Practical Information for visiting Ravenna

Ravenna is flat, small and one of the more cycle-friendly cities in Italy. Hire is cheap, lanes are extensive, and the eight kilometres out to Classe is a pleasant ride rather than a trek.

The historic centre is comfortably walkable and largely pedestrianised. Five of the eight UNESCO monuments are within a ten-minute radius of each other.

For Sant’Apollinare in Classe there is a regular bus, and a train stops at Classe on the line south. The Mausoleum of Theodoric is a twenty-minute walk from the centre.

Buses also run to the beaches at Marina di Ravenna and Punta Marina in summer. A car is useful only for the delta wetlands, which are spread out and thinly served.

Ravenna is on a regional line rather than the high-speed network, which is the main reason itineraries skip it. Bologna is about an hour and a half by train with good onward high-speed connections; Ferrara is around an hour and Rimini about an hour. Bologna is also the nearest major airport, roughly an hour and a half away, with Rimini and Forlì closer but much smaller. By road the A14 runs nearby. If you are travelling Bologna to Venice, Ravenna is a detour rather than a stop on the way.

Ravenna is a safe provincial city with low crime. Ordinary care around the station and on summer beach buses is sufficient.

Bicycle theft is the common offence, in a city where most people cycle.

Mosquitoes are a genuine nuisance rather than a danger, from late spring through early autumn, and are worst near the pinete, the delta and the coast at dusk. Repellent is worth packing.

Winter fog affects the plain roads as it does across the region. On the coast, the Adriatic shelves very gradually, so currents are rarely the issue, but summer beaches are busy with boat traffic beyond the swimming lines.

No vaccinations or special precautions are needed and tap water is safe to drink. Pharmacies are throughout the centre with a rota for nights and holidays.

Ravenna has a general hospital, and Bologna’s larger facilities are an hour and a half away. EU and UK visitors should carry a valid EHIC or GHIC.

The practical considerations are summer humidity, mosquito bites, and the Po-valley winter air quality, which is better here than inland because of the sea breeze but still poor during long still spells.

The single emergency number across Italy is 112, covering police, fire and ambulance, with English-speaking operators. 118 still reaches medical services directly.

On the coast and in the lagoons the coast guard is reached on 1530, which is the relevant number for anything on the water or in the delta channels.

Carabinieri and municipal police are in the centre. Consulates are in Bologna or Milan.