Things to do in Bologna

Bologna is built for rain. Porticoes cover the pavements, forty kilometres of them, old enough to be UNESCO-listed. Two leaning medieval towers, Asinelli and Garisenda, still mark the skyline over Piazza Maggiore.

The old centre

The university dates to 1088, the oldest in the Western world. Students still fill the streets around it. The Jewish quarter survives nearby, in a knot of lanes off Via dell'Inferno.

Beyond the centre

• Ducati Museum. The factory and museum sit at Borgo Panigale, on the edge of the city.
• Lamborghini Museum. A short drive out at Sant'Agata Bolognese, often paired with Ducati on one ticket.
• Modena day trips. Balsamic vinegar cellars and the Enzo Ferrari Museum, bookable straight from Bologna.
• The market. Stalls behind Piazza Maggiore have sold the same produce for centuries.

Food and puzzles

Food tours teach the city's own cooking: ragù, tortellini in broth, mortadella. Kitchens, not counters, are where they happen. Scavenger hunts and self-guided quests cover the centre for anyone who prefers a puzzle to a guide.

Practical

• Getting around. The centre is compact and flat; porticoes mean weather barely slows a walk.
• Weather. Summer pushes past 30C with thick humidity that the porticoes do little to cut. Winter brings fog and nights close to freezing; April, May, September and October are milder and drier.
• Meal times. Lunch from 12:30, dinner rarely before 19:30; kitchens close between the two.
• Sunday. Some smaller museums close; the big food market keeps shorter hours too.
• Trains. Bologna Centrale connects Milan, Florence and the whole Via Emilia in well under two hours.
• Porticoes. The UNESCO-listed stretches run mostly around the university and toward San Luca.
• Aperitivo. Early evening drinks usually come with a small buffet, filling enough to delay dinner.