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Bologna Walking Tour with Audio and Written Guide

Recommended by 93% of travelers
Badge of Excellence
Bologna, Italy
High interest
Booked 2 times today.
  • 4 hours (approx.)
  • Group discounts
  • Mobile ticket
  • Offered in: English

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Overview

Get more out of a walk around Bologna, and discover the city’s history with this self-guided walking tour, produced by a local guide. Downloadable to your smartphone, the tour gives you the lowdown on Bologna’s food scene along with landmarks such as the San Petronio Basilica and the Two Towers. Just note that entry fees to any attractions covered on the route are extra.
  • Download the Bologna audio tour in advance to use at leisure
  • Learn about Italy’s aperitivo culture and the restaurants of Bologna
  • Skip the fear of getting lost with a guide that connects to Google Maps
  • Take breaks when you want as you explore, using a self-guided tour

What's Included

  • Digital written guide to visit the city by yourself
  • Audio and text in multiple languages (Eng, Esp, Ita, Ger, Fra)
  • Connected with google maps
  • Headphones not included. You'll use your smarpthone and eventually your headphone!

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting points

Select a meeting point

End point

  • Garisenda
    P.za di Porta Ravegnana, 40126 Bologna BO, Italy

Operating hours

  • 04/04/2024 - 04/13/2027

    Monday - Sunday : 12:00 AM - 11:30 PM

Itinerary

1

Via dell'Indipendenza

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

2

Piazza del Nettuno

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

3

Piazza Maggiore

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

4

Basilica Di San Petronio

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

5

Mercato di Mezzo

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

6

Archiginnasio Di Bologna

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

7

Basilica - Santuario di Santo Stefano

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

8

Le Tre Frecce

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

9

Le Due Torri Torre degli Asinell

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

  • Confirmation will be received at time of booking
  • Wheelchair accessible
  • Stroller accessible
  • Service animals allowed
  • Near public transportation
  • Most travelers can participate
  • You will need a smartphone with internet connection to use the digital guide (details to activate the digital guide will be in your voucher, read it carefully!)
  • You'll be able to hear the audio through your speakers or, if you have them, through your headphones
  • This tour/activity will have a maximum of 99 travelers
Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)
Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Reviews

4.7
based on 140 reviews
Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor
We perform checks on reviews

Not worth it, even for the low price

Georges_F, Jul 2025
The only upside of this tour is that it gives you a list of all the noteworthy things to view in the city. The entire thing could easily be replicated by asking any AI to give you s your itself. The audio is extremely short (between 30 seconds and 1 minute at each stop). It does not add much context or give you much history. Further more it is recorded in a very robotic fashion and doesn't feel interesting or intriguing. Wouldn't recommend anyone getting this tour honnestly. Just load any pre-made list on Google maps on your phone and then ask Gemini or ChatGPT to give you a brief overview of every point of interest once you're there.

Response from Host, Jul 2025

Ciao! The main problem when you use ChatGPT (or similar) is that all the info.. are not verified 😉! If you don't know nothing about the city, you don't care if you skip monuments and if you are not interested in funny facts and curiosities related to Bologna.. you can stick to chatgpt! But if you want something build with the support of a local, I think that this is a better solution 😉 (that will cost you less than a pizza 🍕). Audio are short here because they are divided for every single monument and curiosity but it's around 7000 words 😉. Hope that this review will help other walkers! Ciao Matteo Walking Cap

Very easy self guiding tour

Julie_T, Jul 2025
This tour was very easy to use. In fact we had used it in Verona and decided to get it again for Bologna. As I had a connection, it was very easy to use. Just popped in my earbuds and could easily get the details.

Highlights of Bologna - a self guided tour

Jane_T, Jun 2025
An excellent audio and written tour, that you can do at your own pace. Interesting dialogue and links to Google maps that takes you round the main sites of Bologna 🇮🇹

Have your internet access ready for this tour

Doug_F, Dec 2024
First things first: Viator found this tour after a guided walking tour we had scheduled fell through. Viator was incredibly responsible as we dealt with that issue, and booking this tour for us was part of that. That said, this tour scratched the surface and not well. It was difficult to follow, and didn't put a lot of things into context. It also depended on us having access to WIFI or a strong cell signal, and for the post part, we had neither. It gave us a handful of places to go see and gave us a bit of explanation. A written version of the tour was included, but only some of the tour was included. That was great because when we didn't have WIFI, we could read it. Unfortunately, much of the tour was not written out. It's a good starting point, but make sure you have internet access and be ready to do some research on your own.

So-So Experience

Janice_N, Nov 2024
The GPS directions were not the best and didn’t always work well. The info that we were able to hear at the appropriate sites was interesting but a bit disappointed in the time it took us to navigate between sites due to having to use our own separate map system

Response from Host, Nov 2024

Ciao! I'm glad that you appreciated the info included in my digital guide! 😊 About GPS: we use google maps for that so it should be quite precise😅 Anyway, I hope to see you again into another digital tour! Ciao Matteo Walking Cap

Very lovely tour!

Gina_A, Oct 2024
Very lovely walking tour of the highlights of the city! A really great idea for solo travelers abd for those with short stays. I had wonderful food recommendations on the guide so that was an added bonus. Thanks so much, Matteo for creating this guide to help me enjoy my stay at beautiful Bologna🙏🏻

So easy and interesting

Julie_N, Sep 2024
This was so easy to access. The walk was good and infusing Informative and entertaining. Enough information given by not overload. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Anyone could do this walk.

Fantastic

Melissa_M, Aug 2024
Fantastic overview of the main attractions, plus a couple of hidden places. Great to have the flexibility to do it at our own pace

Great value

ch4kpk99j4, Aug 2024
Easy to follow and great links to google maps. Great value for the price. Good communication with the tour guide via WhatsApp.

Best of Bologna in a half day.

David_M, Jul 2024
Great way to see tge best of a city that has so many sights, especially when you only have a day or two.

Neat tour of Bologna

Kumar_S, Jul 2024
A very useful tour that gives you history of Bologna and memorable events. Both flexible to use and extremely affordable. Would recommend.

Self guided audio tour Bologna

Sunita_G, Apr 2024
The details given were really interesting. The access and use was simple.. I could walk and explore at my own pace. Some places the audio did not work but I was able to read it so that helped. I could go back and forth. I really enjoyed this experience and was able to find all places with descriptions and maps attached. Thank you. Recommended.

It is a good help to know the city on your own

Margarita_S, Oct 2025
It's fine but it could be more complete and some data are not up to date and restaurants repeat the same 5 times
Auto-translated

Il top

Catiuscia_S, Oct 2024
Avete dato un senso alla nostra passeggiata il top le particolarità sono state particolarmente gradite

Empfehlenswert

Mirjam_H, Oct 2024
War gut; schöne Möglichkeit, die Stadt kennenzulernen. Wir hatten nur einen Tag Zeit und wollten so viel wie mögliich von Mantua mitbekommen.

Fantastico

Antonella_G, Sep 2024
Avere un local advisor a portata di mano… fantastico. Consigliato vivamente! Grazie! Mi ha permesso di conoscere segreti di Bologna rispettando i miei ritmi durante una piacevole passeggiata

Voyageur solo

Doris_P, Jun 2024
Idéal pour visiter seul à son rythme , concept génial mais demande une adaptation…support technique très efficace et courtois

From $7.63

per person

up to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)

Book ahead!
On average, this is booked 9 days in advance.

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