Last Updated on October 27, 2026 by Home in the World
Florence undoubtedly ranks as one of Italy’s flagship cities, a place tourists flock to for its incredible art, architecture and general beauty. But do you actually have to stay there to enjoy all of this?
Located just under an hour away by train, Bologna, in the Emilia-Romagna region, is a less touristy (and therefore less expensive) city that I found to be an excellent base for exploring a number of other towns in the vicinity – something I will be writing more about in due course.
Read on to find out how my day trip to Florence from Bologna turned out, and whether I recommend it as a feasible option for travellers to this region.
Best form of transport
I found the best way to get to Florence from Bologna for a day trip was by rail. It takes under an hour on a Frecciarossa train (Regionale trains take a lot longer), with no need to change. The Frecciarossa trains run approximately every 15 minutes, so you can take your pick of when you want to leave. And you arrive right in central Florence, with the Santa Maria Novella station only a short walk from the famous Duomo.
That trip to Florence was my first time trying Italian rail. It would be the first of 3 round-trip train journeys I would be taking, which I will be writing more about here on the blog in due course.
I booked my tickets from home in Australia a few weeks before via the Trenitalia website and I found it to be excellent: easy to use, all in English, an efficient payment process and tickets emailed swiftly to me within a few minutes.
In hindsight, I could have waited until I actually got to Bologna and bought them on the very day, but, given I was travelling in late summer, I wasn’t sure if seats would get sold out. I also didn’t want to be wasting time on the morning of travel. So if you like to have everything planned and organised in advance, you can definitely do it easily online beforehand (there are also ticket options that offer the ability to change times/dates and get refunds).
If you want to give yourself more flexibility, I’d say you could probably wait until you’re in Bologna, perhaps buying your tickets at the station a day or so before.
In fact, on my return trip, I needed to amend the departure time back to Bologna. I simply went to the ticket office at Florence train station, gave them my ticket reference number (yes, they spoke excellent English – because unfortunately I only have basic Italian) and they were easily able to switch me to a different train time. Depending on the ticket you have bought, you may need to pay a small fare difference. But the availability, even at the last-minute, was no problem.
If you’re travelling during the ultra peak season of June, July and early August, however, I would definitely keep monitoring the trains via the website just to make sure there are seats available on the services you want.
The other main transport option for a day trip to Florence from Bologna is of course to self-drive. The trip takes around 1 hour and 40 minutes though. While that is a perfectly good idea if you’re planning to spend multiple days in Florence, it might be unnecessarily wasting time if you’re only doing a day trip, not to mention finding parking when you get there. So I would personally highly recommend taking the train if you only plan to visit for the day.
What I saw on my day trip to Florence from Bologna
As mentioned, the train from Bologna arrived at Florence’s Santa Maria Novella station, which is located very centrally. I arrived late morning and headed straight for the main sights – all within easy walking distance from the station, or a 5-minute car ride if walking is difficult for you.
At the risk of stating the obvious, I just want to remind you not to expect to get a hugely in-depth experience of Florence if you’re only visiting for the day. As with any day trip, especially to a larger city with a lot to see, it will only ever be a taster of what that city has to offer. I also talk about this in my post about doing a day trip to Tokyo from Osaka in Japan.
But if time is of the essence, a taster is always better than nothing. So here are the things I was easily able to fit in on my day trip to Florence from Bologna:
Piazza di Santa Maria Novella and the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella
A large, open square with green space and flower beds, lined with a number of picturesque buildings, most notably the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella. This is just a few minutes’ walk from the train station and is absolutely worth seeing. I adored the striking patterns of the Renaissance façade. You can go inside the Basilica too, but it was unfortunately closed when I visited.
Piazza del Duomo
The Piazza del Duomo is a must for any visitor to the city. This cathedral square is located about a 10-minute walk from the station, down the vibrant Via Panzani and Via de’ Cerretani. It is home to several of Florence’s most historic monuments, including the Baptistry of St John (an octagonal religious building featuring stunning Florentine Romanesque architecture), Giotto’s Bell Tower, and of course the cathedral itself: the stunning Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (a.k.a. the Duomo).
This cathedral is probably Florence’s most famous landmark, distinguished by its iconic dome by Filippo Brunelleschi, which remains one of the world’s largest masonry domes. If you’ve ever seen a photo of Florence, it will most likely have featured the Duomo.
I definitely recommend taking some time to admire this exquisite piece of (predominantly) Italian Gothic architecture; the details are incredible. If you’re feeling up to it, you can also climb the 463 steps to the top of the dome. Unfortunately I visited Florence on a Sunday, when the cathedral was closed, so I could not go inside at all. On other days, however, it is open (with free entry) 10.15am-3.45pm.
The pedestrian shopping street of Via dei Calzaiuoli
A 400-m-long pedestrian street connecting Piazza del Duomo with Piazza della Signoria. It is very elegant, lined with upscale clothing boutiques and shoe stores, artisanal leather shops, gelaterias and homeware stores. Also keep an eye out for the Church of Orsanmichele, a beautiful Gothic building located on this very street.
Piazza della Signoria
A beautiful square at the end of Via dei Calzaiuoli, it has been the central hub for Florence’s political scene since the 14th century. It is home to a number of sculptures, most notably Ammannati’s Nettuno, and surrounded landmark buildings including the Palazzo Vecchio (the town hall) and Uffizi Gallery. Depending on how much of a fine-arts enthusiast you are, you may want to spend at least a couple of hours exploring the square and these two buildings. I was blown away by some of the frescoes.
To avoid wasting time, given you are only on a day trip, I recommend pre-purchasing skip-the-line passes for any ticketed attractions you know you definitely want to visit – because the queues, especially in summer, can sometimes be quite long.
Ponte Vecchio
From Piazza della Signoria, head west along Via Vacchereccia and then south along Via Por Santa Maria (which are themselves lovely semi-pedestrian streets with a similar feel to Via dei Calzaiuoli) and you will find yourself at another of Florence’s main landmarks: Ponte Vecchio, a medieval stone bridge spanning the River Arno. It is famously lined exclusively with jewellery shops and topped with the elevated walkway known as the Vasari Corridor, built to enable the Medici family to commute between Pitti Palace and Palazzo Vecchio without having to mingle with the masses.
Be sure to take in the view through the iconic arches on both sides, though you will likely have to wait your turn to get a photo as it is usually very crowded. I also enjoyed looking at the many love locks!
Refreshment stop and general side-street exploring
During your time in Florence, you’ll definitely want to have at least some sort of snack, if not a full-blown meal. Being a hot summer’s day, we opted for gelatos and slushies. There are numerous gelaterias lining the main walking streets like Via dei Calzaiuoli, and it’s a great way to stop and people-watch!
Thereafter, we decided to spend the rest of our time wandering some of the smaller side streets, because it’s not always about visiting the main sights – and Italy has so many picturesque laneways!
One thing I did not manage to do, but which is recommended if you want to admire the iconic view of Florence from the other side of the river, is Piazzale Michelangelo. It was pushing it too much for us to get there in the one day, but if you have more time, I would definitely encourage you to head up there.
How long should you allow on a day trip to Florence from Bologna?
To give yourself the best chance of seeing as much as possible without rushing around like mad on your day trip to Florence from Bologna, I would recommend allowing at least around 7-8 hours in the city.
As mentioned, Florence is only a 50-minute train ride from Bologna, with trains operating approximately every 15 minutes, so you will have considerable flexibility in terms of working out a travel window. For example, we arranged to arrive in Florence late morning and took a train back to Bologna around 7pm.
The fact that central Florence is also so close to the train station and the major sights are within easy walking distance of each other means you can use your time efficiently.
Why base yourself in Bologna, and where to stay
The main reason we decided to base ourselves in Bologna was its location. Situated in the heart of the Emilia-Romagna region of north-central Italy (which, incidentally, is widely considered to be the country’s best region for food and wine), it is within easy access of numerous cities and towns; Florence, yes, but also the likes of Modena, Rimini, Parma, Ravenna, Verona, Venice and Milan.
Rather than constantly packing and unpacking and moving between cities every few days, we preferred to base ourselves in one spot and explore from there, and Bologna made perfect sense for this. The fact that it is itself a lovely city filled with beautiful architecture and amazing food made the decision all the easier. I will be writing more about Bologna here on the blog soon.
As an added bonus, the fact that Bologna, for all its virtues, is still not a massive tourist hub (at least not compared to the likes of nearby Florence, Venice and Milan) meant it was significantly cheaper in terms of accommodation.
We had an absolutely wonderful stay at the NH Bologna De La Gare. It was located just a few minutes’ walk from Bologna’s central train station, making it the perfect place to be based, not only for exploring Bologna itself, but also for train-based day trips like the one to Florence. I will be writing a full review of the hotel on here soon.
The final verdict: Can you do a day trip to Florence from Bologna?
In my experience, yes, you absolutely can do a day trip to Florence from Bologna. While you obviously won’t be able to spend as much time exploring the city as you would if you were staying there for an extended period, the short distance from Bologna means you can easily visit it for the day and still see all its landmark sights.
If you’re staying in Bologna and are tossing up whether to do a day trip to Florence, I would say definitely go for it!
Have you visited Florence as a day trip from Bologna? If so, what did you think of it? Let me know in the comments.
**This post, like everything else on this website, has been written entirely by me. All photos are mine, unless otherwise stated. No ChatGPT or any other AI tool has been used. It takes longer to create, but I value 100% human-generated content and I hope you do too!**
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Great option and lots of good advice.
Thank you, yes, it’s definitely a good option for those who don’t have a lot of time or who want to be based in one place!