Best Things to Do in Bologna: 17 Sights Ranked

Bologna is a city for medieval streets under porticoes, a university founded in the Middle Ages, brick churches and food markets, almost all inside a center you cross on foot in 25 minutes. Two full days cover the first twelve entries on this list. One day covers the first six.

At a glance

Closed right now: the Asinelli Tower cannot be climbed and the terrace of San Petronio is permanently shut. The Clock Tower is the view you can book.
Booking needed: the Anatomical Theatre in the Archiginnasio, the Clock Tower, the Ducati museum and factory, cooking classes.
Free: Piazza Maggiore, Santo Stefano, San Domenico, the porticoes, the walk to San Luca and the sanctuary. More ideas in free things to do in Bologna.
Closing days to plan around: Archiginnasio on Sunday, Santo Stefano and most civic museums on Monday, the Archaeological Museum on Tuesday, the Ducati museum on Wednesday.
Read next: the full Bologna guide, how many days to spend in Bologna and where to stay in Bologna.

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The first six: do these on any visit

1. Piazza Maggiore and the Neptune Fountain

The main square is framed by San Petronio, Palazzo d'Accursio (the town hall) and Palazzo del Podestà. The Neptune Fountain stands in the adjoining Piazza del Nettuno. The bronze statue is by Giambologna and the fountain was built between 1563 and 1567. Time: 30 minutes. Booking: none, it is public space.

2. Basilica of San Petronio

The city's largest church has an unfinished facade, marble below and bare brick above. Inside, look for the meridian line traced on the floor in 1655 by the astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini. It is 67 meters long and still marks solar noon. Time: 30 to 45 minutes. The basilica is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00, last entry 17:50. The official page lists a ticket only for the three painted chapels, including the Bolognini chapel (Chapel of the Magi): €5 full price, €3 reduced. Shoulders and knees must be covered. The panoramic terrace is closed permanently.

3. Archiginnasio and the Anatomical Theatre

The Archiginnasio was built in 1562 and 1563 and was the seat of the university until 1803. The Anatomical Theatre, a lecture room carved in wood in 1637, was badly damaged by bombing in 1944 and rebuilt. Time: 45 minutes. Booking: mandatory, online, for the Anatomical Theatre and the Stabat Mater Hall. The audioguided visit costs €10 (€8 reduced) and the guided visit, which adds two more rooms, costs €12. The building is open Monday to Saturday from 9:00 to 19:00 and closed on Sunday. The courtyard is free to enter.

4. Santo Stefano, the "seven churches"

A group of connected churches, a courtyard and a Benedictine cloister built in different centuries, facing a triangular cobbled square. The cloister dates from the 10th to 13th centuries. Time: 45 minutes. Booking: none. Entry is free with a donation. The complex closes for lunch from 12:30 to 14:30 and is closed to visitors on Mondays.

5. Quadrilatero and the food markets

The Quadrilatero is the grid of narrow market streets between Piazza Maggiore and the Two Towers, a trading district since the Middle Ages. Time: 30 minutes to walk, longer if you eat. Booking: none. Read the Quadrilatero guide and the best food markets in Bologna before you go, and the Bologna food guide for what to order.

6. The Two Towers, from the ground

The Asinelli Tower is 97.02 meters high and has 498 steps. The Garisenda next to it is 47 meters high and leans visibly. As of November 2026 the Asinelli is closed for maintenance in the area, the Garisenda is under restoration, and the Bologna tourist office gives no reopening date. Time: 10 minutes to look from Piazza di Porta Ravegnana. Check the tourist office page listed in the sources before you travel.

Seven to twelve: for a second day

7. Clock Tower and the Municipal Art Collections

The clock tower of Palazzo d'Accursio is the bookable viewpoint over Piazza Maggiore while the Asinelli is shut (note: the Asinelli Tower is currently closed to visitors with no reopening date announced; check bolognawelcome.com). The ticket costs €10 (€7 reduced) and includes an audioguide on your own phone plus entry to the Municipal Art Collections in the same palace. Time: 40 minutes for the tower, an hour for the collections. Booking: compulsory. Entry is at fixed times three times an hour, and from 7 September 2026 to 28 February 2027 the first slot is at 10:00 and the last at 18:20. There is no lift, and children under 8 cannot go up to the top terrace.

8. The porticoes and the walk to San Luca

UNESCO lists twelve groups of porticoes in Bologna as a World Heritage property, chosen from a total of 62 km of covered walkways. The longest one runs about four kilometers from Porta Saragozza up to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca, under more than 600 arches. Time: half a day with the walk up and back. Booking: none. The sanctuary is free and open from 7:00 to 18:00, half an hour longer from March to October. If you do not want to climb, the San Luca Express tourist train leaves from Piazza Galvani and costs €15 return. Details of the route are in the guide to Bologna's porticoes.

9. Santa Maria della Vita

This church beside the Quadrilatero holds the Lamentation over the Dead Christ by Niccolò dell'Arca, a group of life-size terracotta figures from the second half of the 15th century. Time: 20 to 30 minutes. Booking: not required. The ticket costs €8 (€5 reduced) and the church is open every day from 10:00 to 18:30, last admission 18:00.

10. Pinacoteca Nazionale

The national picture gallery has a polyptych by Giotto and works by Raphael, Perugino, Titian, Tintoretto, the Carracci, Guido Reni and Guercino. Time: 90 minutes. Booking: not required. The full ticket costs €12, visitors aged 18 to 25 pay €2 and under 18s enter free. It is open Tuesday to Sunday from 9:00 to 19:00, closed on Monday, and free on the first Sunday of the month.

11. Museo Civico Archeologico

The archaeological museum explains Felsina, the Etruscan city that came before Bologna, and has an Egyptian collection in the basement that the tourist office ranks third in Italy. Time: 90 minutes. Booking: not required. The full ticket costs €6. The museum is closed on Tuesdays unless the day is a public holiday.

12. Basilica of San Domenico

The church holds the tomb of Saint Dominic, a marble monument with sculptures by Nicola Pisano, Niccolò dell'Arca and the young Michelangelo. Time: 30 minutes. Booking: none, entry is free. On weekdays it is open 7:00 to 13:00 and 15:30 to 20:00. The tourist office reported restoration work due to end in July 2026.

Thirteen to seventeen: if you have a third day or a specific interest

13. The window on Via Piella

A small opening in a wall at Via Piella 16 looks down on the Canale delle Moline, one of the canals that the city built over. Time: five minutes. Booking: none. It is one view through a window. Do not cross the city for it.

14. International Museum and Library of Music

The museum shows instruments, scores and letters collected by Padre Martini, the teacher Mozart came to study with in 1770 at the age of 14. Time: one hour. Booking: not required. The full ticket costs €5 and the museum is closed on Mondays.

15. MAMbo and Museo Morandi

The modern art museum also houses the Museo Morandi, dedicated to the Bolognese painter Giorgio Morandi, and one ticket covers both. Time: 90 minutes. Booking: not required. The full ticket costs €6. The museum is closed on Mondays and opens only from 14:00 on Tuesdays. For the artist's home and studio see the Morandi art tour.

16. A cooking class or a food tour

Fresh egg pasta is the city's craft, and a class teaches you to roll and shape it by hand. Booking: needed. Compare options in the best cooking classes in Bologna, pasta-making classes and the best food tours. To eat without a class, use the Bologna restaurant guide.

17. Ducati Museum and factory

The motorcycle maker's museum and production line are at Borgo Panigale, outside the center. Time: half a day with travel. Booking: tickets are sold on Ducati's online platform, and the factory tour ticket includes the museum. The museum is open 9:00 to 18:00 and closed on Wednesdays except in August. Factory tours run on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 9:15 and 15:15, and closed-toe shoes are required. See the Ducati Museum guide. For industrial photography closer to the center, read the MAST guide.

What to skip if you are short on time

With one day: stop at number six. Add the Clock Tower only if you booked a slot.
San Luca takes half a day. Leave it out on a one-day visit unless the walk is the reason you came.
Ducati is for motorcycle fans and costs half a day.
Do not wait for the Two Towers to reopen. Plan as if they stay closed.

How to group them by day

Day one: Piazza Maggiore, San Petronio and the Archiginnasio in the morning, since they are next to each other. Eat in the Quadrilatero, look in at Santa Maria della Vita, pass the Two Towers and end at Santo Stefano after it reopens at 14:30. See Bologna in one day.

Day two: the Clock Tower at 10:00, then either the Pinacoteca or the Archaeological Museum. After lunch walk to San Domenico, continue to Porta Saragozza and climb to San Luca. See Bologna in two days.

Day three: a cooking class or food tour in the morning and one of numbers 13 to 15 in the afternoon, or Ducati, or a train trip to Modena, Parma, Ferrara or the Ravenna mosaics. See Bologna in three days.

For buses to the hills and Borgo Panigale use the Bologna public transport guide, and for arrival see how to get from Bologna airport to the center. Season matters for the San Luca walk: compare months in the best time to visit Bologna.

What to book ahead

Archiginnasio: the Anatomical Theatre and Stabat Mater Hall need an online booking.
Clock Tower: reservation is compulsory.
Ducati: buy online before you go, and check the list of days without factory tours.
Cooking classes and food tours: book before you arrive.
Everything else on this list takes walk-in visitors.

The Bologna Welcome Card EASY costs €35 and covers one entry to the Clock Tower, a guided walk of the center, the Pinacoteca, Santa Maria della Vita and the civic museums including the Archaeological Museum and MAMbo. The PLUS card costs €55 and adds the San Luca Express, the City Red Bus and the San Petronio chapels. Both expire 15 days after first use. More in is the Bologna Welcome Card worth it.

Questions travelers ask

Can you climb the Asinelli Tower in Bologna?

Not as of November 2026. The Bologna tourist office lists the Asinelli Tower as closed for maintenance in the area and gives no reopening date. The Clock Tower of Palazzo d'Accursio on Piazza Maggiore is open instead, costs €10 and must be booked.

Is the Basilica of San Petronio free to enter?

The basilica's official page lists a ticket only for the tour of three chapels, which costs €5 at full price, and a €2 rate for school and parish groups. The basilica is open every day from 10:00 to 18:00 and the panoramic terrace is permanently closed.

What needs to be booked in advance in Bologna?

Two sights in the center: the Anatomical Theatre in the Archiginnasio, where online booking is mandatory and the audioguided visit costs €10, and the Clock Tower, where a timed reservation is compulsory. Outside the center, Ducati tickets are sold online.

How do you get to the Sanctuary of San Luca?

On foot under a portico that starts at Porta Saragozza and runs about four kilometers uphill, or on the San Luca Express tourist train from Piazza Galvani, which costs €15 return. The sanctuary is free and open from 7:00 to 18:00, until 18:30 from March to October.

Is the Bologna Welcome Card worth buying?

The EASY card costs €35. Used for the Clock Tower (€10), the Pinacoteca (€12), Santa Maria della Vita (€8), the Archaeological Museum (€6) and MAMbo (€6), it replaces €42 of tickets and also includes a guided walk. It does not pay off if you visit only two of these.

How many days do you need to see Bologna?

Two days. The first covers Piazza Maggiore, San Petronio, the Archiginnasio, the Quadrilatero and Santo Stefano, all within a ten-minute walk of each other. The second covers the Clock Tower, one museum and the four-kilometre portico to San Luca.

Bologna guide Where to stay in Bologna Bologna food guide Free things to do Is Bologna worth visiting?

Keep planning: Best day trips from Bologna.

Sources

Also consulted on Bologna Welcome: the pages for Piazza del Nettuno, the Via Piella window, the International Museum and Library of Music, MAMbo and the Ducati Museum.

More Bologna guides

Author: the TourLeaderPro.com editorial team, a network of tour leaders and registered tourist guides in Italy.

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Best things to do in Bologna: 17 sights in priority order