/trv/ I'm traveling in a couple of days to Bologna, Italy.

Use couchsurfing sites to find a place to stay for free.

https://www.couchsurfing.com/
>>1066356

>>1066360
>>1066359
Oh ok will try that! Thanks!

>>1066365
Yep no problem.

>>1066365
You should only stay with people with a lot of reviews though. Otherwise it could get sketchy...

I was in Bologna and I really disliked it. Italians are assholes

>>1066370
Did you speak Italian with them?

>>1066371

English, or well I tried at least. Barely anyone there speaks it. I managed to get my point across because I was always asking for simple stuff because I was lost and nobody wanted to help. For example I needed a map and went to a pizza delivery place that wasn't even busy and asked if they have a map I can take a look at and they just told me no. Lots of other similar instances.

Lots of other stuff pissed me off such as no free wi-fi anywhere, needing an Italian number to use McD's wi-fi.

I guess I was in a unique situation because I was hitchhiking to Rome from Poland on 20 euro and my dinner was bread and tuna from LIDL and my bed was under a tree at a park. If you're staying at a hostel and have money for basic stuff you'll be fine.

Yeah, most other countries hate foreigners who don't speak their language.

>>1066374

Bolognese here. Bologna is an extremely foreign-friendly city, we have the oldest University in the world ( founded in 1088, OP be sure to visit it) and we receive a lot of Erasmus students from all over Europe, so people are accoustomed to non-italian people, and tend to be friendly and welcoming with them. Italians generally don't speak a good english, thus Italy is not the kind of country you can visit without knowing a single word of the native language, hoping some rudimental english will be enough, we aren't Netherland or Iceland. I think people weren't helpful with you mostly because of the language barrier rather than just being assholes. Also the fact that you probably looked like a homeless backpacker didn't help.

Anyway, by the fact you judge the entire italian population as assholes just because people didn't show you a map and you couldn't leech some wifi, you really look like a judgemental idiot and I think you deserved all the bad manner you received in my city. OP, feel free to ask anything about what to do or visit in Bologna, I'll be happy to help

>>1066356
If you're going to be there for 14 days, make sure to take some trips to nearby places.

Orvieto
Rimmini
Ravenna

are all within a 30 minute train ride

>>1066506
You seem to speak English quite well. Are you one of the exceptions?

>>10>>1066611

This, 6-7 days are more than enough to visit Bologna properly

If you're into Roman things and history, be sure to visit Ravenna, former capital of the Late Roman Empire. Not as good as Rome of course, but there are some goat tier churches and mosaics and tge city is really good

>>1066625
Not him (but another Italian studying in Bologna), and he isn't. Sure, the average knowledge of English in Italy is lower than in many other European countries, but you'll be able to get by. Nearly all young people speak Italian, albeit with an accent, sometimes.

I'm Scandinavian, I went through Bologna and stayed there for 5 days this summer as I was travelling around Italy etc.

I speak absolutely zero Italian, I can say No and that is literally it, no exaggeration.

The city is beautiful, I'll suggest a few places to visit, you'll have to forgive me for not remembering the names.
There is a couple of square towers in the city center, costs like 3 euro or something to get into the tall one and the view from up there is spectactular.
In the south-western area of the city this long section of archways begin, 666 of them in total I believe, stretches for like 3.4 kilometers, after one and a half it starts rising pretty steeply and continues to do so all the way to the top, it's a pretty walk and the monestary(?) at the top is nice.
The view of the city is unfortunately limited unless the restaurant up there is open, it was closed when I went. Also it can be an exhausting climb, I'm in alright shape but it was 40 degrees mid-day when I did it, I regretted only having one bottle of water. Thank fuck for the vending machine up top.

As for food there is a lot of good places around, I suggest just walking off the main streets and looking around until one appeals to you.

I stayed at a hostel on the north side of the train station, arrived in the middle of the night, place was hard to find and the area looked a bit shady, but once I got there the place was great, completely new and clean, costs like 20 euro a night though.

All in all I liked it there, I arrived with no knowledge or preparation of the place, speaking absolutely no Italian, but I enjoyed it.