To explore Italy as it deserves, a lifetime can be not enough. However, we keep trying to do our best, so every year we come back to this amazing country to discover something new. This time we set off to explore several cities of North Italy, which are not Milan or Venice, and as usual – we were not disappointed. Even though we visited only the cities, leaving the nature and villages around for another time, which made us realise once again, that we should convert into slow travelling and prioritise less but more intense than more but on the surface. Don’t you agree?

Bergamo often remains ignored being hidden in the shade of Milano, which is situated only 40 km away. Mostly people come here because of the airport, and that is shame, as Bergamo is quite a beautiful little town. It has two old towns – Città alta (upper city) and Città Bassa (lower city), but the main interest represents only the upper one with its old walls dating back to the 16^th century. Quiet and peaceful, the old town is a marvellous place to walk. Check out more on the beautiful blog all the places you will go.

World widely known thanks to Shakespeare’s “Romeo & Juliette”, Verona is not only about “city of love”. Except for beautiful streets and “Julietta’s house” thousands of tourists come to see the quays, the old roman Arena and the castle Castelvecchio. Charming town, though be ready – it might be very crowded.

Juliette’s house and balcony (even if it has never been actually mentioned in the Shakespeare’s book :). Tourists stick the chewing gums and leave their love confessions on the wall of the house. I do hope it helps in their love life.

Bologna is a wonderful place. Home of tagliatelle and definitely NOT home of the famous sauce bolognaise. The particularity of Bologna is its red colour which is due to the brick used as the construction material for the town. Another interesting feature of Bologna are its towers, which were massively erected by the nobles trying this way to affirm their power and fortune supposed to be superior to the ones of their rivals. Absolutely climb the Torre degli Asinelli for a SPECTACULAR view over the city.

Bologna and the region Emilia-Romagna offer the classic Italian food as we imagine it – pasta, ravioli, parmesan and ham. Only pizza missing, but we’ll go to Naples for this one!

Truth to be said, I think Bologna is the city we liked the most in the North Italy, at least among the ones we visited. Big enough not to seem like “just another” tourist town, young and vibrant due to the numerous universities and delicious as hell!

Don’t miss Piazza Maggiore and Piazza del Nettuno with its rather provocative statues on the fontaine…

Check out this beautiful article about Bologna by Mike and Mim from The Common Wanderer. 

It make you fall in love completely. The Mediterranean Sea, narrow streets and a stunning architecture wherever you turn – Genova left us speechless. It is 100% authentic, like the majority of the Italian cities, of course. Best to enjoy it with a huge ice cream. :)

A hidden gem of North of Italy prepared a lot of surprises for its visitors. Original and very much non-italian architecture and general organization of the city mixed with the Alpes on the horizon – Turin gives an impression of a cold northern city, but in fact is as friendly and great as any other town if Italy. Check out much more about Turin in our article 10 reasons why Turin rocks.

What are your favorite towns of North Italy or Italy in general? What did we forget?