Getting from Bologna Airport to the city

The monorail

Bologna Airport is about 5 km northwest of the centre, and the Marconi Express connects it to Bologna Centrale on an elevated guideway six or seven metres up, entirely independent of the roads.

• About eight minutes, end to end.
• 05:40 to midnight, up to eight departures an hour at peak, every fifteen minutes otherwise.
• The line is 5.1 km long.

The fare is 12.80 EUR single and 23.30 EUR return, the return valid for 30 days. Children up to four travel free, and there are family and group discounts sold online only. You can tap in and out with the same contactless card instead of buying a ticket.

That works out at roughly 2.50 EUR per kilometre, which is why the monorail has a reputation. It is also, in fairness, fast, frequent and completely immune to traffic.

One thing that softens it: every Marconi Express ticket is also valid on Tper's urban bus lines for 75 minutes from the moment you validate at the turnstile. If your hotel is not next to Centrale, the onward bus is already paid for.

Why Bologna Centrale matters

If you are only passing through, this is the useful part: Bologna Centrale is the hinge of the Italian rail network.

• Florence in about 35 minutes on the high-speed line.
• Milan and Rome in under two hours.
• Venice, Verona and the whole north-east through the same station.

That makes Bologna a serious alternative arrival airport for Florence, and a better one than most people realise. The monorail plus a fast train beats several of the "Florence" airports on this site.

The cheaper way in

Tper bus 944 runs between the airport and the city on ordinary urban fares, roughly 20 to 30 minutes depending on traffic.

• 2.30 EUR from a shop or by tapping a contactless card on board.
• 2.50 EUR if you pay the driver in coins.
• 1.90 EUR a trip if you buy the ten-trip carnet.
• Valid 75 minutes across the whole urban network, so changes are included.

With time and light luggage the bus is the sensible choice. With a train to catch it is not.