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Italy
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Emilia-Romagna
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Metropolitan City of Bologna
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Bologna
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Tours & Activities
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Bologna City Walking Tour
2 h
By walk
Instant confirmation
About this activity
Choose from a morning of afternoon departure, then make your way to the tourist office in Piazza Maggiore, which is situated in the heart of Bologna Old Town. After introductions, pop in your headphones (if your group consists of eight people or more) to ensure you can hear the live narration, and set off on foot with your guide.
Bologna is the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. Italians have several nicknames for the handsome city, one of which is ‘La Rossa’ meaning ‘The Red.' This nickname is partly due to the dominant red hue of the city’s buildings and façades.
Before leaving Piazza Maggiore, admire the 16th-century Fontana del Nettuno, which depicts the sea god Neptune in all his muscly glory. Make your way to the nearby Basilica di San Petronio, a superb example of Gothic architecture. Listen as your guide talks you through its standout features including a large sundial on the interior floor, and several unfinished details on the façade.
Continue on foot toward Piazza della Mercanzia and stroll around the narrow streets surrounding the square, where rows of vendors hawk local food products. As you browse the quality produce, it will soon become clear why Bologna is frequently cited as one of Italy’s top food cities.
Next, arrive at the courtyard of the Archiginnasio, the former seat of the University of Bologna. The university, which is Europe’s oldest, dates back to the 11th century.
After hearing about Bologna’s scholarly past, stop into the Church of Santa Maria della Vita to admire a monumental group of life-size Baroque terracotta sculptures. The work depicts several figures mourning over the dead Christ.
Lastly, cast your eyes skyward to view the leaning Asinelli and Garisenda towers. Commonly known as the Two Towers (Due Torri), they are Bologna’s most conspicuous landmarks. Yout tour then concludes at this location.
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Bologna is the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. Italians have several nicknames for the handsome city, one of which is ‘La Rossa’ meaning ‘The Red.' This nickname is partly due to the dominant red hue of the city’s buildings and façades.
Before leaving Piazza Maggiore, admire the 16th-century Fontana del Nettuno, which depicts the sea god Neptune in all his muscly glory. Make your way to the nearby Basilica di San Petronio, a superb example of Gothic architecture. Listen as your guide talks you through its standout features including a large sundial on the interior floor, and several unfinished details on the façade.
Continue on foot toward Piazza della Mercanzia and stroll around the narrow streets surrounding the square, where rows of vendors hawk local food products. As you browse the quality produce, it will soon become clear why Bologna is frequently cited as one of Italy’s top food cities.
Next, arrive at the courtyard of the Archiginnasio, the former seat of the University of Bologna. The university, which is Europe’s oldest, dates back to the 11th century.
After hearing about Bologna’s scholarly past, stop into the Church of Santa Maria della Vita to admire a monumental group of life-size Baroque terracotta sculptures. The work depicts several figures mourning over the dead Christ.
Lastly, cast your eyes skyward to view the leaning Asinelli and Garisenda towers. Commonly known as the Two Towers (Due Torri), they are Bologna’s most conspicuous landmarks. Yout tour then concludes at this location.
Included
- English and Italian speaking Professional guide
- Earphones
- The Bank holiday days of April 25th, May 1st, June 2nd, August 15th will run on as per Sunday's schedule at 10.30AM.
Not included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Food and drinks
- Gratuities
Additional
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Wheelchair accessible
- The tour is both in English and Italian
- Stroller accessible
- Near public transportation
- Transportation is wheelchair accessible
- Surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- NB: Dressing appropriately is required to enter some places of worship. It is recommended to cover shoulders and knees, and you must wear shoes.
- Most travelers can participate
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 15 travelers
Features
Tourism
90%
Cultural
75%
Sport
25%
Reviews
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A great introduction to a beautiful city!our guide was so interesting and took as to all major attractions!lasted over 2 hours!do this at start of your holiday-a good introduction to a wonderful city
This was a two hour tour and while we visited some of the major sites in Bologna, we didn't walk away feeling like we had a great understanding of Bologna. It was more just showing some of the major sites. I would recommend looking at another tour. It is also given in two languages so while it's a two hour tour, half of the time in in English and the other half in Italian.
I'm not sure if it was advertised to be in 2 languages, but we spent 50% of a 2 hour tour standing around while the same thing was explained a second time, in a language we did not understand. After an hour we abandoned the tour.
Theres was a half marathon in the city and the guide was very good in going around the closed off areas to get where we needed.Very informative.
The tour was enjoyable and informative but I was traveling with a teen who was wearing shorts. I was not aware that an important part of the tour would be inside of a church or I would have made sure that my daughter would have dressed accordingly. She was denied entry and we missed twenty minutes of the tour. A large chunk considering the tour was approximately an hour and a half. Please disclose the locations and appropriate dress in the description of the tour. It would avoided humiliating a teen and missing out on an important part of the tour.
Great experience! you got all the information on history and background of the main attractions - and we even went inside some- we ticked all the boxes and had a very interesting tour. Well worth your time and money!
Awful tour. Most of the group were English speaking approx. 20 people, 6 were Italian. The Italian guide spoke very accented English and was difficult to understand with or without the microphone. She only engaged with the Italians . The English speakers looked bored and wandered off from the group. We 4 of us, stuck it out for 20 minutes before giving up. I complained to the Tourist Office but got an unsympathetic ' well there is nothing we can do'. Don't bother with this tour... get a guide book and ask the very helpful locals.