Bologna 7-Day Itinerary: Ravenna, Florence and Slow Days

How should you spend 7 days in Bologna?

Split the centre over two days, walk up to San Luca on day 3, see Ravenna’s mosaics on day 4 and slow down with an exhibition and the markets on day 5. Take the train to Florence on day 6 and finish in Ferrara, 26 minutes away by Italo. Start on a Tuesday if you can.

The Bologna 3-day itinerary fits the centre into one day and offers museums or a train trip as an either-or. A week lets the centre take two unhurried days, gives San Luca a whole morning, and adds three train trips without ever stacking them back to back.

Bologna Centrale is the hub for every day trip and the airport monorail, so a base inside the walls near Via Indipendenza or the station saves time; where to stay in Bologna compares the areas.

This is a desk-researched suggested route, checked on 16 October 2026 against Bologna Welcome, the sites themselves, the Comune di Bologna, Italo, the Uffizi and Ravenna’s mosaic monuments. Check the best time to visit Bologna for fair weeks, fog and heat.

What does the 7-day Bologna plan look like at a glance?

Four days stay in Bologna and three use the trains: Ravenna by regional train, Florence by high-speed train and Ferrara by Italo. The table gives each day’s anchor, transport, what to book and the closure trap. Mondays close several Bologna museums and the Uffizi, so they shape the order most.

Closures come from the sites and Bologna Welcome. The Archiginnasio admits visitors Monday to Saturday (Bologna Welcome); Santo Stefano, Palazzo Poggi and the Pinacoteca close on Mondays (Santo Stefano, Palazzo Poggi, Pinacoteca); San Luca’s terrace closes on Sundays (sanctuary); and the Uffizi closes on Mondays (Uffizi).

A Tuesday start lines everything up: the Archiginnasio on a Tuesday, the museum day on Wednesday, San Luca on Thursday, Grand Tour Italia open on Saturday and the Uffizi on Sunday. From a Wednesday start, swap days 6 and 7 so Florence avoids Monday.

What should you book before a week in Bologna?

Book the Archiginnasio and the Clock Tower, which both need a reserved slot, and the timed entries Ravenna requires for the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and the Neonian Baptistery. Add an Uffizi ticket if you want certainty in Florence. Bologna’s tourist tax stops after five consecutive nights, which helps on a week-long stay.

Online booking is compulsory for the Archiginnasio and its Anatomical Theatre: the audio-guided visit costs €10 and takes about 40 minutes, and English guided tours cost €12 (Bologna Welcome). The Clock Tower in Palazzo d’Accursio costs €10, admits three groups an hour, has no lift and bars under-eights from its summit terrace (Bologna Welcome).

Ravenna requires a booked entry time for the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and the Neonian Baptistery, and its five-monument ticket also needs a slot for the Archiepiscopal Museum (Ravenna mosaics). The Uffizi charges €25 on the day or €29 bought in advance (Uffizi).

The Comune di Bologna charges its tourist tax for at most five consecutive nights, at €4 to €7 per person per night depending on the price. On a seven-night stay in the €5.80 band, two people therefore pay €58 rather than €81.20. Under-14s are exempt.

Days 1 and 2: how do you split Bologna’s medieval centre?

On day 1, start at San Petronio when it opens at 10:00, take your Archiginnasio slot, lunch in the Quadrilatero and climb the Clock Tower in the afternoon. On day 2, visit Santo Stefano in the morning, then spend the afternoon in the university quarter at Palazzo Poggi and the Pinacoteca Nazionale.

San Petronio opens daily 10:00–18:00; shoulders and knees must be covered, luggage is not allowed and the chapel route costs €5, but the panoramic terrace has closed permanently. The Two Towers are for the street only: the Asinelli is closed and the Garisenda is not accessible, with no reopening date (Bologna Welcome), and the square at their base is fenced off during the works (Comune di Bologna).

Santo Stefano, the Seven Churches, opens Tuesday to Friday 9:30–12:30 and 14:30–19:00 (Bologna Welcome). Palazzo Poggi opens Tuesday to Friday 10:00–16:00 and at weekends 10:00–18:00 for €10 (Sistema Museale di Ateneo), and the Pinacoteca Nazionale opens Tuesday to Sunday 9:00–19:00 (Bologna Welcome).

For a first-evening orientation, Bologna Welcome’s two-hour walking tour costs €18, with English departures at 15:00 on Thursdays and at 10:30 and 15:00 from Friday to Sunday until 10 January 2027 (Bologna Welcome). The porticoes that keep these walks dry total 62 km and are a UNESCO World Heritage Site (UNESCO).

Day 3: how do you make the San Luca walk an unhurried day?

Walk the 3.5 km portico from Porta Saragozza to the San Luca sanctuary in the morning, past 666 arches and 15 chapels, and spend time on the terrace before coming down by bus. Keep the afternoon for Saragozza’s quieter streets and an early dinner. In summer, start when the church opens at 7:00.

Bologna Welcome describes the portico from Porta Saragozza as 3.5 km long with 666 arches, climbing from the Arco del Meloncello past 15 chapels (Bologna Welcome). The church opens daily 7:00–18:00, and the Sky Experience terrace opens Monday to Saturday 10:30–13:30 and 14:30–18:30 (Santuario di San Luca).

To ride rather than walk, take bus 20 to Villa Spada and change to bus 58 on the same ticket (Bologna Welcome), though some 58 runs do not operate from early November to the end of February (TPER). The San Luca Express tourist train leaves Piazza Maggiore, takes about an hour and costs €15 (Bologna Welcome). A TPER ticket costs €2.30 for 75 minutes (TPER).

Heat and fog both affect this day. In summer 2026 Bologna recorded 82 days above 30 °C (I numeri di Bologna), while the Air Force atlas counts 16.7 foggy days in an average January (Aeronautica Militare). Move San Luca to the clearest morning of your week.

Day 4: how do you see Ravenna’s mosaics in a day?

Take a regional train from Bologna Centrale to Ravenna, whose station sits in the city centre, and book timed slots for the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia and the Neonian Baptistery before you go. A four-monument ticket also covers San Vitale and Sant’Apollinare Nuovo. From 3 November, hours shorten to 10:00–17:00.

Ravenna’s tourist office lists eight early Christian monuments inscribed by UNESCO in December 1996: the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, the Neonian and Arian Baptisteries, Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, the Archiepiscopal Chapel, the Mausoleum of Theodoric, San Vitale and Sant’Apollinare in Classe (Ravenna tourism).

The mosaic monuments open daily 9:00–19:00 until 2 November 2026 and 10:00–17:00 from 3 November 2026 to 6 March 2027, with last admission 15 to 30 minutes before closing, and close on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day (Ravenna mosaics). The four-monument ticket covers San Vitale, Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, Galla Placidia and the Neonian Baptistery.

The tourist office says the station is in the heart of the city, 200 m from the limited-traffic zone, with trains run by Trenitalia and TPER (Ravenna tourism). We could not confirm a current journey time, so check the timetable the evening before; the FCDO warns that Italian transport strikes are often called at short notice.

Day 5: what makes a good slow day in Bologna?

Use day 5 for one big exhibition, a long market lunch and an early evening. In 2026–27 that could be “From Gaudí to Picasso” at Palazzo Albergati, “Tutankhamun” at Palazzo Belloni or Elliott Erwitt at the Museo Civico Archeologico. From Thursday to Sunday, Grand Tour Italia adds a free-entry food park.

Bologna Welcome lists “From Gaudí to Picasso” at Palazzo Albergati until 29 March 2027, “Tutankhamun” at Palazzo Belloni until 2 May 2027 and the Elliott Erwitt show at the Museo Civico Archeologico until 28 February 2027 (Bologna Welcome). The archaeology museum closes on non-holiday Tuesdays (Bologna Welcome), and MAMbo on Mondays (Bologna Welcome).

Grand Tour Italia, the former FICO food park, opens Thursday to Sunday 10:00–23:00 with free entry (Grand Tour Italia). Back in the centre, the Mercato delle Erbe’s shops open 7:00–19:30 from Monday to Saturday and its food stalls serve until late (Mercato delle Erbe).

Seasonal events can fill the evening: the Bologna Jazz Festival runs until 8 November 2026 (Bologna Welcome), the Santa Lucia Christmas fair lines Strada Maggiore from 6 November to 27 December 2026 (Bologna Welcome), and Il Cinema Ritrovato returns on 19–27 June 2027 (Il Cinema Ritrovato).

Day 6: how do you fit Florence into a Bologna week?

Take an early Italo train: Italo schedules 32 trains a day each way, and the fastest reaches Firenze Santa Maria Novella in 37 minutes. Choose one big museum, usually the Uffizi, which is closed on Mondays, and spend the rest of the day walking. Be back in Bologna for dinner.

Italo serves Bologna Centrale and Firenze Santa Maria Novella, with 32 scheduled trains a day in each direction and a fastest time of 37 minutes. Venice is also possible, at 1 hour 19 minutes on the fastest train (Italo), if you would rather swap Florence for the lagoon using Venice in one day.

The Uffizi charges €25 for a ticket bought on the day and €29 bought before the visit date, offers a €16 afternoon ticket for entry from 16:00, is ordinarily closed on Mondays and is free on the first Sunday of each month, when it is busiest.

Plan the rest of the day with Florence in one day, cover shoulders and knees for the churches using what to wear in Italian churches, and if Florence wins you over, see where to stay in Florence for a future trip.

Day 7: how do you end with Ferrara and get to the airport?

Spend the morning in Ferrara, 26 minutes from Bologna on Italo’s fastest train, with eight Italo departures a day each way. Walk the old town around the Castello Estense, then return for the Marconi Express monorail, which reaches the airport from Bologna Centrale in seven minutes. Keep a buffer for strikes.

Italo lists eight trains a day in each direction between Bologna and Ferrara, the fastest non-stop in 26 minutes. The Castello Estense anchors the old town, but its own price page was dated 2015 when we checked, so confirm opening hours on the day rather than relying on our notes.

Modena is the other classic half-day from Bologna, but we could not open its visitor or cathedral sites when we checked, so we have not listed times or hours for it. If you choose it instead, check trains and opening times before you go.

The Marconi Express runs 5:40 to midnight, about every 7 minutes at peak times and every 15 otherwise (timetable), for €12.80 one way. Tap your card in and out, or you are charged the full fare (Pay&Go). Non-EU visitors should allow time for the Entry/Exit System (FCDO).

What swaps and tours suit a week in Bologna?

Bologna’s porticoes make rain manageable, but heat and fog need swaps: walk San Luca early in summer and keep viewpoints for the clearest winter afternoon. On strike days, stay in the walkable centre and move the day trip. A food tour fits day 1 or 5, and a guided trip suits Ravenna.

The Air Force’s 1971–2000 normals give a 30.4 °C average July high (WMO), and summer 2026 was Italy’s hottest since records began in 1961 (Meteo Aeronautica Militare). Plan outdoor walks for mornings and evenings, and keep the exhibitions for the hottest hours.

The FCDO warns of bag-snatching and pickpocketing in city centres and at major attractions, and of transport strikes called at short notice; TPER guarantees buses from the start of service to 8:30 and from 16:30 to 19:30 on strike days (TPER). Driving is not worth it: the centre’s limited-traffic zone is camera-enforced daily 7:00–20:00 (Comune di Bologna).

Tours add most where planning is the hard part: a Quadrilatero food walk, a pasta class or a guided Ravenna day with transport. Check what tastings or entries are included and compare platforms in GetYourGuide vs Viator vs Klook.