*POST UPDATED OCTOBER 2026
Happy Wednesday, friends! I hope this post finds you well. Today I’m dropping in to share the fifth & final post in my Tuscan travel guide series: Bologna, A Love Letter. In case you missed it, earlier posts in the series included An Ode to Florence, 24 Hours in San Gimignano, A Quick Guide to Siena, and Castellina in Chianti, A Guide to Tuscany’s Most Overlooked Village.
Technically, Bologna isn’t in Tuscany — it’s the capital city of the Emilia-Romagna region — but we just can’t go to Italy and not visit our favourite city. It’s physically impossible for us. Just think of this as a bonus post, okay?
My main Bologna travel guide — Italian Adventures: Bologna — already explains a lot of what we know and love about the city, but some places are so good they deserve another mention. What follows is a handful of notes, love letters if you will, about our Bolognese faves and a handful of new discoveries. Enjoy!
getting there
Generally speaking, getting to Bologna is rather easy. Guglielmo Marconi Airport is only 6km outside the city, and a shuttle bus will drop you straight into the heart of Bologna in less than 30-minutes. However, getting to Bologna from Castellina in Chianti by public transport is no easy feat. It involves two buses, one train, about three & a half hours, and an understandable dose of stress. These are the steps we took:
in Castellina, go to the bus-stop you arrived in town at: Castellina Paese Molino. Take the 125 bus towards Autostazione, and get out at Fontebecci. We asked the driver to tell us when the stop was coming up; it took about 30-minutes to reach.
at Fontebecci, diagonally cross over from where you get dropped off (left of the McDonald’s/service station) to the bus-stop. Take the 131R towards Firenze and get out at the last stop – the SITA bus station. We were waiting about 40-minutes for the bus to arrive, and the journey took just over an hour.
make your way to Santa Maria Train Station – in the same building block, just around the other side – and take the Frecciarossa to Bologna Centrale. These trains are quite regular, and the journey should take about 35-minutes.
where to have coffee
Caffé Zanarini // forever a must-visit. Highlights include: creme croissant, pistachio croissant, pain au chocolat, and strong coffee. You can read more here. Address: P.zza Galvani, 1, 40124 Bologna BO