Such a fun (and fairly inexpensive) way to get up to the Santuario Madonna di San Luca!…read more We bought our tickets online and came to the kiosk that is in front of the shops to the left (east) of Basilica di San Petronio (left when you are facing the church.) At the kiosk, the person scanned our tickets and placed us on the next "train." We didn't have to wait that long and he made sure to tell us which side we were being picked up from. The ride didn't take that long because it was so interesting. I appreciated the headsets and being able to listen as we drive along. The second "train" that brought us back down to the city didn't have headsets but there was a loudspeaker for interesting facts.

We walked right past the doors to the welcome center at first because and we should have known…read morethey're a lot of people in front blocking the doors. So to find it visit the Fontana del Nettuno it's the large building near the middle of the open square across from the basilica di San Petronio. If you walk around the building you will find a gelateria. Walk into the welcome center to your left you will find staff to help you get what you need. In this case tickets for the San Luca express. We also purchased a bundle here at the welcome center where we hop on and off the bus stop was in front of our hotel so it worked out perfectly. We were able to visit many museums. So if you're wondering where do I go now that I have my ticket for the train you'll exit the building the same way but make a left walk to the end of the portico and cross the street the train will be there shortly but if you are talking the bus tour today only walk to the end of the portico do not cross the street. I noticed some were confused with the guides.. TIP: after you receive your ear buds plug them into the radio speaker located just in front or on the side of you depending on the type of vehicle.. the number indicator tells you what channel you are on, you will need to change the channel unless you speak Italian. You may be surprised but yes Italian first speakers do take these tours as many of them are from another region. So Italian is channel 1 English is 2 many languages to choose from.. believe it or not many get confused where to stand in line.. yes the doors open to many cars but you need to check in. First to get your earbuds and they can check your ticket. Also the back is reserved for handicapped. I believe the trains run every 20 min they told us 15 but we waited closer to 30 minutes to leave. We passed many fit people looking tired from walking the hills through the porticos I bet it's amazing if you have time and like to take photos the walk would be great! But the train ride was well worth it I'd do it again!

Nondescript Hotel placed not too far from Piazza Maggiore and Basilica di San Petronio . I has a…read moresuite that overlooked the cobblestone streets . Again , free breakfast that rivals anything in Oregon . I could , and did , in fact travel around the city , eat , then go back to your room and plot the next place to visit . Stayed for six nights. I would definitely stay here again .

Overall Very Good hotel with an excellent location and excellent breakfast too. You really can't…read morebeat the location...steps away from Piazza Maggiore which is the center of Bologna and walking distance to everywhere you could possibly want to go. It's about a 20 minute level walk to and from the train station (though a bus goes up the main road if you'd prefer and you can get a taxi right outside the hotel if you want too. We had a suite which was smaller than I had hoped it would be, but was really nicely appointed with a view of the clock tower directly across from the window and the main square to the right. And it was in fact two rooms so we could close the door between the bedroom and have the living room for late night writing or email when the other one of us was sleeping. For the most part it was a quiet room though there were films showing in the main square every night we were there and the sound could be heard until about midnight in our room which wasn't ideal but that was also about when we were going to sleep so it worked out. Breakfast was great and our favorite hotel breakfast in Italy. They brought a basket of gluten free items for my wife and the subsequent days we were there they remembered us and automatically brought the gluten free basket and remembered our coffee order as well. Felt like very personal service. The staff was really nice too and gave us good restaurant recommendations. We would definitely stay here again.

We had read about how good Dynamo is before we came to Bologna, and Bologna is a bike-crazy town…read more(no other place during our 12 day trip around Italy had a large bike-parking-lot for its commuters). Our hotel was just down the block and so we came here to rent bikes for half a day. Although not everyone's English there is top notch, amongst us all, we were able to get pretty good directions on how to bike out and up (and up, and up!) to the Basilica San Luca (the one with the HUGE number of porticoes). They were thoughtfully particular about which bikes to assign to us and we appreciated that. My bike was excellent. My husband's bike, he being quite tall, was not perfect, too heavy for a nearly all-uphill ride, and his seat kept slipping slightly forward. When we told the Dynamo staff about this issue at the end of the day, they gave us a generous discount on an item of clothing that we were planning on buying and offered to return some of our money. We loved the cavernous show/service/storage/rental/sales/concert space and loved the cool vibe of antique and kids' biking paraphernalia. I highly recommend Dynamo

Highly recommended. Such a great way to tour the city. We rented for an all day trip to San Luca…read moreto watch stage 1 of the Gira d'Italia. Bikes worked perfectly. We've rented bikes before in the States with differing levels of success. This was the best experience we've had, by far, from rental to return. Plus, we found they have an ultra cool bar attached at one end of the shop! Best day of our 10 day trip in this beautiful city!

This was definitely the most chaotic and confusing station we've traveled in and out of. We were in…read moreBologna for a day - for a walking food tour, let's be so real - and took a regional train from Verona. And maybe it's unfair for me to compare this station to Verona, or Florence, or even Rome, but that's human nature, isn't it? While it has a lot of modern-looking finishes and several places for one to sit, on the day we were there the station gave off an overall vibe of dinginess and over-crowdedness. That "at capacity" feeling was at its worst that evening, when every bench, chair, open floor space was occupied by a human, waiting to find out where they should go to catch their train out. We were lucky to find an empty table at one of the cafes, after purchasing some drinks and snacks to tide us over for the evening. We weren't lucky enough to get seats with a view to the departures board, though, so we had to take turns walking over to the boards to see if our platform informaiton had been updated. And friends, I'm so glad we left as soon as the platform information populated because whooo, was it ever a trek from where we were to where we needed to be! I hadn't realized until that moment exactly how big a station Bologna Centrale was.

This is a fairly large station. It had tracks on street level and also underground. We were a…read morelittle confused but found our way. Both the public and private trains operate here so Mae sure you're on the right train. The station is fairly clean. It had a few places for food. There were also places on the surrounding streets. It was centrally located and an easy walk from our hotel.

We stayed at this hotel on the final night of our 10‑day adventure through Tuscany, and it turned…read moreout to be the perfect choice. The location made it incredibly convenient for our flight out of Bologna (30 minutes away with mild traffic) the next morning, and it also gave us the chance to visit the Ferrari Museum nearby (20 min). The hotel itself is small, spotless, and clearly well cared for. From check‑in to breakfast the next morning, the staff couldn't have been friendlier or more welcoming. Breakfast was a highlight, freshly made scrambled eggs, a great cappuccino machine, and a variety of delicious items that really exceeded our expectations. The air conditioning worked perfectly, and while the bed was a bit firm for my taste, it was still comfortable enough for a good night's rest. Overall, we were very pleased with our stay and would definitely choose this hotel again in the future.

My mom and I had a wonderful tour with Darren. The small group was fantastic and it gave the…read morefeeling of a group of friends exploring a new city. Darren was wonderful and provided excellent recommendations for other places to try in the city and was very knowledgeable. The food was fantastic and everything was well worth the tour price. It was about four hours and a perfect way to get to know the city!

Definitely, worth it!…read more Stumbled upon this tour, while doing some research for my trip. It had great reviews, so I was in. So I reached out to them on very short notice. The booking person, Andrea C. was so kind and went above and beyond to accomated our group so we could go the next day. Our total group size, upon arrival, was 10 total. We arrived at their requested meeting place, central location of the Basilica Petronia. Valentina was our tour guide, and she was so sweet. She gave us lots of fun facts and a little history, which I loved, along with each visit. They have several tours: Bologna Wine Tasting Tortellini Making Experience Cooking Class Sunset Food Tour Classic Tour We did the Classic tour. Includes yummy pasta tasting, with traditional broth, which tasted like a warm hug. We had several stops (dress comfortabld/sneakers), including traditional coffee shop, bread shop, and cheese shop, and farmers market. The group got along well, and enjoyed walking in and out of the cobble stone streets, and stopping to hear from Valentina. Great tour!

Modern hotel great rooms comfy beds. Hotel is clean and new. A bit of a walk to the center about 20…read moreminutes. Not much around the hotel. Staff are ok.

Nice place. A 20 min walk to downtown area. Neighborhood is clean and safe. Breakfast is awesome!…read moreLots to choose from and good Italian meats/cheeses. They even have eggs and bacon if you want that. The front desk was helpful in coordinating getting my luggage back after being lost from my flight. My only small complaint was the rooms were a bit sterile (like a hospital). There was no shower curtain so water kind of goes everywhere....Maybe that's the style here.

This was a perfect spot for out quick night in Bologna. Close to restaurants, shops & sights. Plus…read morethey have parking which was extremely helpful. Big, clean rooms. Friendly staff. Reasonably priced. Adequate breakfast. Would stay here again upon return.