Access Bologna Seen from under the porticoes.
Vaults under a Bologna portico
READING UNDER THE ARCADE

The Journal

Visitor questions about Bologna, answered at length: the view when the tower is shut, a first evening under the arcades, where to eat standing up, and what to do with your bag.

Scgsweleven, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Where to see Bologna from above when you cannot climb the towerLatest · 12 September 2026Where to see Bologna from above when you cannot climb the towerThe Asinelli climb may not be running when you visit. Here is what the tower view gives you, and the hills and corridors that give it back another way.
  1. 2Getting Here · 12 September 2026What to do with your luggage between the train and the hotelYou arrive in Bologna hours before you can check in, or leave hours after checking out. What to do with the bag, and how to move it around the center.
  2. 3The Porticoes · 12 September 2026Spend your first evening in Bologna under the arcadesYou have arrived, dropped your bag and have a few hours of light left. Here is a first walk through Bologna that needs no ticket and teaches you the city.
  3. 4The Quadrilatero · 12 September 2026How the Quadrilatero works when you want to eat standing upBologna's medieval market lanes still feed the city. What is sold where, when to go, and how to eat there without a booking or a menu.
  4. 5Day Trips · 12 September 2026Choosing between Bologna and Florence as a base changes what your days look likeFlorence is under forty minutes from Bologna by high-speed train. Which city you sleep in decides your day trips, your evenings and how often you wait.
  5. 6The Porticoes · 12 September 2026A rainy day in Bologna hardly changes the planBologna was built to be walked in bad weather. How to spend a wet day under the porticoes, and which rooms are at their best when it rains.

Coming along the portico

Questions this journal is working through next. Each will get a piece of its own.