Programs & Plans

Bologna, our operational base

There are several reasons why we choose our operationl base in our hometown Bologna (see the map beside):

Its location on the Italian Country is less than 2/3 hours by car from our daily excursions most intriguing destinations like Florence, Venice, Rimini-San Marino, Siena and many others…
Bologna is a gem itself and worths to be visited and enjoyed…
Our partners in the Bologna work team are well known and reliable…
We cooperate with the best hotels including the best services and comforts to enjoy an impeccable stay…
It’s well serviced at the international airport with regular direct flights from/to Dublin, London and most of international airports…
It’s the homeland of the good food and good drink. Enjoy the Italian cuisine in its best place!

And now we go to explain in detail what our program offers to visit Italy starting from Bologna…

Program n.1 - Bologna & Romagna

The program is based on a 5 days/4 nights holidays for 6 persons, typically 3 couples
leaving from Dublin International Airport to Bologna International Airport and return.

Day 1 program

You are free to arrange your day for the flight to Bologna taking off from Dublin International Airport.
We suggest to find a parking for your car with Dublin Airport Blue Car Park (link here), affordable and safe. Free shuttle is available from parking to Airport Terminal 1.

We will be waiting for you at arrivals in Bologna International Airport with our staff and vehicles.

Transfer from the airport to the hotel, dinner and accomodation.

Short briefing for the next morning.

Day 2 program

The whole day is dedicated to visit Bologna, a medieval town with plenty of attractions.

8.00am Breakfast.
9.00am EXCURSION: Bologna – Home to the oldest university in the Western world, it hosts numerous students who enliven its cultural and social life. It is known for its towers, its long porticoes (arcades) and a well-preserved historic center, among the largest in Italy.
The city, whose first settlements date back to at least the 1st millennium BC, was an important urban center first under the Etruscans and Celts, then under the Romans and, in the Middle Ages, as a free municipality. Northern capital of the Papal State since the sixteenth century, it played a very important role during the Risorgimento and, during the Second World War, it was one of the fulcrums of the Resistance. After the Second World War, like much of Emilia, it was governed almost continuously by left-wing administrations.
Bologna is an important road and rail communications hub in northern Italy, in an area where important mechanical, electronic and food industries reside. It is home to prestigious cultural, economic and political institutions, and one of the most advanced exhibition centers in Europe. In 2000 it was the “European capital of culture”, in 2021 its arcades were recognized as a world heritage site by UNESCO.
Lunch.
Afternoon free shopping.
Back to Hotel, dinner and relax.

note: The excursion and visits are guided by Dr. Margherita Cavallari – during the day the tour managers Simonetta & Pietro will be at your disposal with plenty of information, anecdotes and a complete support for all your needs.
The excursion covers many historical and arts locations.

Day 3 program

7.00am Breakfast.
8.00 EXCURSION: Rimini & San Marino – a car trip around 120 km all on highway.
Rimini is a summer resort of international importance, it is located on the Romagna Riviera and extends for 15 km along the coast of the Upper Adriatic. It boasts a long tourist tradition: in 1843 the first bathing establishment in Italy was inaugurated there.
Colony founded by the Romans in 268 BC, for the entire period of their domination it was a communication hub between the north and south of the peninsula and on its soil the Roman emperors erected monuments of which important traces remain. It was a fiefdom of the Malatesta family, and the court of Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta was one of the liveliest of the time, hosting artists such as Leon Battista Alberti, Piero della Francesca, Roberto Valturio, Matteo de’ Pasti, preserving important works of the Italian Renaissance.
The film director Federico Fellini was born in Rimini, in the ‘poor’ (then) neighborhood of San Giuliano.
San Giuliano is a village in the city, born around the year 1000, an ancient fishermen’s district. Characteristics are the narrow alleys, the low houses, the pastel-colored walls, with flowered balconies and the colorful murals. It is located beyond the Roman bridge of Tiberius and can be reached on foot with a pleasant walk of a few minutes.
Lunch.
San Marino is a mountainous microstate within Italian territory, in the central-northern area of the country. It is the oldest republic in the world (3 September 301 AD), San Marino has preserved much of its ancient architecture. The capital of the same name stands on the slopes of Mount Titano and is known for its medieval historic center surrounded by walls and its cobbled streets. On the three peaks of the mountain stand the three towers, fortresses dating back to the 11th century.
In 2008, UNESCO declared San Marino a World Heritage Site, recognizing the republic’s “exceptional value” as evidence of the development of a democratic model unique in Europe, which has lasted for more than seven centuries.
Back to Hotel, dinner and relax.

note: The excursion and visits are guided by Dr. Margherita Cavallari – during the day the tour managers Simonetta & Pietro will be at your disposal with plenty of information, anecdotes and a complete support for all your needs.

The excursion covers many historical and arts locations.

Day 4 program

7.00am Breakfast.
8.00 EXCURSION: Ravenna – a car trip around 70 km all on highway.
Ravenna is the largest and historically most important city in Romagna; its municipal territory is the second largest in Italy in terms of surface area (exceeded only by that of Rome) and includes nine beaches on the Romagna Riviera. In its history, it was the capital three times: of the Western Roman Empire (402-476), of the Ostrogothic Kingdom (493-540) and of the Byzantine Exarchate (584-751). For the vestiges of this luminous past, the complex of the first Christian monuments of Ravenna has been included, since 1996, in the list of Italian world heritage sites by UNESCO, as a serial site “Early Christian monuments of Ravenna”. In the second half of the 20th century the city experienced a period of great expansion. The demographic growth has been accompanied by a series of architectural projects which are concentrated in particular around the Candiano canal, which connects the city to the Adriatic Sea.

Back to Hotel, dinner and relax.