Somebody said that traveling together is all about the art of compromise. That’s why, sometimes, it’s wonderful not to.
I’m a solo traveller sometimes and I enjoy my total freedom in making plans and turn them upside down.
It’s fun to think about your own city as a solo traveler. But I figured out that Bologna can be one of the best cities in the world if you want to spend some quality time with yourself.

Take a walk

They call it Bologna la rossa, because of the colors of the walls and roofs. (Then the political orientation came, but I will tell you this story another time, maybe). The soil around here has always been full of clay, perfect to get terracotta tiles for roofs and paint with warm colors.

My tip is to stroll under the porticoes and explore the parts just outside the Roman city center. Start from the two towers and take Strada Maggiore, Via Santo Stefano or Via Castiglione. Here you can find some of the most fascinating corners, such as Piazza Aldrovandi, Via Rialto, San Giovanni in Monte.

See Bologna from the top

There are some magnificent ways to have a look at the city from the top, too.
Climb the steps to reach the rooftop and play the bells of the tower of San Pietro Cathedral: especially during sunny days, the view is breathtaking.

​If you feel like walking a bit, follow the world longest portico to reach San Luca Sanctuary. This is so far one of the best walks you can have in Bologna.

Or make your way to San Michele in Bosco, a former convent and then one of the first specialized hospitals in Europe in the early 1900s. During the daytime, the historical part of the hospital is open to visits.
​No spoiler but look outside the window at the end of the corridor on the first floor.

Info
Santuario di San Luca
Via di San Luca, 36 (Bus n. 20 until Arco del Meloncello and then follow the portico)
Opening times: 7.00 – 12.30 / 14.30 – 19.00 The portico is always open, but the sanctuary area closes at night.

San Michele in Bosco
Via Pupilli, 1 (Bus n. 30)
Opening times: 9.00 – 12.00 / 16.00 – 18.00 (church)
You can go also by night, just follow the street on the right and enjoy the view.

San Pietro Cathedral bell tower
Via Altabella, 2/4, 40125 Bologna BO
Tel. +39 051 222112
Opening times: Saturday 2pm 4:30pm
Ticket: 5€

Explore the University

Explore the University No Botticelli’s Venuses, no Monna Lisas, no Guernicas. You won’t find famous and overcrowded museums here, but still, Bologna is the paradise of culture-passionate.

Bologna’s University is the oldest in the western world, and one of the few that keeps the facilities in the city center. You shouldn’t miss Archiginnasio, with its creepy anatomical theatre.
And why not take advantage of the fact that you own your time schedule, and request for consulting one of the many manuscripts of the library?

At the end of Via Zamboni, you find Palazzo Poggi. It’s one of the strangest museums in Europe and surely one of the best museums in Emilia Romagna.
XVIII century students didn’t care too much of how creepy their work looked like.
They studied everything: from the inside of the insects, to the inside of the humans, that they represented carefully in a series of anatomical waxes. And then dioramas, warships models from the struggles against pirates, paper globes, and pretty much everything your science fantasy could ever imagine.

University wasn’t the only important school in town. W.A. Mozart himself cheated on the entry test for Bologna’s Conservatory. Apparently, Father Giambattista Martini made some corrections on the exam-sheets and let the young Austrian genius come in. Martini’s collection of musical instruments and charts are now in Museo della Musica, located in delightful Palazzo Sanguinetti. Even if you’re not a music expert, the beautiful garden at the entrance and the curious XVII century horns worth the visit.

Info
Biblioteca comunale dell’Archiginnasio
Piazza Galvani, 1, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 276811
Opening times: 9.00 – 19.00 closed on Saturday afternoons and Sundays.
To access the library, check the rules on www.archiginnasio.it

Museo di Palazzo Poggi
Via Zamboni, 33 40126 Bologna
Opening times: weekdays 9.00 – 16.00 / weekends 9.00 – 18.00, closed on Mondays
sma.unibo.it/it/il-sistema-museale/museo-di-palazzo-poggi

Museo internazionale e Biblioteca della Musica
Strada Maggiore, 34, 40126 Bologna
​Tel. +39 051 275 7711
Opening times: 10.00 – 18.30, closed on Mondays
www.museibologna.it/musica

Enjoy the show

They call it “the most beautiful cinema in the world”, and it is definitely true for me.
Every summer, starting from the half of June to the half of August, Piazza Maggiore turns into an open-air cinema, and movies of all kinds are projected on a big screen just in front of San Petronio façade.
You could be as lucky as to be there the night when the silent movie and live Orchestra are scheduled to play together. All the movies are in original language, with subtitles. Plus, they’re totally free.

During the rest of the year, the programming continues at Cinema Lumiere. Movies are selected by Cineteca di Bologna, usually one or two best new releases and a bunch of old classics. Still no dubbing allowed.

At Cantina Bentivoglio you find great live jazz music, as well as a good bowl of homemade tagliatelle al ragù.

Locomotiv, Covo Club and Estragon are the best rock and indie clubs, in my order of preference.

Info
Sotto le Stelle del Cinema
Piazza Maggiore, Bologna
From June to August, every night at 21.45
www.cinetecadibologna.it/sottolestelledelcinema

Cinema Lumiere
Via Azzo Gardino, 65/b – 40122 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 2194810
www.cinetecadibologna.it

Locomotiv Club
Via Sebastiano Serlio, 25/2, 40128 Bologna
Tel. +39 348 083 3345
www.locomotivclub.it

Wondered how we developed the art of cooking?
We had to feed hungry students and professors coming from all over Europe to study at University. You’ll never feel strange while you share your dinner with your book in Bologna. They’ve been doing that for almost a thousand years.

For sure you won’t feel alone at Osteria dell’Orsa. The queue begins a few meters from the main door and it’s a good way to make new friends. Big tables to share with the students and simple local cuisine. Cheap prices too.

Speaking of queue Sfoglia Rina has nothing to envy. Ask for a place at the counter and watch the lively street outside while you try your tortellini in brodo, or passatelli with seasonal vegetables. Or both. There’s nobody around to judge you, after all.

​No time to sit? Check the menu of Ragù. The tagliatella will do only 3 steps: from the cutting board to the stove, from the stove to the carton. Then to your mouth.

Osteria dell’Orsa
Via Mentana, 1, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 231576
www.osteriadellorsa.com

Sfoglia Rina
Via Castiglione, 5/b, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 991 1710
www.sfogliarina.it

Ragū
Via Goito, 9/b, 40126 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 268585
www.ragubologna.it

Bologna is a really safe town, for everyone, everywhere, so you can choose your accommodation in every area.

Try one of the hostels and you will never feel alone: big common rooms where to find new friends, relaxing gardens with chairs and tables where to fill your sketchbook, shared bikes to explore the city with.

Albergo Pallone is young, close to the city center and with an osteria inside. The newborn WeBologna is just on the back of the train station, in the lively Bolognina area.

Airbnb in Bologna are becoming more and more popular in Bologna, so you have a wide choice.
Book an entire apartment if you want to enjoy your solitude as its best, or a room in a house if you prefer to meet some locals. Bolognese people are known to be very warm: ask for the recipe of ragù, it will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

If you prefer traditional hotels, my personal advice is to choose between the ones with a rooftop, like Hotel Metropolitan, in Via Indipendenza, or Hotel Touring, close to Piazza San Domenico. To look at the city from the top of a roof is the best way to understand why they call it “Bologna la rossa”. Spoiler: it’s not for salame. Not only.

Albergo Pallone
Via del Pallone, 4, 40126 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 421 0533
www.pallone.lapiccolacarovana.net

We_Bologna
Via de’ Carracci, 69/14, 40129 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 039 7900
www.we-gastameco.com/we-bologna

Hotel Metropolitan
Via dell’Orso, 6, 40121 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 229393
www.hotelmetropolitan.com

Hotel Touring Bologna
Via dè Mattuiani, 1, 40124 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 584305
www.hoteltouring.it

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Can you skip Louvre in Paris, Prado in Madrid or MoMa in NYC? No, but sometimes I’ve found myself lost and looking for the exit.
​These hidden museums around Emilia Romagna aren’t landmarks, but deserve all your attention.

Like an old photo hidden in a book, Museo Pelagalli is a place to relive the past and bring back forgotten emotions. 

A visit to this museum is a dive into the past, accompanied by sound, images and objects that have made the history of music, cinema, TV and radio. Inside you can find over 2000 original and working items ready to amaze those who enter into this temple of communication. 

Everything is described in a unique way by Gianni Pelagalli, founder and owner of the museum. He entertains with all his passion for the exhibit, making the visit interactive and fun. 

​An exceptional and exciting heritage between colorful jukeboxes, radio stations by Guglielmo Marconi, the first models of black and white TV, the computer’s evolution, several gramophones and much more. 

Via Col di Lana, 7/N,  40131 Bologna
Tel +39 338 8609111 / +39 051 6491008
www.museopelagalli.com
Guided tours on request

Known as the set of oddities, exotic beauties, animals and tools of various kind, Palazzo Poggi museum is born from the recreation of several laboratories of the ancient Institute of Sciences.

Palazzo Poggi is set in the heart of the university area of Bologna and hides many treasures: the Aldrovandi collection, the wunderkammer by Ferdinando Cospi, the naval models, the fortified city plans, the anatomical waxes.

​In addition, over the years, it has also collected pictorial collections and it boasts numerous frescoes on the ceiling.
Each room is dedicated to different branches of human knowledge: from naturalistic collections to oriental ones, from modern age’s geography to collections of anatomy and medicine.

Consider also a visit to Specola: the old astronomical observatory of Bologna. Not only for the stunning view you get from the roof.

Via Zamboni, 33, 40126 Bologna
Tel: +39 051 2099 610
https://sma.unibo.it/it/il-sistema-museale/museo-di-palazzo-poggi
Ticket: 5€

Any gelato lovers out there?
This very sweet museum is your place. Here you can follow the stages of gelato in time and space, from the Egyptians to the present day, with a final surprise.

The large open space location exhibit original machines that have made the history of the Carpigiani company along with photos, historical documents, multimedia workstations and precious tools used to produce and preserve the authenticity of gelato.

​If you are looking for an activity to do in Bologna with kids this is the first place on your list.

Via Emilia, 45, 40011 Anzola Emilia (BO)
Tel +39 051 6505306
www.gelatomuseum.com

Ocarina is a ten-hole terracotta flute with a typical goose shape, invented in Budrio in 1853 by a boy named Giuseppe Donati.

Ocarina museum tells the story of this curious instrument through photos, records, scores and lots of musical instruments.
Lots of rarities and strange pieces like the first handmade creations or the giant Korean ocarina.

In the same street, you find also the small and interesting puppets museum, a 18th-century amazing theatre, and a very good restaurant (Centro Storico).

Via Garibaldi, 35, 40054 Budrio BO
​Tel. +39 051 692 8306

Museo delle Figurine was born within Panini Company in Modena, thanks to the passionate collecting work of the founder Giuseppe Panini.

Since 2006, the Museum offers an original exhibition, aimed at recreating a sort of great album of wonders.
Not only 500.000 modern figurines but also matchboxes, letterboxes, menus, small calendars and more from the second half of the nineteenth century to the present day.

A must for young and grown-up kids.

Corso Canalgrande, 103, 41121 Modena MO
Tel. +39 059 203 2919
www.comune.modena.it/museofigurina
​Ticket: 6€

Everyone knows Parmigiano Reggiano, the eminent cheese mentioned in Boccaccio’s Decameron to flavor maccheroni and ravioli. But do you know that exist a dedicated museum?

Its history is presented in a former cheese factory where are exhibit the ancient tools used for the production of milk such as the large copper bell boiler, the steam engine or the butter churn, instruments collected in the production area of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna and Mantua.

​A hundred images and vintage photos illustrate the different aging of Parmigiano that you can also taste at the end of your visit.

Via Volta 5, 43019 Soragna (PR)
Tel: +39 0521 931800
www.parmigianoreggiano.museidelcibo.it
Ticket: 5€

For art lovers is a magic place, an almost unknown museum that should be a must. The Magnani Rocca Foundation is a private collection of ancient and modern art founded in 1978 by Luigi Magnani, an art critic and collector.

It is housed in the Villa dei Capolavori, a neo-baroque building set in a beautiful century-old park populated by animals, together with paintings from Middle Age to 20th-century.

The best of nine centuries of art perfectly is presented by Tiziano, Van Dyck, Goya, Monet, Cézanne, De Chirico, Morandi and many others.

After the visit, you can stop there for lunch. Fattorie Canossa offers a great local cuisine in the old court of the Villa.

Via Fondazione Magnani Rocca, 4, 43029 Mamiano (PR)
Tel. +39 0521 848327
www.magnanirocca.it
Ticket: 10€

Common objects, even broken or damaged, can be art?
This hidden museum in Parma countryside answers the question.

Modest and recovered objects like hammers, scissors and tweezers cover the walls with geometric patterns and create a cinematic effect full of visual suggestions.

​For years Ettore Guatelli collected these objects related to peasant life. Now they speak, silently, telling the stories of the peasants and their occupations, witnesses of an life almost disappeared.

Via Nazionale, 130, 43044 Ozzano Taro Collecchio (PR)
Tel. +39 0521 333601
www.museoguatelli.it
Entrance: 7€

An evocative place, full of history and traditions, a unique museum of its kind.
Founded in 1908, it shows the art of ceramics in different ages and works coming from all over the world.

Important sections are dedicated to pre-Columbian America, classical Greece, Roman age, Middle East and Islamic ceramics. Contemporary art is represented by artists like Picasso, Matisse, Chagall, Fontana.

​This collection of rare and refined beauty has an academic facility for the ceramic sector with an exceptional library.
​Moreover, you can join courses and workshops in which clay is worked, suitable for children too.

Viale Alfredo Baccarini, 19, 48018 Faenza (RA)
Tel: +39 0546697311
www.micfaenza.org
Ticket: 10€

Now that vinyl has a new life, it’s good to know where it all began.
A young boy welcomes you in this unexplored museum full of rarities, set in Palazzo Ripa Marcosanti, a 17th-century house in Sogliano sul Rubicone.

Through your walk, you meet old but alive creatures like an ancient phonograph with cylindrical disks, a gramophone for 120RPM records, vintage turntables and old jukeboxes.

In this enchanting place, you find memorabilia like an autographed guitar belonging to Bruce Springsteen, extraordinary picture discs and a lot of archival material, like scores and librettos.
​A place to get lost in time.

Piazza Garibaldi , 47030 Sogliano al Rubicone (FC)
Tel +39 366 3023594 / +39 388 1667113
www.museodeldiscodepoca.com
Free entrance Open only on Sunday or on request.

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