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Drive time

10 towns under an hour from Bologna

Comuni within a 60 minute drive of Bologna, by the OSRM road matrix. 10 towns shown, nearest first.

Bologna's food reputation pulls travelers into the city and holds them there, which leaves the first ring of towns around it strangely quiet. These comuni sit within an hour of the city by road, close enough that you can leave after breakfast and be back for dinner under the porticoes.

The list is ordered by drive time, computed on the actual road network rather than straight-line optimism. Treat the minutes as clear-road figures; the tangenziale at rush hour answers to no algorithm.

  1. 1.Sasso Marconi22 minBologna · Emilia-RomagnaA 128-meter pre-Apennine town renamed in 1938 for Marconi, with Villa Griffone holding his tomb and the attic where he first sent radio in 1895.
  2. 2.Spilamberto32 minModena · Emilia-RomagnaA 69-meter Po-plain town on the Via Romea, headquarters of the Consorteria that codifies Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena since 1967.
  3. 3.Dozza36 minBologna · Emilia-RomagnaA 190-meter painted borgo above the Sellustra valley, where contemporary artists have repainted the house walls every two years since 1960.
  4. 4.Vignola36 minModena · Emilia-RomagnaThe cherry-and-castle town on the Panaro at 125 meters, with the Contrari fortress and Barozzi's self-supporting 1500s spiral staircase.
  5. 5.Castel San Pietro Terme37 minBologna · Emilia-RomagnaA 75-meter thermal town on the Via Emilia east of Bologna, with sulphurous waters in use since 1137 and a 1200-built Cassero.

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  1. 6.Imola38 minBologna · Emilia-RomagnaBologna's Romagna twin — a medieval brick centro anchored by the Caterina Sforza-fortified Rocca, with the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (the Imola F1 circuit) wrapping the Santerno river at the southern edge of town.
  2. 7.Castelvetro di Modena41 minModena · Emilia-RomagnaA 152-meter hill borgo south of Modena whose checkerboard piazza sits above the slopes that grow Lambrusco Grasparossa.
  3. 8.Bagnara di Romagna45 minRavenna · Emilia-RomagnaA 22-meter plain commune in the Bassa Romagna, the only fully preserved medieval castrum surviving in the Romagna lowlands.
  4. 9.Ferrara45 minFerrara · Emilia-RomagnaThe first modern Renaissance city — Biagio Rossetti's 1492 'Addizione Erculea' was Europe's first scientifically planned urban expansion, and the moated brick Castello Estense, the diamond-faceted Palazzo dei Diamanti, and 9 km of intact medieval walls all sit inside a UNESCO-inscribed centro storico you can cycle end-to-end in 20 minutes.
  5. 10.Faenza47 minRavenna · Emilia-RomagnaThe city that gave its name to faïence, with a tin-glazed maiolica tradition since the fourteenth century and the world ceramics museum since 1908.

We write about towns like these every Sunday, one town a week, with the photo, the food, the festa. Free, from Pietrasanta.

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