- AirGuglielmo Marconi airportunder ten minutes to Centrale by the Marconi ExpressNote a "Bologna" fare that lands at Forlì, Rimini, Pisa or Florence
- High-speed railBologna Centrale, underground hallFlorence under forty minutes · Milan about an hourNote the high-speed platforms are deep below the old station
- Regional railBologna Centrale, surface platformsthe rest of Emilia-RomagnaNote a paper regional ticket must be validated
- Coachthe Autostazionea short walk from CentraleNote some operators stop elsewhere — read the ticket
- Cara car park outside the centerthen walk or take the bus inNote ZTL cameras at the entrances to the center
- 01By air: Bologna Guglielmo Marconi
- 02By train: Bologna Centrale
- 03By coach
- 04By car: the ZTL
- 05Once you are here
01By air: Bologna Guglielmo Marconi
Bologna's airport, Guglielmo Marconi, sits a few kilometers north-west of the center. The Marconi Express, an elevated people-mover, runs from the terminal to Bologna Centrale station in under ten minutes, with one stop on the way at Lazzaretto. Taxis wait outside arrivals.
Note The thing people get wrong is the airport itself. A cheap fare sold as "Bologna" or "Emilia-Romagna" may land at Forlì or Rimini, towards the coast, and flights to Pisa or Florence land on the other side of the Apennines in Tuscany. From any of them Bologna is a separate journey — a transfer to a station and then a train. Check the airport code before you book.
02By train: Bologna Centrale
Bologna is the junction of Italy's high-speed network, and it is fast to reach from almost everywhere in the north and center: Florence in under forty minutes, Milan in about an hour, Venice in about an hour and a half, and Rome in a little over two hours. Both Trenitalia and Italo run high-speed services.
Note The high-speed platforms are not in the station you see. They are in a separate hall built deep underground beneath the old station, reached by long escalators and walkways. Allow real time between the street, the historic platforms and a high-speed platform — ten or fifteen minutes is prudent, more with luggage or a tight connection — and check which level your train leaves from before you set off across the concourse.
Regional trains to the rest of Emilia-Romagna mostly use the surface platforms. If you hold a paper regional ticket, validate it before you board.
03By coach
Long-distance coaches use the city's bus station, the Autostazione, on the northern edge of the center beside the Montagnola park — a short walk from Bologna Centrale along via dell'Indipendenza. Note Some operators stop elsewhere; the stop printed on your ticket is the one that counts.
04By car: the ZTL
Several motorways meet at Bologna, so it is easy to drive to. Driving into it is another matter. Much of the historic center is a ZTL, a limited traffic zone, and its entrances are watched by cameras that record the plate of every unauthorized car. The fine arrives by post, sometimes months later, through your rental company.
If your hotel is inside the zone, ask it before you arrive whether it can register your plate for access, and follow its instructions exactly. The central streets of via Rizzoli, via Ugo Bassi and via dell'Indipendenza are closed to private cars altogether, and at weekends and on holidays they become pedestrian streets.
Otherwise, park outside the center and walk or take the bus in. This site gives no fine amounts or hours: the city's own ZTL page is the authority.
05Once you are here
Bologna Centrale is at the northern edge of the old city, a walk of about a quarter of an hour down via dell'Indipendenza to Piazza Maggiore, under porticoes most of the way. For buses, bicycles and walking the center, see getting around.
Booking the practical bits
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Two things that help on the day you arrive: somewhere to leave a bag between the train and the hotel, and a data plan that works before you step off the plane.
