Bologna hides its best things in plain sight and charges nothing for most of them: 38km of porticoes, a buried canal seen through a wall hatch, and student osterie where hand-rolled tagliatelle still lands at €7. Three days, well under €40 a day.
Seven interlocking churches wrapped around two cloisters, founded on a Roman temple to Isis whose columns still hold up the nave. Open 09:15–12:30 and 14:30–19:30, entry free with no ticket desk anywhere on site.
A wooden hatch in an ordinary wall on Via Piella swings open onto the Canale delle Moline, the last visible stretch of the medieval canal network that once drove 400 silk mills. Free, unstaffed, open around the clock.
Home to the Arca di San Domenico, whose kneeling angel, San Petronio and San Procolo were carved by a 20-year-old Michelangelo in 1494. Free entry 09:00–12:00 and 15:30–18:00; the 1541 inlaid choir stalls are behind the altar.
The public library fills a glazed 19th-century courtyard where a glass floor exposes the excavated Roman forum and Etruscan Felsina beneath your feet. Free entry Tue–Fri 09:00–20:00, Mon from 14:30, Sat to 19:00.
The covered neighbourhood market on Via Ugo Bassi 25 has traded since 1910: greengrocers and butchers 07:00–13:15 and 17:00–19:30, with hot counters serving tortellini plates and fried gnocco from around €6 all day.
A student canteen on Via Mentana since 1979: shared long tables, no bookings, no cover charge. Tagliatelle al ragù about €7, tigelle with squacquerone €7.50, half a litre of house Sangiovese €6. Queue forms by 12:30.
Two sfogline roll pasta by hand in the window on Via Belvedere. Fresh tagliatelle runs about €12 per kilo and tortellini go by the etto — a portion for two costs less than a single restaurant plate. Tue–Sat, closed 13:30–16:30.
Bologna's cheapest evening street: a chain of osterie and student bars running west from Porta Nova where a spritz costs €4–5 and usually arrives with free crisps, taralli or wedges of piadina. Busiest Thursday to Saturday.
The world's longest portico climbs 3.8km and 666 arches from Porta Saragozza to the Santuario della Madonna di San Luca, 300m above the plain. The walk costs nothing, the sanctuary is free, the terrace faces the Apennines.
The monumental cemetery was built into an Etruscan necropolis in 1801 and treated ever since as an open-air sculpture gallery — Byron and Dickens both made the trip. Free entry daily 07:00–18:00 via the Via della Certosa gate.
The modern art museum occupies the city's 1915 municipal bakery on Via Don Minzoni. Standard entry €6, free on the first Sunday of every month, and the Museo Morandi collection is included in the same ticket.
Bologna's oldest public park sits on the rubble of a razed papal fortress. The 1893 Pincio staircase, guarded by stone sea horses, rises from Piazza XX Settembre to a free terrace looking over the red rooftops. Open to dusk.