About 30 minutes by train from Florence you’ll find Bologna (arguably the food capital of northern Italy).

Most of us have eaten spaghetti bolognese, and the locals are slightly aghast at our version.  Firstly they use tagliatelle (never spaghetti), the sauce is more meat heavy, sometimes using a mix of pork and beef and only a small bit of tomato is used to make the sauce a more appealing colour.

What the locals are really obsessed with is tortolini in broth (compulsory at Christmas, with people putting their orders in to local pasta shops months in advance) and the larger tortoloni served with butter and sage and usually filled with the region’s famous cured meats like mortadella or salami.

The city offers various food tours and if you’re a foodie I’d highly recommend going on one.  You’ll be able to taste some outstanding food and wine, visit great places and meet cool and interesting people.  I’d recommend going hungry, as the samples are generous and I needed to go lie down after mine and was in a food coma for several hours.

The city’s history dates back to before the Romans, with the oldest university in Europe, in existence since the 11th century.  It still has a huge student population and there’s no shortage of good affordable places to eat catering to them.

The city is definitely a bit rougher around the edges than other Italian cities I’ve visited but is probably more authentic and less touristy.  Bologna’s nickname amongst Italians is il Rosso (the red one).  Due to the colour of the buildings and the city’s history of left wing politics. In reality the city’s buildings are various shades of red, orange and deep yellow making it especially pretty in the evenings as the light begins to fall.

You’ll also find covered portico walkways all over the old city (40 km worth).  These were built from the medieval age onwards as a way of resolving the issue of accommodating all the students in the city.  The streets were already small and narrow and the town council didn’t want to use up any more valuable space.  So building owners could build up from the first floor and the street level was unaffected, as people could still pass below.  (Quick traveller tip, if visiting, research where you are staying.  I stayed on a street with 3 bars close by, all of which had outdoor seating. The bars here close at 3am, and the street scene afterwards can be “lively”.  My host left me a set of ear plugs which should have been my first clue).

There are plenty of different tours if you want to find out more about city’s history but if you’re a petrol head you can also book visits to the Ducatti and Lamborgini factories close by.  I got talking to a Dutch biker who had visited the Ducatti factory and he was quite misty eyed and super impressed by it.  There is even a police car Lamborgini donated by the factory.

Bologna is well worth a visit and has something for everyone.