The buzzing student district east of the centre — cheap bars, bookshops, street life and the university buildings, with the porticoes leading everywhere. Younger, livelier and better value; the base for nightlife and a local feel.
A look around
What you’ll be living next to. Swipe through.
1/3
€100–170
typical per night in Italy
The sensible middle
Cheapest in BolognaPriciest
Typical prices for Bologna — neither steal nor splurge.
Where it sits
The circle is University Quarter and roughly a 10-minute walk around it.
How far is everything?
Bologna Guglielmo Marconi (BLQ)~12 min drive6.6 km
From the middle of this area to the city's headline sights — pick your own on the city page and these become your list.
- The Two Towers (Asinelli)5 min walk446 m
- The Quadrilatero market7 min walk563 m
- Santo Stefano & the Seven Churches7 min walk583 m
- Tortellini & tagliatelle al ragù7 min walk586 m
- Fountain of Neptune8 min walk691 m
- Piazza Maggiore & San Petronio8 min walk702 m
- The Archiginnasio9 min walk723 m
- Portico di San Luca14 min taxi4.6 km
On your doorstep
What you’re living next to if you stay here.
- 9.The Finestrella (canal window) — Bologna once had canals like Venice — most are covered now, but a 'little window' on Via Piella opens onto a surviving canal of coloured houses and hanging plants. A quirky local secret and the city's most-photographed hidden corner.
- 10.Aperitivo in the student quarter — Bologna's huge student population makes for the best-value nightlife in Italy — early aperitivo with free snacks, then cheap bars along Via del Pratello and the university streets, spilling into the porticoes. Buzzing, young and fun.
- 11.MAMbo modern art — The city's museum of modern art in a converted bakery in the arty Manifattura district, with a strong Italian 20th-century collection and the Morandi rooms. A calm, contemporary counterpoint to all the medieval stone.
When are you staying?
Find cheap flights to Bologna
Booking.com & Airbnb open searched to University Quarter; flights via Google Flights.