Bologna attractions

Bologna's sights are unusually concentrated and almost all of them are a short walk from Piazza Maggiore. The square itself, the unfinished brick facade of San Petronio, the Palazzo d'Accursio and its Clock Tower, and the Fountain of Neptune are effectively one stop; the Two Towers, the Basilica di Santo Stefano and the Archiginnasio with its anatomical theatre are the next.

One thing to settle before you arrive: the Asinelli tower is closed for works, so the climb most itineraries are built around is not available, and the Garisenda next to it has never admitted visitors. The Clock Tower is the city's working viewpoint in the meantime. The other correction worth making is to treat the porticoes as a sight in their own right — 38 kilometres of them in the centre, UNESCO-inscribed in 2021, with the climb to the sanctuary of San Luca running nearly four kilometres under 666 arches. It is the most distinctive walk in the city and it costs nothing.