recognized as the food capital of Italy, and lives up to this reputation. While we were there, we visited the Palazzo dell’Archiginnasio. This palace has some incredible artwork and imagery from the 16th century. It is central to town and has historical importance.
Other places we visited were the Piazza Maggiore Square, and the enormous Basilica di San Petronio. There are also many statues and renaissance buildings to enjoy. The city has endless architectural wonders to observe and walk around and parks.
There are covered walkways everywhere, which were helpful for exploring the city in the rain. Our travel kitties definitely enjoyed being out of the rain.
Built in the middle ages, the two towers are at the heart of the city. Each of them lean to an extent, and you can climb the tallest one with its 498 steps to the top. There are fantastic views of the city from the top, making it well worth the fee. Torre Degli Asinelli costs 5€ ($5.50 USD) to enter and leans 1.3°. It is the tallest leaning medieval tower in the world.
Our trip to Bologna from Reggio Emilia was more eventful than we wanted it to be. We went to the train station and found it cost nearly €40 ($43 USD) each to get there, which seemed ridiculously high. We contacted our Couchsurfing host, and he figured out that we were at the wrong train station. This one was for high-speed rail and was expensive.
The more reasonable price at the regional train station was €6 ($6.50 USD). He was kind enough to pick us up at the high-speed station and take us to the correct station. Otherwise, we would have had to walk an hour to get to the other station or call an expensive taxi. No fun!
Bologna has vibrant colors and is full of life. This colored brick patio is very artistic and a part of what makes this place so special. We hope to visit it again.
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Beautiful!! Love that you wrote about Bologna! It’s often skipped. Such a stunner of a city!
Absolutely! It was a great place to base ourselves, even with all the rain. We would love to return during better weather!
The price difference between high speed and regional trains is nuts sometimes, but I do love those high speed trains! Id also have opted for the regional one…more money for pizza!
Absolutely! We try to cut costs where we can. If it isn’t a huge time difference, we’d much rather spend that money on more important things!