Colleen and I are going to Bologna in May, the first time for both of us! We will only be there for 3 days so I want to make sure the apartment we rent is in a central location.
Shannon, The location Piazza 7 Novembre is on the ring road. The center is usually considered to be Piazza Maggiore which is about one and a half kilometer walk.
Have you looked at Hotel Paradise . The apartment we stayed in there was really fine. Fabulous location--easy walk from the train station and maybe 4 blocks from Piazza Maggiore. And the kitchen worked, totally.
Palma stayed in a pretty nice apartment on Via Arienti I think. I visited her , Sandi and Jerry and they seemed to like it. She's a pro on Bologna so I'd ask her this weekend.
Posts: 1047 | Location: The Space Coast of Florida | Registered: 27 January 2006
I think the location of your apartment pick is a bit far out. I believe you would be happier finding a place closer to centro. I spent 2 weeks in Bologna and enjoyed being able to walk everywhere. Having a kitchen in Bologna would be primo for me... so many delicious groceries to buy.
Thanks everyone. I did check out the hotel Paradise but their 2 bedroom is 170 euros per night. That is way over our budget. I'll talk to Palma this weekend. Definitely don't want to be too far out!
It is a bit far out, but it doesn't take as long as you might think to walk to the Centro. But if I were going to stay that close to the ring road, I would prefer the Southern side of the city over the Northern side. (That apartment is on the Northern side)
I wrote some restaurant reviews from our last trip if you are interested.
I visited BO off and on for years, I think it's great location! There are buses and navette that will take you in both directions around the Viale and up and down via Lame; it's about 10 minutes to walk to Neptune, quicker to via Pratello and some cheaper eats.
Central BO can be really noisy, I think that area has a chance of being a little quieter, too.
We have booked a couple of these apartments for April. The reviews so far look very good. They are located near the Paradise Hotel(we have also stayed there)and we like the area which is halfway between Piazza Maggiore and the railway station. This will be our third holiday in Bologna in 3 years.
If you check their website you'll see there are hotel rooms plus apartments.
Our place was simple,clean and very reasonably priced. Close to a supermarket. Easy walk to all major sights. It was off of Via dell'Indipendenza which has bus stops that connect to/from airport and train station.
The Albergo Delle Drapperie hotel part is closer to Piazza Maggiore. Upon arrival you need to go to the hotel and they give you keys to the appartamento which is a few blocks away. There are several apartments in the building and we met quite a few travelers who were staying there.
Posts: 297 | Location: western maine mountains | Registered: 26 February 2005
My wife and I stayed 10 days last month in Apartment Casatori on Via delle Lame (the same street as your proposed apartment, but much closer to Piazza Maggiore. We were about a ten minute walk and I'd guess your proposed place is a twenty minute walk. We were very satisfied with Casatori(I left a review on TripAdvisor and on the Casatori site (http://casatori.com/). Their web says the cost is 120 euro/night for two people. I'm not sure if May is a shoulder season--if it is, there rates might be a little lower. We were happy.
