City walk Emilia-Romagna — Bologna, Italy

Bologna Porticoes Walk: Piazza Maggiore, the Two Towers and San Luca

An easy day through the red-brick heart of Bologna — a great medieval square, two leaning towers, a food market, the oldest university in the Western world, and the longest portico on earth.

Duration: 1 day
Distance: 4 km
Difficulty: Easy
Best season: April–June and September–October

Bologna is nicknamed la rossa, la dotta, la grassa — the red, the learned and the fat: red for its brick and terracotta, learned for its thousand-year university, fat for a food culture that gave the world tortellini and mortadella. Tying it all together are the porticoes, the covered arcades that shelter walkers for tens of kilometres and earned the city a UNESCO listing in 2021.

This route links the essentials in an order that makes sense on foot, from Piazza Maggiore out toward the hills. Because the porticoes keep the sun and rain off, Bologna is one of Italy’s most forgiving cities to walk.

Getting there. Bologna Centrale is a major high-speed rail hub — around 40 minutes from Florence, an hour from Milan and just over two hours from Rome. From Marconi airport the Marconi Express monorail reaches the station in about 7 minutes; the historic centre is a short walk or bus ride south.

Permits & tickets. Piazza Maggiore, the Quadrilatero, the university quarter and the porticoes are all free. San Petronio is free to enter, with a small charge for the terrace and some chapels. Climbing the Asinelli tower needs a timed ticket (about €5) booked ahead.

Good to know:

The Portico di San Luca is a long uphill walk; treat the sanctuary as an optional extension rather than part of the core loop if time or legs are short.
The Quadrilatero is best in the late morning or at aperitivo hour, when the stalls and bars are liveliest.

Download waypoints (GPX) Points of interest in walking order — not a trail trace.

Day by day

DayDistanceAscentDescentWalking time

Day1 Hardest dayThe heart of Bologna to the porticoes

Distance4 kmAscentNot recordedDescentNot recordedWalking timeNot recorded

Day 1

The heart of Bologna to the porticoes

Piazza Maggiore → Porta Saragozza 4 km

Navigate this day

A continuous line from Piazza Maggiore past the Two Towers and the market to the university quarter, then out to the start of the San Luca portico.

Segments

Piazza Maggiore & Basilica di San Petronio 0.2 km Map

Piazza Maggiore → Basilica di San Petronio

Paved square

Begin in Piazza Maggiore, the medieval square at the centre of Bologna, dominated by the Basilica di San Petronio. Dedicated to the city's patron saint and begun in 1390, it is one of the largest brick churches in the world, its façade left famously half-clad in marble and half in bare brick. Alongside, Piazza del Nettuno holds Giambologna's muscular Neptune fountain of the 1560s. About 45 minutes.
The Two Towers 0.5 km Map

Basilica di San Petronio → Two Towers

City streets under porticoes

A few streets east rise the Two Towers, the survivors of the many that Bologna's medieval families built for status and defence. The taller Asinelli, about 97 metres, has long been climbed by its 498 wooden steps for a rooftop view; the shorter Garisenda leans so sharply that Dante likened it to a giant stooping overhead. About 40 minutes, more if you climb.
The Quadrilatero market 0.4 km Map

Two Towers → Quadrilatero

Narrow market lanes

Duck into the Quadrilatero, the tight grid of lanes just off Piazza Maggiore that has been Bologna's market since Roman times. Its delis, fishmongers and greengrocers spill mortadella, tortellini and parmigiano onto the street — this is the grassa, the fat, in the city's old nickname. Graze slowly. About 30 minutes.
The university quarter 0.7 km Map

Quadrilatero → Via Zamboni

City streets under porticoes

Walk northeast into the Zona Universitaria along Via Zamboni, the student heart of the city. The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, is the oldest in continuous operation in the Western world; nearby the Archiginnasio, its former main building, hides a spectacular 17th-century carved wooden anatomical theatre. About 45 minutes.

About this place

The University of Bologna is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. It is the oldest university in continuous operation in the world, and the first degree-awarding institution of higher learning. Teaching began around 1088, with the university becoming organised as universitas scholarium or guilds of students by the late 12th century. The university's emblem carries the motto Alma Mater Studiorum and the date A.D. 1088. With over 90,000 students, the University of Bologna is one of the largest universities in Europe.
Read more on Wikipedia
The porticoes toward San Luca 2.2 km Map

Via Zamboni → Porta Saragozza

City streets under porticoes

End at the porticoes themselves, Bologna's defining feature and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021 — together they run for tens of kilometres through the city. Follow them southwest to Porta Saragozza, where the Portico di San Luca begins: a covered walkway of about 3.8 kilometres and 666 arches that climbs the hill to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. Walk as far up as the light allows. About 40 minutes to the gate, longer for the full climb.