01The rules that make Bologna work
Walk, and use the porticoes. The center is small, and the best of it is the fabric between the sights.
Note Plan around what is shut. Italy's state museums close one day a week; many churches pause for a long lunch; a great deal closes in August; and a climb up the Asinelli may or may not be running — check before you build a day around it.
Eat at the center of the day. Plan the morning around a sight, lunch in the Quadrilatero, and the afternoon around a walk.
02One day
Piazza Maggiore and the Neptune early; San Petronio and the Archiginnasio; lunch in the Quadrilatero with Santa Maria della Vita on the way; Santo Stefano in the afternoon; and the two towers from via Rizzoli as the light goes.
03Two days
Day two starts with the walk up the San Luca portico while it is cool. Back in town, San Domenico and the porticoes of Strada Maggiore.
04Three days
Give a day to la Dotta: via Zamboni, Palazzo Poggi and the Pinacoteca, then north to the Finestrella and the Montagnola.
05Five days
Now leave for a day, twice. Ravenna for the mosaics, and Modena or Ferrara — each close enough to be back in Bologna for dinner.
06A week
Add Parma, or Florence across the mountains, and keep one day entirely empty.
The empty day is the recommendation: sit on the edge of the Crescentone, walk a portico you have not walked, and let the city show you what it does when it is not being visited.
