Must-see nightlife in Bologna

  • Le Serre dei Giardini Margherita

    Bologna

    Bologna's best time: parking yourself, with an Aperol spritz (€4) in hand, among the cool kids and digital nomads at these formerly abandoned city…

  • Ranzani 13

    Bologna

    Ditch the city centre and venture just outside Bologna's ring road to a distinctly unremarkable apartment block where one of the city's best craft-beer…

  • Il Punto

    Bologna

    Bologna's best and most Italian-focused craft-beer bar offers eight taps of birra artigianale (including one hand-pump; draught beers €3.50 to €6) and…

  • Fermento

    Bologna

    Just 400m across the bridge in Bolognina, this former neighbourhood furniture shop was transformed by cool kids into one of the city's best cocktail bars…

  • Antica Drogheria Calzolari

    Bologna

    This standing-room-only wine bar is one of Bologna's most social, attracting an eccentric early-evening crowd – bohemian art professors, seasoned drunks,…

  • Aroma

    Bologna

    You'd walk right past this seemingly typical Italian caffè and never think twice, the wince-inducing logo certainly not helping matters. But inside,…

  • Caffè Rubik

    Bologna

    This bohemian pop-art coffee and amaro bar packs a wallop of soul into a tiny space. Cassette tapes and old school lunchboxes line the walls, and the…

  • Osteria del Sole

    Bologna

    The sign outside this ancient Quadrilatero dive bar tells you all you need to know – ‘vino’. Bring in your own food, and elbow past the alley-filling…

  • Enoteca Storica Faccioli

    Bologna

    The natural wine movement is slow on the take in Italy, but this storied – if somewhat touristy – enoteca features the best natural, organic and…

  • Caffe Zanarini

    Bologna

    Probably the finest of Bologna's traditional cafes, Zanarini hosts gaggles of die-hard fans who chase exquisite pastries and sweets, courtesy of famed…

  • Casa Minghetti

    Bologna

    On leafy Piazza Minghetti, this trendy restobar is a local favorite for its creative cocktails (from €9). The small indoor space is intimate, but it's all…

  • Cassero

    Bologna

    Wednesday, Friday and Saturday are the big nights at this legendary gay-and-lesbian (but not exclusively) club, home of Italy's Arcigay organisation.

  • Baladin Bologna

    Bologna

    Part of a homegrown, sustainably focused brewpub chain born in Piozzo, Bologna's Baladin sits inside the Quadrilatero's gourmet Mercato di Mezzo. In…

  • Modo Infoshop

    Bologna

    This indie bookshop with an affiliated cafe-bar next door is where postgrads sit down to write up their theses in a room decorated with antifascismo…

  • Le Stanze

    Bologna

    The atmospheric former private chapel of the Bentivoglio family boasts four interior rooms with original paintings. The aperitivo buffet is top-notch here…

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