Licensed art guides in Bologna offering city tours, regional visits, escorting, interpreting and school programmes across Emilia-Romagna.
Photo © Le Guide d'Arte
Why go
Le Guide d'Arte is a social cooperative of licensed tourist guides based in Bologna. It was formed on 2 February 2021, building on a cultural association founded in 1994 by guides with degrees in literature, art history and foreign languages who wanted to create a highly qualified team. Its members work across Bologna and the wider Emilia-Romagna region.
The team offers guided visits in Bologna, Ferrara, Modena, Ravenna, Parma, Imola and Dozza, along with escorting, interpreting, school programmes and tours designed for accessible tourism. Guides cover a wide range of languages, and the cooperative also runs seasonal walks, urban trekking and exhibition visits announced in its activities section for visitors and groups.
Main services
Services from the official website.
Classic tour of Bologna
A guided walk through Bologna's historic centre with a qualified local guide, covering the city's past and present, its porticoes and palaces. Suited to first-time visitors, families and groups, in many languages.
Themed tours in Bologna
Visits built around a specific subject, such as a palazzo, a painter, an exhibition or a neighbourhood, for people who want to look more closely at one side of Bologna's art and history.
Tours across Emilia-Romagna
Guided visits to Ferrara, Modena, Ravenna, Parma, Imola and Dozza, led by guides licensed for the region. Useful for visitors who want to see more of Emilia-Romagna beyond Bologna, in half-day or full-day formats.
Accessible tourism
Tours designed so that culture and heritage are within everyone's reach, including wheelchair users, deaf and blind visitors, families and people with disabilities. The cooperative states this as a specialism.
Programmes for schools
Online lessons and virtual tours plus in-person visits for primary, middle and secondary schools, adaptable to each grade and sold in discounted packages, so teachers can combine several different formats.
Interpreting
Professional interpreting for trade fairs and business negotiations, in simultaneous or consecutive mode, offered alongside tourist guiding and escorting work, with some interpreters regularly working at Bologna's main trade fairs.
Photo © Le Guide d'Arte
Services and facilities
Gallery
Photo © Le Guide d'Arte
Photo © Le Guide d'Arte
Photo © Le Guide d'Arte
Practical information
Getting there
On foot: 300 m, about 5 min walk.
On foot: 1.2 km, about 19 min. By taxi: from the official rank at the station, metered fare (CoTaBo +39 051 372727 · CAT +39 051 4590).
Marconi Express monorail to Bologna Centrale in under 8 minutes (single €12.80), then about 19 min on foot. Or a taxi from the airport rank, metered fare.
The historic centre is a camera-controlled limited-traffic zone (ZTL): park outside it, and walk.
Straight-line distances from OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors); walking times are approximate. Marconi Express time and fare from the operator.
Around the area
City Guide · Things to do
Bologna landmarks with their own Holiplanet page, nearest first.
Market
Medieval guild lanes still selling Bologna's best food
Library
Walk on glass over Villanovan huts and Roman Bononia
Monument
The skyline's twin emblems, one leaning, both under watchful care
Viewpoint
A little window onto Bologna's hidden canal
Monument
Bologna's town hall, with frescoed halls and a clock tower
Square
Bologna's living room, watched over by Giambologna's bronze Neptune
Basilica
Bologna’s great Gothic church, with Cassini’s meridian line
Museum
Guided tours inside Lucio Dalla's home on Via D'Azeglio
Church
Seven sacred spaces in one, Bologna's little Jerusalem
On the Bologna map
City Guide · Where to eat
Bologna restaurants with their own Holiplanet page, nearest first.
Traditional restaurant
Handmade tortellini and tagliatelle in Bologna since 1948
Wine bar / osteria
Wine osteria since 1465: bring your own food
Bolognese trattoria
Pasta rolled by hand and grilled meats on Via Piella
Bolognese trattoria
Handmade pasta, cotoletta and grilled meats off Via dell’Indipendenza
Emilian restaurant
Family recipes and handmade pasta since 1980
Seasonal restaurant
Vegetable-led farm-to-table menu with house-made bread
Bolognese restaurant
Family-run since 1955 near Piazza Maggiore: tortellini in broth
Chef's restaurant
Mario Ferrara's Lucanian-rooted cooking in a 1600s convent
Historic restaurant
Tortellini in brodo and lasagne verdi since 1909
On the Bologna map
City Guide · Where to stay
Hotels, B&Bs and apartments with their own Holiplanet page, nearest first.
Unique stay
Sleep inside a 12th-century tower, sixty metres above Bologna
Family hotel
Small family-run hotel by the Two Towers with a panoramic terrace
Hotel
Romantic 3-star hotel in the ancient Quadrilatero
Hotel
Homely 3-star near the university district and the main sights
Hotel
Family-run hotel in the pedestrian heart by Piazza Maggiore
Hotel
Welcoming guests 50 metres from Piazza Maggiore since 1875
Boutique hotel
Romantic hotel born as a 14th-century tavern
Boutique hotel
12th-century building facing San Petronio's Gothic windows
Boutique hotel
22 modern rooms in the historic centre, opened in 2023
On the Bologna map
City Guide · Experiences
Tours, classes and guided walks with their own Holiplanet page.
Bike tours
Guided bike and walking tours plus bike rental
Car museum / factory tour
Lamborghini museum and production line tour in Sant'Agata Bolognese
Balsamic vinegar tour
Free guided tour of the Giusti family museum and ageing rooms in Modena
Food valley tour
Parmigiano, balsamic and prosciutto producers in one day
Cooking class
Hands-on pasta class, small groups, near Piazza Maggiore
Balsamic vinegar producer visit
Family acetaia in Nonantola (Modena): balsamic tour and tasting, €8
Food market tour
Walking food tour through the Quadrilatero market and centre
For kids & families
Weekend museum workshops for children at Palazzo Fava
On the Bologna map
Straight-line distances from OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors).
Questions
The guides cover several languages between them, including Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Croatian, depending on the guide. Ask the cooperative which guide fits your language.
Yes. The cooperative also guides in Ravenna, Ferrara, Modena, Parma, Imola and Dozza. A surcharge may apply for services in cities other than Bologna.
For guiding and escorting, a cancellation within 48 hours of the service (Sundays excluded) means paying 50% of the fee; later than that, the full price is due.
Yes. The cooperative specialises in accessible tourism, aiming to make culture and heritage available to everyone.
Yes. Besides guiding and escorting, the cooperative offers professional interpreting services, including simultaneous and consecutive.
Guide rates are stated as VAT-exempt under art. 10 D.P.R. 633/72, while escort and interpreter rates are subject to 22% VAT.
