Disembarking in Ravenna -- to Bologna airport

[mdepsmom]

We're sailing out of Ravenna next summer, and flying in and out of Bologna.  I'm looking at return flights now since I'll be using miles and the schedule to book it will open up soon.  There's a 4:30 pm flight out of Bologna.  Never having been to Italy, I'm not sure whether that return flight is doable given we'd have to take a train from Ravenna to Bologna, and then get from the train station to the airport.  Does anyone have experience traveling from Ravenna to the Bologna airport and know how long it takes?  I'm considering staying overnight in Bologna and then flying out the next day rather than risk missing our return flight the day of disembarkation.

 

[cruisemom42]

Unfortunately there is not a rapid train connection between Ravenna and Bologna. You'll have to take a regional train (slow-ish). According to the current summer Trenitalia schedule there is about 1 of these regional trains every hour headed from Ravenna to Bologna (e.g., 8:44am, 9:44am, 10:45 am, 11:44am, and so on.  Depending on which train you thought you could catch, your arrival time in Bologna Centrale would be 70 minutes later.

 

At Bologna Centrale, there is a dedicated monorail train that goes from the train station to the airport. It is called the Marconi express. Very inexpensive (about 8 euro per person) and fast.

 

Follow the link below and you can see where the track is located relative to both the Bologna Centrale station and the Bologna airport (scroll down to section on the monorail train):

 

How to get from Bologna airport to the center (from the center of Bologna to the airport) (life-globe.com)

 

There are other options such as just getting a taxi, perhaps would be less of a shlep with your luggage (or perhaps not as you may also have to walk a distance to get outside the station and locate the taxi stand....)

 

As to how long this would all take, I would probably allow at a minimum 2.5 hours for the transiting, perhaps a bit longer. And I would want to arrive at the airport at least 2 hours before my flight, possibly longer if you haven't already checked in electronically (or if there are still any additional clearance hurdles as a result of COVID-19).

 

It might all be a little stressful but probably could be done if you are fit and have a reasonable amount of luggage. On the other hand, Bologna would be a great place to spend an extra day. 

 

[mdepsmom]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Unfortunately there is not a rapid train connection between Ravenna and Bologna. You'll have to take a regional train (slow-ish). According to the current summer Trenitalia schedule there is about 1 of these regional trains every hour headed from Ravenna to Bologna (e.g., 8:44am, 9:44am, 10:45 am, 11:44am, and so on.  Depending on which train you thought you could catch, your arrival time in Bologna Centrale would be 70 minutes later.

 

At Bologna Centrale, there is a dedicated monorail train that goes from the train station to the airport. It is called the Marconi express. Very inexpensive (about 8 euro per person) and fast.

 

Follow the link below and you can see where the track is located relative to both the Bologna Centrale station and the Bologna airport (scroll down to section on the monorail train):

 

How to get from Bologna airport to the center (from the center of Bologna to the airport) (life-globe.com)

 

There are other options such as just getting a taxi, perhaps would be less of a shlep with your luggage (or perhaps not as you may also have to walk a distance to get outside the station and locate the taxi stand....)

 

As to how long this would all take, I would probably allow at a minimum 2.5 hours for the transiting, perhaps a bit longer. And I would want to arrive at the airport at least 2 hours before my flight, possibly longer if you haven't already checked in electronically (or if there are still any additional clearance hurdles as a result of COVID-19).

 

It might all be a little stressful but probably could be done if you are fit and have a reasonable amount of luggage. On the other hand, Bologna would be a great place to spend an extra day. 

 

Thanks, this is so helpful.  I've still got some time to think about it but I'm leaning towards spending the night in Bologna and taking the 4:30 pm flight the following day, just to minimize stress and explore Bologna a bit since who knows if we'll be back.

 

I'm assuming I can use the same instructions in your link (working backwards) to get from the Bologna airport to Ravenna, correct?  We're flying into Bologna a day early and will spend that night in Ravenna, then board the ship.

[cruisemom42]

1 minute ago, mdepsmom said:

I'm assuming I can use the same instructions in your link (working backwards) to get from the Bologna airport to Ravenna, correct?  We're flying into Bologna a day early and will spend that night in Ravenna, then board the ship.

 

Yes, should work fine.  

 

In November 2019 I traveled from Rome to Bologna on the high speed train and then transferred to the local train to Ravenna. The Bologna station is large and bustling but well signed and easy to navigate.

[euro cruiser]

I'm being nosy here ... a 4:30 PM flight out of Italy is pretty unusual unless you're going somewhere else in Europe or perhaps to Australia.   If you're headed to the States or Canada you'd likely have a long layover, overnight, somewhere in Europe before a flight in the morning across the Atlantic.

[mdepsmom]

17 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

I'm being nosy here ... a 4:30 PM flight out of Italy is pretty unusual unless you're going somewhere else in Europe or perhaps to Australia.   If you're headed to the States or Canada you'd likely have a long layover, overnight, somewhere in Europe before a flight in the morning across the Atlantic.

BLQ to LHR to PHX is the itinerary.  Two hour layover in LHR.

Edited June 26, 2021 by mdepsmom
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[Host Jazzbeau]

I'll be nosy too if you don't mind:  what cruise sails round trip from Ravenna?  [sounds interesting!]

[steamboats]

9 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

I'll be nosy too if you don't mind:  what cruise sails round trip from Ravenna?  [sounds interesting!]

 

RCI did reschedule their ship out of Venice to Ravenna quite a while ago.

 

steamboats

[zekekelso]

Side note: Bologna is wonderful. If you have the time to do the overnight, I’d do that regardless of the transfer issue. 

[lonig]

Can you recommend a hotel in Bologna near the airport.  RCI now runs a shuttle from the airport I believe to the port in Ravenna.