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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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Doctors give many rules, which I’m not always happy to follow. But when it comes to breakfast, I totally agree with them: in the morning it’s better to eat well.

Here in Bologna we usually treat ourselves with one or two buttery and creamy croissants and a great cappuccino, naturally. Here are the places where I usually go to start the day with a twist of taste.

Since 2001 this small shop in via Porta Nova is the haunt of every coffee lover in Bologna. Behind the counter, Alessandro dances with his coffee machine, and Cristina assists people in choosing their favourite coffee a la carte.
​
When Rick Stein was in Bologna fell deeply in love with them and it’s not hard to say why.

With Alessandro and Cristina, more friends than working partners, we’ve also created an unconventional coffee lesson. A compass to navigate amongst the varieties of beans, provenances and processes of toasting and filtering.
​Or just to enjoy one of the best cappuccino of your life in their intimate living room.

My tip
Ask Cristina to choose for you in the coffee list. She’s never wrong. 

Info
Aroma Caffè
​ Via Porta Nova 12/b, 40123 Bologna BO
Tel. 051 225895
www.ilpiaceredelcaffe.it

Small shop, great selection of coffee.
Manuel Terzi is one of the few pioneers who started to take care of every single step from the beans to the espresso. So every coffee has a signature and you can’t go wrong.

​Find your spot at the counter and ask the kind Elena to choose for you amongst the 6 blends or single origin coffee: from the elegant Turkish Arabica or the intense Indian Robusta.

My tip 
Caffè pistachio is more than a coffee. A delicious start for your day.

Info
​Caffè Terzi Via Guglielmo Oberdan, 10/d, 40126 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 034 4819
www.caffeterzi.it​

The name means “Queen of Diamonds”, and once you step into the café, you’ll truly start feeling like in Wonderland.

The small pastries are bites of every European sweet tradition: Lemon Meringue Pie from France, Sachertorte from Austria, Black Forest from Germany. And of course the Italian ones: Neapolitan babà, Sicilian cannoli and the super-local Bolognese rice cake.

​All made by the hands of Francesco Elmi, not just another pastry chef.

​My tip
Try the fluffy puff filled with custard cream, lightly fried and covered in sugar. Then walk up to San Luca to atone for your sin.

Info
Regina di Quadri
Via Castiglione, 73/A, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 644 6201
www.pasticceriareginadiquadri.it

Baseball caps, sneakers and a t-shirt that says: “Fuck the diet!”.
You can’t expect fancy waiters at Forno Brisa. It’s more like your foodie room-mates from college opened a bakery – and it’s pretty much how the story has gone.

And it works, it definitely does. These guys started a few years ago with amazing bread, then the pizza came, and lately the specialty coffee.

Now they run 3 shops in Bologna and lead a team of young boys and girls, always ready to unveil every secret of sourdough and Aeropress. Perfect for tasting a croissant wondering what’s coming next.

My tip
Someone said pizza?

Info
Forno Brisa
Via Galliera, 34d, 40121 Bologna
Via San Felice, 91A, 40122 Bologna
Via Castiglione, 43, 40124 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 248556
​​www.fornobrisa.it

Bad news first: it’s not properly in the city center and you need to take a taxi to get there. Good news: it will worth every second of your trip.

Gino Fabbri is the best pastry chef in Bologna, no doubts about it. All he does is to give you first quality butter, milk, flour and vanilla. He learned how to combine them after many years of practice.
Plus, he looks like the Bolognese cheerful grandfather.

The only problem is that you can’t eat the whole selection displayed on the counter.
​You need an offensive strategy: focus on a croissant filled with custard cream and attack in the flank with some mignons.

My tip
If you are in Bologna during Christmas time, you have to eat Gino Fabbri’s panettone.
​4 versions: classic, nuvola (with candied apricots and almond), delizia (with a soft citrus paste) and divino (with milk and strong chocolate drops and orange). Do I need to say that is amazing?

Second tip 
I like to give tips, sorry. You can find his focaccia at Galliera 49, one of the best gelato shops in Bologna. Fill it with gelato alla crema and think about your sad colleagues in the office eating salad.

Info
Gino Fabbri Pasticcere
Via Cadriano, 27/2, 40127 Bologna
​Tel: +39 051 505074
www.ginofabbri.com

Croissants can be your worst nightmare when you’ve got a sweet tooth and an intolerance to gluten.

This bar offers 100% selection of gluten-free pastries and snacks for breakfast, lunch and aperitivo. Set just outside the Mercato delle Erbe it’s on the top of the list of the best gluten free places to eat in Bologna.
Around here it’s known as “the celiac’s paradise”, you can guess why.
​
My tip
On the window next to the bar, Fiordaliso offers hot pizza and calzoni and, if you’re lucky, Sicilian cannoli.

Fiordaliso Caffetteria, Pasticceria e Ristorante
Via Nazario Sauro, 8, 40121 Bologna BO
Tel. +39 051 264444

This fancy café with sparkling chandeliers has been working since 1907.
Breakfast here is a metaphor of life. You struggle to get what you want – in this case a coffee in an always busy place – but at the end, you get your reward.

At Gamberini it’s a heavenly perfect mimosa mignon with wild strawberry.

My tip
Follow your eyes and get the most colourful tart, all pastry is outstanding.

Info
Café Pasticceria Gamberini
Via Ugo Bassi, 12/R, 40123 Bologna
Tel. 051 2960467
www.gamberini.eu

Italian folk wisdom says: if you need to flavour a cappuccino, it’s not a good cappuccino. This new and modern bar near Piazza Malpighi breaks the rule.

​They call it lampuccino, and there’s a new recipe every month. Choose between cappuccino with hazelnut, Orient Espresso with ginger and cinnamon, or La Rosa nel Bosco, with blueberries and rose petals.

You can also find pancakes, panini and avocado bagels, although they don’t mess with traditional breakfast.

​Lampadina looks like the place you can find also in London, Madrid or NYC. But the coffee is great and this is a good news.

My tip 
During summer ask for a refreshing and tasty cold brew.

Info
Lampadina
Via Barberia, 34, 40123, Bologna
Tel. ‭051 0064196‬
​www.lampadinacafe.it

No Facebook page, no website and definitely no Instagram profile.

Nevertheless, everybody knows Bar Billi. It’s one of the few – probably the only one – really authentic bars still remaining in Bologna..
It was founded in 1953 by Giuseppe Billi after more than 50 years of coffees, brioches, amari and jokes within the regular customers.

1953 was probably also the last time they let a “graphic designer” step into the bar, too.
You can tell it by the signs and the super-vintage box of the most popular cake they produce, the truly local Panspziêl, with almonds, candied fruits and chocolate.

Even the location is quite old-fashioned: it’s outside the glamorous city centre, a few meters far from the beginning of average Sunday walk -the path to San Luca Sanctuary, close to the monumental part of the Certosa Cemetery, and not to mention, just outside the entrance of the football stadium.

My tip
Don’t think twice: order a coffee with Sambuca, chalk your pool stick and join the game.

Info
Bar Billi 1883
Via Pietro de Coubertin, 1, 40135 Bologna
Tel. +39 051 614 2225

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The first suggestion I give to tourists who ask me what to visit in Bologna is to walk. Bologna is small enough to be covered in a few hours and walking around is the best way to discover its hidden secrets: gardens, painted porticos, canals and, most important, people are easier to meet if you walk around. Now spring has arrived so here are 3 nice day walks you can have, plus one very special trekking for the athletes readers.   

San Luca Basilica represents a lot for Bolognese. It’s the first thing you see when you arrive in town and, even for people who don’t believe, its Virgin has a mystic value around it. Walking up there, after the 666 porticoes that connect Porta Saragozza to the Basilica, is a tradition for bolognese. You can find people jogging, pilgrims praying, or just families with children for a Sunday stroll.
​I usually walk up there with my camera, especially during sunset or at night, to admire the beautiful lights and relax in the quiet of the hill. There’s also a train that will bring you directly to San Luca, but I do agree with Eliot that says: “the journey, not the destination matters“.   

Where to start: Porta Saragozza
How long does it take: 55 minutes
My tip: go up there at night, even if the Basilica is closed the portico and its silence are invaluable

Villa Ghigi’s park dominates Bologna from a hill near Porta San Mamolo. From there you get a beautiful view of Bologna’s skyline and when the sky is clear you can also see Alps mountains. This park is my favorite location for a Sunday picnic, a lot more chilled than Giardini Margherita . So grab some bread, mortadella and a bottle of Pignoletto and relax between the rows of vines. 

Where to start: Porta San Mamolo
How long does it take: 45 minutes
My tip: visit Villa Ghigi in autumn, when the grape is ripe and the colors are beautiful

​www.fondazionevillaghigi.it

A nice and unusual way to spend a sunny afternoon in Bologna is to visit Parco della Chiusa. Start your walk (or ride) at Certosa Cemetery and visit it: it’s astonishing, then skirt one of the canal whose flow rate is controlled by “la Chiusa of Casalecchio”. La Chiusa (The Gate) is one of the oldest work of hydraulic in the world and helped the economic growth of Bologna during Middle Age by providing energy to its water mills to produce silk. La Chiusa is near a huge park that in the nineteenth century Stendhal, frequent visitor of these places, compared to Paris’ “Bois de Boulogne”. Take your time to relax or enjoy a trekking to San Luca through “De Bregoli” road.

Where to start: Certosa Cemetery
How long does it take: 40min
My tip: rent a bike and ride to Parco della Chiusa. Then leave it there and start your trekking around

​www.parcodellachiusa.it

Ok, I’m lying, if you know me you don’t expect me to walk the 130km that links Bologna to Florence through the old roman road called “Flaminia Militare”. But a few athletic friends made it and told me how beautiful this walking is.
Via degli dei (The Way of Gods) is the trekking path created in the late 80s of the ’900 by a group of Bolognese hikers, mostly follows these ancient tracks to rediscover some fine pavements of the Roman road. Not exactly a walk but still a good way to be in shape after a food tour in Bologna or Modena.

Where to start: Piazza Maggiore or San Luca
How long does it take: 4/6 days 
My tip: Take in in spring/late summer to avoid the bad or hot weather

​www.viadeglidei.it

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It’s really easy to have fun and enjoy Bologna without spending lot of money. Here are my top 5 suggestions but the best recommendation I can give is to leave home your map, wear comfortable shoes and start to wander under the porticoes of the city centre without hurry. Then take your time, look up to find out some hidden towers and maybe relax with a book in Piazza Santo Stefano. You’ll be surprised about how easy is to fall in love with Bologna.

It’s hard to describe how proud I feel everytime I watch a movie in Piazza Maggiore. It’s a privilege happening from June to mid-August when the most famous square of Bologna became an open air cinema with the program edited by Cineteca di Bologna. The selection of movies is wide, from classics to indipendents productions, from docs to mainstream but always with great attention. All the movies are in original language, subtitled.
​Be sure to arrive early to find a chair or bring it from home. 

Alice, one of the guides of my food tours, usually says that the best of Bologna is hidden. To agree with her you just have to enter Sala Borsa. In the past it was a basketball arena, a bank, a market, a botanical garden and a lot more but now is a public library with tons of books, magazines and audio/visual where you can read side by side with students or just have a coffee and take some rest during hot summer. The entrance is in Piazza Nettuno, be sure to step inside but I warn you: take a look at your clock because hours pass like seconds.  

I already wrote about Certosa Cemetery, I went there on a Sunday afternoon with my camera and walked around, got lost and discovered a city inside the city. A labyrinth of streets, with porticoes of course, where you can walk and find statues of lion, angels and children and be astonished by this silent museum that a few people know but deserves to be uncovered.    

San Luca is a lot more than a church for bolognesi. Everytime I come back from a journey and recognise the Basilica up on Colle della Guardia I feel like home. A bolognese tradition is to walk up there, starting at Porta Saragozza under the 666 porticoes that bring you at the top. Take your time, it will take about 1 hour if you walk, or put your jogging shoes and run! ​And when you come back maybe stop for a cheap spritz in one of the most traditional bolognese bar, Billi Bar, you deserved it.

Bologna is not a green city, or at least it seems like that if you walk around the city centre. The gardens are hidden inside the buildings but not far from the city centre there’s a park where you can rest under a tree, have a pic-nic and view Bologna’s skyline of towers and red roofs. It’s called Villa Ghigi, walk 600m from Porta San Mamolo and when you meet the news-stand start to walk up on your right. Then pass between some blocks and keep going until you see the first vineyards. Visit that in Autumn, hand in hand with your lover.

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Every year, the icon of San Luca Virgin is accompanied by a procession of devotees to the San Pietro Cathedral in Bologna, where it remaines for a week of solemn celebrations, before returning to the sanctuary. It’s a tradition that began in 1433,  after a series of natural disasters that plagued Bologna . 
This year I decided to follow the procession with my Canon and a 24mm. This is the result of my work.

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