Bologna Highlights Bike Tour

• Day tours by bike
• Italy
• Bologna

Cycle to the best of Bologna

If you’re after a tour of the best sightseeing spots Bologna has to offer, look no further than the Bologna Highlights Bike Tour! In just 3 hours, your guided day tour will take in Piazza Maggiore, San Domenico, Piazza Santo Stefano, Via Zamboni, Porta Lame, Via del Pratello, and Stazione FS.

Pushing off in Piazza Maggiore, discover Bologna’s sensational central square, occupied by buildings of outstanding architectural beauty - the Basilica of San Petronio, Palazzo dei Notai, Palazzo d’Accursio, Palazzo del Podestà, and the Palazzo dei Banchi. Exquisitely decorated exteriors dazzle the eye in this symbolic square, dating all the way back to 1200. Cycling on to San Domenico, you’ll be greeted by one of Bologna’s major churches boasting the Column of St. Dominic, founder of the Dominicans (Order of Preachers), whose remains are buried inside the sanctified shrine of Arca di San Domenico.

Pedal on to Piazza Santo Stefano, also known as Piazza delle Sette Chiese. Cycling under the ornate porticos of this triangular pedestrianized space, often used for flea markets, concerts, and cultural events, feast your eyes on the flamboyant facades of some of Bologna’s finest buildings, glowing rosy in soft red brick under the Italian sun. Your brilliant bike tour now visits Via Zamboni, a historic road featuring some of the most significant places of art and culture in the city, including the Palazzo Malvezzi de’Medici, the G.B. Martini Conservatory of Music, the Basilica of San Giacomo Maggiore, Oratory of Santa Cecilia, and historic seats of Bologna University. Glide past mesmerizing murals, along a resplendent road adored by university students who draw inspiration from its architecture as they stroll between study groups.

Your guided bike tour pushes on to Porta Lame, the grand gate to the former medieval walls of Bologna. Rebuilt in 1677 in the Baroque style, the original portal of 1334 featured two drawbridges for carriages and pedestrians. Guarding the gate are beautiful bronze statues honoring the partisans who fought here on November 7, 1944. Pedaling on to Via del Pratello, explore one of the most authentic streets in Bologna, showing the city center as it was originally built. Weave your bicycle through the warmly colored porticoes of the Saragozza neighborhood, once an extremely wealthy area in the time of the Roman Empire. Opening out before you is Piazza San Francesco, whilst behind you loom the tombs of the ‘Glossatori’, professors from the ancient University of Bologna.

Your day tour starts to wind down at Stazione FS, where you can park up your bike in the shadows of awe-inspiring architecture and look back over your beautiful new memories of Bologna!

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Highlights

Piazza Maggiore, San Domenico, Piazza Santo Stefano, Via Zamboni, Porta Lame, Via del Pratello, Stazione FS

What’s included

• Bike, padlock, and chain rental
• English and Italian-speaking guide
• Insurance

Meeting place & directions

Travelhoo - Via Caduti di Cefalonia, 4, 40125 Bologna BO, Italy