Christmas in Bologna?

While we weren't there for Christmas itself, we went last December for a few days between Christmas and New Year's. We stayed at Albergo Centrale on Via Della Zecca and thought it was nice and reasonably priced (I can't remember the rates but I'm sure it was less than 150 euro/night for a quadruple room). Bologna was very nice, but it was ungodly cold while we were there. We enjoyed walking around the city and eating (a lot!). The city library, just off the main town square and close to our hotel, was gorgeous. The kids liked that they could finally warm up somewhere inside, and my husband and I enjoyed the atmosphere of the large central hall. There's a glass floor where you can look down on some ruins. We did a day trip to Parma and a day trip to Ravenna, both of which were very nice. Parma was my favorite of the three places-- it had a beautiful duomo and the town just looked nice. Right now it's hard to say what I liked so much about it, but I remember saying at the time that we'd love to go back and spend more time there. It just had a good feel, if that means anything. One highlight of Bologna, for our kids especially, was the city's bike-powered Christmas tree. People had to pedal to make the lights light up. Very cool!

Hi Ed,

We haven't been to Bologna for Christmas but I think that it sounds like a fun time to be there. We were last October and enjoyed our stay at Albergo delle Drapperie--a perfect location!