My mom and I had a wonderful tour with Darren. The small group was fantastic and it gave the…read morefeeling of a group of friends exploring a new city. Darren was wonderful and provided excellent recommendations for other places to try in the city and was very knowledgeable. The food was fantastic and everything was well worth the tour price. It was about four hours and a perfect way to get to know the city!

Definitely, worth it!…read more Stumbled upon this tour, while doing some research for my trip. It had great reviews, so I was in. So I reached out to them on very short notice. The booking person, Andrea C. was so kind and went above and beyond to accomated our group so we could go the next day. Our total group size, upon arrival, was 10 total. We arrived at their requested meeting place, central location of the Basilica Petronia. Valentina was our tour guide, and she was so sweet. She gave us lots of fun facts and a little history, which I loved, along with each visit. They have several tours: Bologna Wine Tasting Tortellini Making Experience Cooking Class Sunset Food Tour Classic Tour We did the Classic tour. Includes yummy pasta tasting, with traditional broth, which tasted like a warm hug. We had several stops (dress comfortabld/sneakers), including traditional coffee shop, bread shop, and cheese shop, and farmers market. The group got along well, and enjoyed walking in and out of the cobble stone streets, and stopping to hear from Valentina. Great tour!

Andrea / Massimo / Olga, thank you for the hospitality! I appreciate it greatly that you offered to…read morehelp pick me up and drop me off at my Airbnb (which I learned was not at the greatest part of town). I had a great day exploring Bologna. From the food tours (Parmigiano-Reggiano, prosciutto, balsamic vinegar, and all of that wine pairings!) who knew that bad mix vinegar was delicious on vanilla ice cream?! The day ended with a 6 course meal in Modena. The restaurant and scenery was beautiful. The food was of course delicious, you can never have too much pasta. You'll get treated like family here! Andrea and Massimo were always helpful, offering to take pictures and checking to see if we needed anything. See attached pics for a preview of what the day was like! Highly recommend this tour!

Fantastic tour. Totally worth the money. The two of us were picked up early at our hotel, we then…read morepicked up one other couple and were off for a day of food and wine. Started at Prosciuttificio Nini Gianfranco which was as small operation but cranked out a ton of prosciutto hams. We saw the entire production and tasted some various pieces with the owner. Then went to Parmigiano Reggiano in Modena and saw how they make the giant wheels of Parmesan. Also had an opportunity buy a wedge at a fantastic price. Then went to Azienda Agricola Romano Boni where they make some of the finest aged balsamic vinegar in all of Italy. Really nice guy running the place. Then went to Chiarli 1860 winery and saw the operation and tasted various wines including an amazing Lambrusco. Finished with a long lunch with several courses at La Ca' Bianca in Modena. Went upstairs to meet the dream team of ladies making all the various pastas and tortellini. Then a ride in the early evening back to our hotel. Took a ton of pictures, ate all kinds of food and wine and had a great day. Our guide Andrea and driver Ricci were spectacular. Totally worth doing this tour.

Great central train station in the heart of Bologna! It was only a ~10 minute cab ride from our…read morehotel. It did not appear that large from the front of the terminal but after you have your tickets and start going through the platforms, you'll notice how large the station actually is. It's not overly complex and hard to navigate. It has multi levels downward-we went down two or three escalators to get to our platform for our train to Torin. Getting your tickets is easy: 1) you can purchase them on the app 2) the internet 3) and the machines inside the terminal. Since we took an intracity train, we did not see any entry kiosks to pay with your phone. We purchased our tickets online. Just check your departure time, get the platform number from the monitors, and proceed to the platform. After that, you will soon be on your train and off to your destination!!

This was definitely the most chaotic and confusing station we've traveled in and out of. We were in…read moreBologna for a day - for a walking food tour, let's be so real - and took a regional train from Verona. And maybe it's unfair for me to compare this station to Verona, or Florence, or even Rome, but that's human nature, isn't it? While it has a lot of modern-looking finishes and several places for one to sit, on the day we were there the station gave off an overall vibe of dinginess and over-crowdedness. That "at capacity" feeling was at its worst that evening, when every bench, chair, open floor space was occupied by a human, waiting to find out where they should go to catch their train out. We were lucky to find an empty table at one of the cafes, after purchasing some drinks and snacks to tide us over for the evening. We weren't lucky enough to get seats with a view to the departures board, though, so we had to take turns walking over to the boards to see if our platform informaiton had been updated. And friends, I'm so glad we left as soon as the platform information populated because whooo, was it ever a trek from where we were to where we needed to be! I hadn't realized until that moment exactly how big a station Bologna Centrale was.

Easy peasy rental - - there are 2 Hertz locations in Bologna: one at the airport and this one near…read morethe train station. Being that we were already in town, I figured it would be easiest to just pick up the car at this location - - and I was right. Technically this location is just across the street from the Stazione Centrale. You go to this office to "check-in" and complete the paperwork. Then you walk approx 70m away to collect your car in a parking garage. We had reserved an "intermediate" (I believe) - and ended up with a cute Fiat Bravo. (Think VW Golf 4 door - but a bit extended.) Staff was friendly; super easy to get the car. And I dropped off at the same garage location. Overall easy deal - - still just waiting for my credit card to get the final bill though. (Hopefully that goes through just as easily - cause "technically" no one was there to officially check me in.) I would rent from here again with future travel to Bologna. Also, it's relatively easy to get onto the autostrada. Advice: Ask for a Bologna map. That was SUPER helpful!

Great service! We were picked up at the car rental drop off at the Bologna airport and delivered to…read moreour rental swiftly and smoothly. Our driver was exceptionally helpful, carrying some of our luggage to our apartment as the street was car free on weekends, so we had a short walk. Pick up at 3am a few days later was easy and prompt. Communication was maintained easily and the early morning drive to the airport was great. A top notch company that we will use again.

Book this company! Giacomo was great to work with. When our driver canceled 1 hour before, I called…read moreand he got me driver. Thank you for saving our trip!

We had read about how good Dynamo is before we came to Bologna, and Bologna is a bike-crazy town…read more(no other place during our 12 day trip around Italy had a large bike-parking-lot for its commuters). Our hotel was just down the block and so we came here to rent bikes for half a day. Although not everyone's English there is top notch, amongst us all, we were able to get pretty good directions on how to bike out and up (and up, and up!) to the Basilica San Luca (the one with the HUGE number of porticoes). They were thoughtfully particular about which bikes to assign to us and we appreciated that. My bike was excellent. My husband's bike, he being quite tall, was not perfect, too heavy for a nearly all-uphill ride, and his seat kept slipping slightly forward. When we told the Dynamo staff about this issue at the end of the day, they gave us a generous discount on an item of clothing that we were planning on buying and offered to return some of our money. We loved the cavernous show/service/storage/rental/sales/concert space and loved the cool vibe of antique and kids' biking paraphernalia. I highly recommend Dynamo

Highly recommended. Such a great way to tour the city. We rented for an all day trip to San Luca…read moreto watch stage 1 of the Gira d'Italia. Bikes worked perfectly. We've rented bikes before in the States with differing levels of success. This was the best experience we've had, by far, from rental to return. Plus, we found they have an ultra cool bar attached at one end of the shop! Best day of our 10 day trip in this beautiful city!

ICS was great to deal with. We made arrangements before our trip and received confirmation both at…read morethe time of booking and the day before the ride complete with driver's information. We booked three rides and were fortunate enough to have Emanuela for the two transfers between Bologna and Florence. The drives were both smooth and easy. I would not hesitate to use and recommend them for any needs when in the area. An excellent and professional service.

Excellent service! When in Italy.... Use ICs!! No regrets. Great service and staff.read more

Allora! Warning:…read moreLONG post ahead... Have you ever felt the joy of when your expectations were surpassed by reality? My elation may have been beyond that . Though the memories and emotions from Francescana at Casa Maria Luigia (CML) are permanently branded into my temporal lobe, I'm desperately assuaging my sadness that this incredible experience has come to an end. Thus, an homage to perhaps my favorite (celebrity) couple, Massimo & Lara. The very first episode of the first season of Chef's Table on Netflix was my introduction into the culinary mastery of Chef Massimo Bottura. And honestly, I've been obsessed ever since. So much could be said about his traditional influences while hiding under his nonna's kitchen table to his creative brilliance that at times were shunned by the local Modenese, but since this is an IG post we'll keep it at that. My fiancé and I uncharacteristically planned our trip to Italy only couple months in advance. Understandably and sadly, both Osteria Francescana and Francescana were booked. However, by a stroke of luck there happened to be a single room available for a single night at CML with the option to dine at Francescana. I booked it immediately without hesitation. When we arrived, we were given a tour of our "home away from home" (check my reel for a glimpse into the beautiful stay) and as we were being taken to our room, I recognized Lara immediately. I wasn't sure if either of them would be present but there she was! We wandered the property, eating fresh baked pistachio cookies, gawking at the Ferrari and Ducati collection, sipping on grappa while listening to jazz, just patiently waiting for 7:30 to roll around. Clock struck half past and we eagerly sat while staff promptly poured water and wines for the tasting. Then Lara came around to each table, greeting each guest in such a warm and calming demeanor. I wanted to ask for a picture but was way too shy and ultimately missed my chance ... Then she embarked on the journey of Casa Maria Luigia and the first three courses of the tasting, including an inspiration from a Beetles song, a traditional family dish flipped completely on its head, and an affectionate tribute to the best cheese in the world aged between 24-50 months! The flavors were intense, complex and lingered on your palette just long enough for the next dish. The textures were playful, some dancing, some kicking while others lied dormant in the back of your mouth before it was digested. Maybe an hour and a half in, Chef flew in through the kitchen with his expected jolly and chaotic energy infecting everyone with smiles as he shared in the task of describing the main courses. The fight between siblings for the best part of the lasagna. The flavor packed tortellini that weigh only a single gram each and was recently served to the Prince of Monaco. The conflict of a recently anointed three-Michelin star chef walking into a Burger King to view the newly hung Damien Hirst painting during the London Olympics. My mouth still drools at the thought of these dishes... and chuckles at the stories behind them... and awes at watching Chef at work, splattering various veggie sauces across his plated canvas. Up til now I must admit there is complete adoration for this experience and truly not a single thing I would change about it. And aside from the seventh course, I truly wouldn't. But I must admit, I was not the biggest fan of the North to South which is Chef's desire to bridge the geographic regions of Italy together with a Sicilian blood orange flavored risotto served cold for savory dessert. But, his signature lemon tart and a camouflaged chocolate terrain were as visually stunning as they were stunning to the palate. Not sure what it's like at Osteria Francescana, but can attest that Casa Maria Luigia brings the best of Massimo & Lara into a tangible privilege for the mind, body and community. Hopefully this isn't too hype, but seriously... it's just the best.

My husband and I are big foodies and had heard great things about visiting this place. Two months…read moreago we booked a night at the Casa Maria Luigia along with dinner/beverage pairing at Francescana at Maria Luigia as part of a larger trip to Italy from the US. Fast forward 2 months and I am 7 weeks pregnant, sick with the flu (fever/vomiting), and barely able to get to the place (train+taxi) let alone enjoy it. We arrived and let the staff know that only my husband would join for the dinner and that I wasn't feeling well and didn't want to get others sick. Obviously the pregnancy and illness aren't their fault and the terms of the sale indicated it was non-refundable. However, at fine dining establishments in the US they've often had a clause for illness or other reasons to adjust the reservation - I consider this to be a part of great customer service. Considering we paid nearly 2,000 euros for this experience, I was surprised they wouldn't even refund my wine pairing (170 euros) as even if I wasn't sick, I wouldn't have been able to partake in it due to pregnancy. They gave us a credit for future use that expires in one year, which is comical since I will still be pregnant or with a newborn for that full year. Obviously they know how to cook here, but the customer service made what was already a tough day (missing my dream foodie experience and being bed-ridden on a beautiful estate) even more frustrating.