Minghetti Square is a charming public space surrounded by historic buildings and lush greenery. Named after Marco Minghetti, a prominent Italian statesman, the square features a statue in his honor. It's a peaceful spot for both locals and visitors to relax, offering a mix of history and a welcoming atmosphere.
The Quadrilatero is a vibrant, historic district known for its narrow streets filled with traditional markets, artisan shops, and local eateries. Located near Piazza Maggiore, this area has been a hub of commerce since medieval times. It's a food lover's paradise, offering a rich variety of fresh produce, meats, cheeses, and handmade pasta, making it a must visit for anyone exploring the city's culinary heritage.
Via Pescherie Vecchie is a historic street renowned for its vibrant market atmosphere. Lined with traditional food stalls, butcher shops, and delicatessens, it offers a glimpse into the city's rich culinary traditions. Visitors can find fresh seafood, meats, cheeses, and local specialties, making it a popular spot for both locals and tourists seeking an authentic taste of Bologna.
The Fountain of Neptune is a majestic Renaissance monument created by sculptor Giambologna in the 16th century. Dominated by a towering bronze statue of Neptune, the Roman god of the sea, the fountain is an iconic symbol of the city. Its intricate details and imposing presence make it a popular attraction, blending art and history in the heart of Bologna.
Piazza Maggiore is the main square in Bologna, surrounded by historic landmarks like the Basilica of San Petronio and Palazzo d'Accursio. This vibrant public space has been a center of social and political life since medieval times, offering a lively atmosphere for locals and visitors. It's a must see spot, perfect for enjoying Bologna's rich history and architecture.
There are a few more stops along the way, but we’ll keep those as a surprise to make your experience even more special.
Our guide was charming but the tour had very little substance - there was very little historical background to Bologna. Useful tips on where to go and places to eat/visit.
This walking tour was perfect. We had a lovely guide called Olivia. It was just her and and my wife. Olivia was very knowledgeable and friendly. We would definitely recommend this .
My son and did a small group Secret Food Tour with Frederica. She was fantastic! She shared history of Bologna and their food specialties, among others. She didn’t move too quickly or too slowly. Her English was very good and easy to understand. She was an absolute delight!
Very nice guide who managed to keep a pretty diverse group together. He opened my eyes to appreciate some special elements of Bologna (without “lecturing “) and gave us plenty of advice when we dashed off.
The tour operator cancelled the tour less than 2 hours before the tour. I received no notification of this on whatsapp or by mail from the tour operator. So I sat there waiting for the guide who never showed up. Then I checked my mail. I only received a mail from tripadvisor notifying me of the cancellation. On such short notice, I had no chance of booking a different walking tour, and the tour operator did not reach out to offer an alternative time or day. Completely amateurish and unacceptable.
Thoroughly enjoyable and informative tour. Easy walk through a very interesting, vibrant city. Well worth doing.
Tour guide was full of interesting history, very friendly knowledgeable, able to answer our questions.
The tour was great. Frederik was very informative and added a personal insight to the information. He also made the effort to communicate with all different members of the group.
I don't recommend these guys. They cancelled our tour less than an hour from our start time with no reason stated.
Anna was wonderful and knowledgeable. Great pace, great communication skills and history of all things Bologna is!
Fredrico was well informed and very pleasant and helpful. He also gave us a wonderful recommendation for a restaurant
Olivia was a delightful guide. She was very friendly and showed us around several Bologna sights. At our request, Olivia shared names of great restaurants to try and explained a bit about food culture here. She relied on her notes a bit for the historical spots, but we ask lots of questions.
Extremely disappointed. The tour was scheduled for 1 pm and was cancelled at 1135 pm. After we had already left our hotel
Very good guide and tour.She explained the history,culture and food of the city.
Anna was an informative and friendly guide who walked us through the streets of Bologna old town and kept us enthralled for the 2hrs . It was a great introduction to this historic city .
Wonderful walking tour with Anna. Enjoyed very much!
Anna was very friendly and informative, showing and explaining things we probably would have otherwise missed.
Fred was very knowledgeable and very personable. He certainly knew his history. Very informative and very pleased we booked it!
beautiful experience discovering Bologna most important places. Oliwia has been a wonderful tour guide and she explained everything so clear and well.
An enjoyable walking tour that providedhistorical intetest and set the scene for our visit
What an amazing tour! Our guide, Michelle, was just fantastic. She was so friendly and knowledgeable about the city. She showed us some of Bologna’s most famous landmarks and gave us so many great recommendations for things to do while in the city. If you’re coming to Bologna, I highly recommend that you don’t miss out on this tour!
Great experience and very intresting information. Great for older people and older families.
The tour guide Julia was very interesting and had great energy alongside Roberta, they were fun and engaging. We enjoyed the tours of the Parmesan reggiano factory, the balsamic vinegar and prosciutto. The lunch was delicious with all the wonderful food and wines, also the breakfast earlier. We had a really fun day, that we won’t forget and would highly recommend this tour. We thank Julia, Roberta and all the others who hosted us on this tour.
Great experience. Always learn so much.
Fred was our tour guide and it started promptly at 11. Generally the tour was split into historical for the first half of the tour, we thought Fred covered this well for a short walking tour. His knowledge was excellent and we certainly went away with a good appreciation of central Bologna. Then we moved into the market area for the Food and Drink section of the tour. Covered the food really well including long stops in front of several businesses. Less if not any mention of the many fabulous local wines, spirits and beer. Not surprising as he had mentioned on a few occassions he was a non drinker. I do not know of Freds history with alcohol but it was something we didn't need to know. Overall a good tour which people will enjoy.
The guide was very nice but her command of English could have been better and we would have learned more. Very nice person, though
I loved every minute! The guide, Fred, was very knowledgeable and interesting. He kept everyone’s interest at all the stops we made. He was kind and very gracious. It was a great experience.
Very interesting Tour around the City Center with great food recommendations (no tasting, just infos) ☺️
Frederick was great! He was clear and interesting and friendly. I would recommend him any time.
Fantastic, knowledgable, funny and highly perceptive guide. Our tour was during record heat and he kept us in the shade except for two very brief stops. Recommend it highly.
Fred was an excellent guide. He was very knowledgeable and showed the hidden gems and their meanings in Bologna. He also kindly shared recommendations for food, gelato etc which were greatly appreciated.
First our tour was canceled the night before due to the “unavailability “ of the tour guide. We rescheduled for the next day. The tour leader’s English was not strong and she would give information while walking that made it impossible to hear. We finally dropped out after 2 hours.
A very interesting two hours tour, discovering amazing palaces and monuments, with a lot of surprises. I recommand to experience Bologna and the atmosphere of her porticos!
Anna was fantastic! She was punctual and gave us a really good introduction to Bologna with great explanations walking around the main areas and into some free sites as well. Gave us useful tips for food and shopping too! Overall a wonderful walking tour.
This was a terrible tour, our guide was Anna, she didn’t seem to know that much about the city and she didn’t seem to have a plan of where/what she would show us. We also didn’t have ear pieces so it was really difficult to hear her. I was so disappointed at the quality of Thai tour
It’s an informative tour. If you like history - this is for you! Be prepared for the weather. Sunglasses, hat, and comfortable shoes are a must.
A walking tour of Bologna was given by Anna. Very knowledgeable and friendly. Answered all our questions. Definitely recommend.
I booked this tour based on the great reviews. The day before the tour the time we had booked changed twice and we had to alter our plans for the day. Not ideal, but it got worse…. I have never encountered such a bad tour guide. She didn’t even tell us her name and there was no engagement with the group. We walked around Bologna but I did not learn one thing from the tour. I had actually been here before and she walked straight past some great ‘hidden gems’ that I was familiar with. After the tour I put in a request for a 50% refund but this was refused by the tour operator. In fairness Viatour dealt with it efficiently so my gripe is not with them, it is with a group called ‘Local Tour Expert’, avoid at all costs.
The guide did not really tell us anything about the places we saw. I have been on 20+ walking tours all over Europe and this was the least informative one I have EVER been on
We had a lovely time with Fred on the tour. His passion for his city is evident and his knowledge of the old town was vast! He gave great recommendations to continue exploring the city, as well. We're fortunate for our experience on this tour. The only downside is that it was sometimes hard to hear Fred at certain points of the tour due to the city being a city. I recommend staying closer to Fred if you're hard of hearing.
One of the best guides we've experienced during our travels! Very detailed, knowledgable, patient, kind and just a nice person to be around.
This was the perfect introduction to Bologna's history and food. Fredrico was so passionate about his city and pointed out so many hidden gems and nuggets of history (like the errant arrow stuck in the ceiling) He shared how Bologna's food history evolved and gave us a great list of options to try.
Very informative, excellent knowledge, looked after everyone in the hot Sun!
Very good and informative. Learned history about the canals; towers; aqueducts and most importantly, the food!
Our guide was an art historian and focused primarily on the art history and architecture more than on the overall history of Bologna. Also her English was not excellent and there were a few communication problems when we had questions. But, she was really nice and friendly and did her best. However, since we paid a rather hefty price for a private tour in English the price vs what we got did not correapond to our expectations.
Fred was outstanding! He made the history, culture, symbols &hidden gems come alive !!!! He asked questions of our group and it was interactive and engaging.., one of the best tour guides ever ❣️😀
We thoroughly enjoyed our tour with Frederick. I gave four stars rather than five for two reasons: 1) our tour was consolidated with another because of impending bad weather, and this made for an awfully large group to lead through the crowded streets and alleys that are shared with motor vehicles; and 2) it was difficult at times to hear Frederick because he was not miked and at times talked through loud background noise (like scooters and buses). His pace was ideal, and his insights were fascinating. My recommendation would have been to find another tour guide to split the group up. I also do feel that the audio needs to be enhanced once you get to a group size larger than, say, eight people. I believe our total was over 20.
Fred was a great tour guide, interesting architecture, food tour (no eating but provided recommendations and explanations for pasta, meats, bakeries, etc). Pleasant, well spoken, and great pace.
We had a guide called Fredick. He was local, professional, friendly, knowledgeable. We learnt so much. No head phones, just him talking. At the end he gives amazing recommendations for eating and drinking and you can WhatsApp him anytime after
Our guide was very informative, spoke with passion about his home city, we felt we really got a lot out of the time. Very friendly and good fun. Helped us with suggestions about other places we should see and where to find good locally food / produce.
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