Experience Bologna
Beyond the Guidebooks

Our Balogna tour guide was Claudio Natale who was a sensational guide. He gave as a thorough sense of the city and deepened our understanding of the history and culture of Balogna! His English is perfect. It was a busy and rewarding tour. I highly recommend Claudio as a guide.

Great trip around Bologna with Claudio - would recommend to gain an insight to the history in a relaxed way. Also got recommendations of places to eat, shop etc.

Claudio was very engaging, very patient and very knowledgeable. He answered all our questions - no matter how obscure - and helped to make our short stay in Bologna a memorable one.

If you are looking for an experienced, engaging, knowledgeable, well-versed guide for a unique view and visit of Bologna- you must ask for Claudio! We truly covered all of the highlights of Bologna and he shared hidden gems and provided great recommendations for the remainder of our trip. Thank you thank you!!!

Nicola was a great guide. He listened to what we wanted (historical sites, less well known churches and museums) and tailored the tour to our express interests, was very knowledgeable, and found great places for us to stop for coffee and lunch when we needed a break. Our trip to Bologna would have been much less interesting without him. Highly recommend.

This was a great introduction to Bologna. Nicola walked us through the historic areas and explained about the architecture and history; he also shared some interesting anecdotes along the way. Part of the tour included a walk through the Quadrilateral, the historic market area where you see all the little stalls with different vegetables, fruits, and meats. It was a good overview of the city in the perfect amount of time.

Nicola was a wonderful tour guide. He had so much historical knowledge to share with us. We were only in Bologna for one afternoon and this was a perfect way to get a snapshot of the city!

Very interesting !

Antonia was personable and very knowledgeable. She was enthusiastic and keen to share her love of Bologna, its food, and history!

Antonia was terrific. She’s so warm and knowledgeable. She respects the spirit of Bologna by being flexible and open minded. We are so lucky she was our guide!!

This was such a great experience! I learned about the origins of the food and the regions that they come from. I loved Antonia, she was a great host. Very flexible with my schedule.

Our walking tour of Bologna was very professionally organised and was both insightful and very enjoyable.

We took a private tour, so everything was geared to us. Lorenza was amazing. She contacted us before we arrived in Bologna to ask about our tastes and interests and then really personalized the 3-hour tour. We visited the city’s famous towers, learned about the city’s unique architecture, went inside the basilica and the old university buildings, and had wonderful explanations of Bologna’s culture from an insider’s perspective. We tasted balsamic vinegars (a must), visited off-the-beaten path bakeries (including gluten-free options!), and ended the tour with a wonderful lunch off the main plaza. Lorenza makes the city quite magical with her explanations of the porticos, the family vendettas, and the stories that make Bologna come to life. We also left with a list of suggestions of everything from where to eat authentic local cooking to where to get a good haircut. This is a tour I’d recommend anyone looking for insider’s knowledge of the city and/or to get your bearing when you arrive.

We enjoyed the practical stories and the knowledge of the area without the long history lessons.

Lorenza was a delightful lady and showed us the less known paths of Bologna along best sightseeing. We’ve spend 3 hours together in a personalized experience as we’ve asked for. Thanks for that .

This was a great way to get to know the city from a locals perspective. Our guide was friendly, knowledgeable and very helpful. She answered all of our questions and gave us tips on things to do after our tour.

Fabulous tour that was customized to our interests. Paolina was knowledgeable and fun and we had the best time learning about her wonderful city.

Paolina was amazing! She catered the tour directly to our interests and by the end we felt like family!!!

Paolina, molto simpatica e preparata, ci è venuta a prendere in albergo e ci ha accompagnati in un interessante tour della città raccontandoci un sacco di aneddoti sulla sua storia che hanno reso tutto interessante e leggero al tempo stesso Paolina, very friendly and knowledgeable, picked us up at the hotel and led us on an interesting tour of the city, telling us lots of anecdotes about its history, which made everything interesting and lighthearted at the same time.

The tour leader pointing out the less obvious things of interest.

Gabriel’s was a fantastic tour guide! He showed us so many highlights of Bologna, and he also made sure to take us everywhere we wanted to go. He was extremely knowledgeable and engaging, and he answered all of our questions. We are American, and his English was excellent! He also gave us great recommendations for places to eat, things to do, etc. At the end of our tour, he walked us to a restaurant we had seen earlier that we wanted to go to. I highly recommend this private tour with Gabriele!

We have a great time with Gabriele in the beautiful city of Bologna! He showed us all of the main sights. Highly recommended!

I would highly recommend him for any traveler looking for a good guide to Bologna.

A delightful tour of Bologna given by Gabriele whose pride and passion for his home town shone through . He was friendly and informative and led the tour at a lovely pace giving us opportunity to ask questions on the way . He advised us of a great place for lunch ( Simoni ) and have further suggestions for meals during our stay . It was the perfect start to the city break because it gave us the chance to get to know the City . We would not hesitate in recommending this tour - especially if you get Gabriele as your guide . Thanks Lele

People should try not to book on a Sunday because the markets are not open. Gabriele is great!

Wonderful!!

An absolutely incredible tour given by Gabriele! Walking around the city we got to experience so much of Bologna’s history. Gabriele was very kind and extremely knowledgeable. We had many laughs and amazing food. His recommendation for our dinner later was absolutely perfect and delicious. We couldn’t ask for a better way to be introduced to this lovely city. 10/10

An absolutely incredible tour given by Gabriele! Walking around the city we got to experience so much of Bologna’s history. Gabriele was very kind and extremely knowledgeable. We had many laughs and amazing food. His recommendation for our dinner later was absolutely perfect and delicious. We couldn’t ask for a better way to be introduced to this lovely city. 10/10

There were so many great vegan places we ate. We had smoothies with pasta straws, tortoloni, mini pizza, stuffed aubergine, lemon drink and more! Plus we visited several vintage shops and I purchased things at 3 different location. We ended in a beautiful garden where there’s a café.. (highly recommend the stuffed aubergine). I was also excited to see the Street Art by the university too

Claudia was awesome! She was so knowledgeable About the city. We got to experience a version of the city that would have been impossible without a local’s perspective. We also got to try many wonderful Bolognese dishes. Highly recommend.

Claudia was amazing. She has so much knowledge of Bologna. Not only did she show us the main points of interest, but she also took us around the not so known places that were fantastic. I highly recommend this tour and especially Claudia.

We scheduled a three hour tour with Claudia the first morning of our stay in Bologna, and it was such a fantastic experience! Claudia was very communicative with us prior to the tour, asking about what we would like to see, and she delivered perfectly on this! She took us to various corners of the city to see World War II partisan memorials (an interest of ours), independent bookshops, street art, and more - all things we never would have seen without her guidance. She pointed out so many sights, shops, and restaurants that we were able to return to and experience over our next four days in Bologna. We learned so much about the city from her, and felt that we were truly given an insider's look at this amazing place. We fell head over heals with Bologna and cannot wait to return - the most favourite city we have been to! Thank you Claudia for such a great day, and we hope to see you again in Bologna. ~ Sarah and Ben

Jon was so friendly and it was great to meet another LGBT person, we felt so comfortable and welcome. He shared a few LGBT historical locations as well.

Jon was personable as well as knowledgeable. He came prepared with a specific itinerary in mind and we were able to see the majority of the important sites within the time we planned. We greatly enjoyed the tour and highly recommend Jon.

Discovering Bologna with Jon in this three-hour walking tour was a gift! Jon spoke eloquently about the historical and socio-political evolution of Bologna that has contributed to its present vibrancy as an intellectual center. I heartily recommend this experience and hope to return to this colorful city very soon!

This morning we arose to rain, chilly temps and cloudy skies. I emailed Jon and asked if we could reschedule from 10am to later in the day. He immediately responded that he could meet us at 4pm. All agreed he met us promptly at 4 in front of our hotel. We exchanged pleasantries and began the tour. Jon is an absolute wealth of knowledge and shares what he knows most professionally. He truly loves his city of birth, Bologna and makes no apologies for it! He took the time to share his knowledge and we loved every minute of it! He even walked us through the train station and gave us valuable tips on how to navigate the place. He spent way more time with us than we expected and we were impressed by his generosity. We pressed him hard to let us buy his supper. He graciously declined. We tipped him well and parted company with a new good friend. He invited us to come back and spend more tim in Bologna and we invited him to come to Texas. Jon is simply “THE BEST!!”

Marina is a delightful and knowledgeable local. We wanted a slower pace with opportunities to sit, enjoy coffee, observe and talk. Very accommodating and we ended up walking further than we thought we could since she was so engaging. Highly recommend!

I had a fabulous experience with Marina. It was great to see both the typical tour spots (but maybe from a different angle) as well as the off-the-beaten path sites- that were customized to my interests. Experiencing a city is always more memorable when accompanied by an insider's perspective. Marina also gave me ideas for what I could explore more in depth on my own- and gave us spectacular dining recommendations.

Like walking around town with an old friend. Nothing more needs to be said!

Marina gave us a cultural and historical walkabout in old town Bologna that was very interesting. We recommend her highly.

Diego is one of a kind! We had such a great experience strolling around Bologna, eating good food! He knows every little detail about the city and the whole day was a lot of fun! Highly recommend!

Diego was great. We loved our tour. The balsamic tasting was so fun.

We had a great time with the charming and knowledgeable Diego. What a fun way to see Bologna and we visited so many great spots!

We booked the tour for 4h as a group of 4 people. Diego - our guide - did a great job in showing us some of the hidden places combined with historical and cultural highlights, background and several insights to the local food and cuisine. He answered our questions, recommended great places for drinks and dinner and was very flexibel with respects to our whishes and requests. In general, we had a wonderful time in a relaxed atmosphere with Diego and will look forward to another tour when we come back to Bologna.

Entire experience was memorable, including a selection of shoppes and experiences only known to locals.

What a fabulous way to spend an afternoon! A great introduction to the city, Marco was knowledgeable and engaging with exactly the right combination of history and local culture. Thank you for introducing us to your beautiful city!

Marco brought the city’s culture to life for us through fun and interesting stories about the Bologna‘s past and what life is like today!

Marco was informative from a historical perspective but he also brought the city culture to life for us which made it a fascinating walking tour. Thanks Marco! we would highly recommend your tour!

Our host, Cristiano, was very knowledgeable, interesting and definitely an experienced tourism professional. Our 2 hr walking tour was the just the right amount of time for our interests and we appreciated some of his personal insights that made the tour that much more enjoyable.

Nice guide, very informative!

We had a great tour with our guide, Cristiano, who is quite obviously passionate about Bologna. He was very well informed about the city and its "secrets" and made the tour lively and fun. Cristiano appreciated our questions and answered them all thoroughly. We all enjoyed the interaction and a lovely lunch together as well. There was never a dull moment in the three hour tour. We now know Bologna is a gem of a city. Well done, Cristiano!

What a great tour with Christian! He spent time with my wife and I telling us about Bologna, per our interests! He was fun and engaging! Highly recommend this tour and this tour guide!

Giulia was an excellent guide. She has great knowledge of the city, is kind, and showed us all the things we were interested in seeing. It was a great way to learn about Bologna and get a lay of the land - we can’t wait to come back and explore more time in Bologna now! Thanks Giulia!

Giulia was an excellent guide. She has great knowledge and passion about the history of Bologna, is very kind, and took us on tour that covered all the items we were hoping for. It gave us a deep desire to come back and spend more time in Bologna. Thank you Giulia!

Just a wonderful afternoon exploring Bologna with our guide Guilia.

Giulia was our guide for a walking tour of Bologna. She was very personable and friendly. She explained what we would see and then described each area of the city to us as we walked. She was aware of our preferences (fewer stairs) and guided us around them. At the end of the tour, she showed us to a very nice restaurant.

Great adventure with Paolo knowing Bologna. Very knowledgeable and friendly, walking tours are the best way to know a city.

Our guide Paolo was outstanding. His knowledge of the history of Bologna and Italy were very impressive! He also had a great sense of humor that made our time with him very enjoyable.

Great!!