Bologna, Ravenna & Rome Before and after an Adriatic cruise
August 2026
- Bologna
- Modena & Maranello
- Ravenna
- Dubrovnik
- Athens
- Santorini
- Zadar
- Rome
Ravenna’s cruise port, Porto Corsini, is one of the easiest places in Italy to tie a cruise to a few days on land. Bologna is a short train ride away, Ravenna itself is a UNESCO city, and Rome is an hour’s flight from Bologna once you step off the ship.
This is the route we planned for our August 2026 trip around Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas: arrive early, settle in, and never risk missing the ship. Below is how we pieced it together, with the practical details that made it work.
Bologna · 2 nights
Bologna: arrive early, eat well
We flew into Bologna two days before heading to Ravenna, and stayed near the central station so trains were a short walk away. On the first evening, everything we wanted to see was within a fifteen-minute walk, and all of it was free.
The next morning before leaving, the old town is at its best early: Piazza Maggiore, the Neptune Fountain, the Quadrilatero market streets and the city’s UNESCO-listed porticoes.
- Porta Galliera: a 17th-century Baroque city gate, lovely at dusk.
- Scalinata del Pincio and Montagnola Park: a grand staircase lined with cast-iron candelabras and a hilltop park with city views. Stick to the upper park after dark.
- La Finestrella on Via Piella: a small window opening onto a hidden canal. Go in the evening light.
- Dinner: Trattoria dal Biassanot (next to La Finestrella) for old-style Bolognese cooking, and Trattoria da Me for an inventive take. Reserve both well ahead in August.
Modena & Maranello · Day trip from Bologna
Ferrari Day in Motor Valley
A full day built around the two Ferrari museums. Take the train from Bologna Centrale to Modena (about 30 minutes) and walk ten minutes to the Museo Enzo Ferrari, set around Enzo’s birthplace. Then take a taxi on to the Ferrari Museum in Maranello for the Hall of Victories, the championship F1 cars and the road cars.
In Maranello, the guided bus tour around the factory and the Fiorano test track has limited seats. Go straight to the ticket desk when you arrive, because it sells out in August.
- Keep your Trenitalia train ticket: showing it at the Modena museum desk gets a discount on the combined two-museum pass.
- Lunch in Modena: tortellini in brodo, tigelle or piadina from the cafés near the museum.
- Getting back: a Ferrari shuttle runs from Maranello to Modena station in the early evening (cash to the driver). Arrive early, because it fills up. Then take the train back to Bologna.
Tip:Ristorante Cavallino, Enzo Ferrari’s favourite restaurant, sits next to the factory. It’s a good place to wait for the shuttle.
Ravenna · 2 nights
Ravenna: the eve of the cruise
A direct regional train runs from Bologna to Ravenna in about 1 hour 20 minutes. We spent our last two nights before boarding here. Ravenna is small, walkable and quiet compared with Bologna, and it is about twenty minutes by taxi from the cruise terminal.
Ravenna’s early Christian mosaics are its reason to linger. A single UNESCO combination ticket, sold at the tourist office, covers the main sites. We split them over an afternoon and the following morning.
- Basilica of San Vitale and the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, right next door to each other. Allow about two hours.
- The Archiepiscopal Museum (with the ivory Chair of Maximian and the Chapel of Sant’Andrea) and the Neonian Baptistery.
- Food: Ca’ de Vèn, a historic frescoed wine house, and Trattoria La Rustica for classic Romagna pasta. La Rustica is small, so reserve ahead.
Tip:Ask your hotel the night before to book a morning taxi to the Terminal Crociere at Porto Corsini, and aim to arrive 2–3 hours before sailing.
At sea · 7 nights
The cruise: four ports in brief
Explorer of the Seas sailed from Porto Corsini with two sea days and four ports. A few notes for each port, from our planning:
- Dubrovnik, Croatia (Gruž port): Old Town is about 3 km away, so take a taxi from the rank at the terminal or a Libertas city bus. Go early, before other ships’ crowds fill the Stradun. Lokrum Island, a short ferry ride from the Old Harbour, is a shaded, flatter alternative to the City Walls. Buza Bar, built into the sea-facing walls, is worth the detour.
- Athens (Piraeus), Greece: we booked a ship excursion. If you do the same, check how much walking it involves, because the Acropolis means uneven ancient stone and stairs.
- Santorini, Greece: a tender port. From the old port up to Fira, the choice is the cable car, a donkey or about 600 steps. Confirm which one your excursion uses.
- Zadar, Croatia (Gaženica port): the terminal is 4–5 km from Old Town, so take a taxi or rideshare. Once there, it is flat and pedestrianised: the Sea Organ, the Greeting to the Sun, the Roman Forum and St. Donatus, quiet Five Wells Square, and the often-skipped Museum of Ancient Glass.
Rome · 1 night
Rome: one last night
On disembarkation morning, a pre-booked private car took us from Porto Corsini to Bologna airport (about an hour), followed by a one-hour flight to Rome Fiumicino. A taxi into the centre takes around 45 minutes.
We stayed a few minutes’ walk from the Pantheon, which put the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps within an easy afternoon stroll. Dinner was at ADEVA, a modern Roman kitchen nearby. The next morning we flew home from Fiumicino.
Tip:If your flight home leaves from a different Fiumicino terminal than the one you arrive at, the transfer is easy. Just allow time for it.
Where we stayed
Bologna
Royal Hotel Carlton
Via Montebello 8
A short walk from Bologna Centrale, which makes it ideal for train day trips.
Official site ↗Ravenna
Palazzo Bezzi
Via di Roma 45
A boutique hotel in the historic centre, known for its breakfast, about 20 minutes by taxi from the cruise terminal.
Official site ↗Rome
Little Queen Pantheon
Via del Collegio Capranica 4
A small guest house near the Pantheon, within walking distance of Trevi and the Spanish Steps.
Official site ↗Practical notes
- Apps worth downloading before you go: your airlines (Ryanair requires its app for boarding passes), Royal Caribbean, Trenitalia, and itTaxi or FREE NOW for taxis.
- Book trains on the Trenitalia app. Regional trains between Bologna, Modena and Ravenna are frequent and inexpensive.
- August is peak season. Reserve restaurants, the Ferrari factory tour and timed-entry sights ahead, and start port days early.
- Book your terminal taxi the night before embarkation, and pre-book a private transfer for disembarkation morning.
- Check the exact all-aboard time for each port in the Cruise Planner and build in a buffer for traffic back to the ship.
The Photo Shop
Prints from ashore
Shop Ashore prints
The ship we sailed
© Three Still StudioCruise Line
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