Hi Ianbaz,

Here’s an expanded Bologna recommendation from my answer to an earlier post – hope it whets your appetite:

Nicknamed ‘La Grassa’ (the fat), Bologna offers plenty of good food on every corner (tortellini in brodo, bollito/arrosto misto, tagliatelle or pappardelle al ragù (this being the original pasta ‘bolognese’ that is light years away from the homogenous minced (ground)-beef-and-tomato sauce that gained popularity beyond Italy over the last century.)

The city is easy to walk around, with great architecture and museums, so you’re never far from a pit-stop at a caffè, pasticceria or gelateria. The university is worth visiting for a tour of the astronomy faculty in the specola and a great view of the city – also possible from the Torre Asinelli, while the Teatro Anatomico (dissection theatre) at the 16th-c. Archiginnasio has some grisly carvings on show.

Ravenna, Modena and Parma are all easily accessible by train from Bologna, and being in the region of Emilia-Romagna, food is massively important, even by Italian standards – pasta, cheese, & cured meats are many & varied – the Tamburini deli, for one, has a wide range of produce.

A couple of places I enjoyed on my last visit were ‘Cantina Bentivoglio’ (good food, wine & microbrew beers at street level, jazz in the large cellar bar most evenings), ‘Da Bertino’ & ‘Ristorante Teresina’ (both family-run places with traditional menus). A reliable restaurant chain for a great meal & wine is ‘Pane, Vino e San Daniele’ (3 branches in Bologna; 20+ across northern Italy).

If there’s one destination where dining is less of a lottery and more about how many meals you can humanly fit into your itinerary, Bologna is it.

So if you like food, you’ll love Bologna!