From Ravenna, I suggest one visit a Ravenna that goes beyond the inevitable school trip of any order and degree (welcome, for heaven's sake) and I advocate an individual tour to be done in the name of heat. That's right. Because Ravenna is a city that does not know the middle seasons: the adolescent hordes that are punctually cleared through customs every spring, together with groups of tourists of unidentified nationalities, contrast with the human desert that accompanies the winter mists or the summer heat.
However, it should be emphasized that the "summer desert" is so to speak: between the end of May and the end of August, Ravenna's humanity (native and foreign) emigrates on the Romagna coast (about ten kilometers from the city), to enjoy the beach on holidays. If you are one of those who do not understand the reasons why an individual who works hard all week, at the end of this one should not want more than to be confused among thousands of sweaty and smelly bodies under a fearless scorching sun mixed with maximum humidity, then you probably deserve the best of the visits that can be done in Ravenna: a city tour to be done on a weekend in June.
in Saturdays and Sundays of this month, in fact (if the weather permits), the "anomalous" tourist (that is, the one who does not like the Riviera Romagnola on summer weekends) can walk undisturbed, at still tolerant temperatures, through the semi-deserted streets of the city by day and enjoy some pleasant (and crowded) event of the Ravenna Festival in the evening (from concerts in the cloisters at aperitif time, to real great after dinner shows).
Generally, the program of exhibitions at the TUE (City Art Museum), therefore, those who visit the city within these dates can still benefit from this event, for example by taking advantage of the formula "aperitif + evening visit”Every Friday between April and June.
How to get to Ravenna: by plane (Forlì and Bologna are the closest airports, both served by low cost airlines), by train (although inconvenient to reach and poorly connected - not to mention disconnected - to any city, except Rimini, Ferrara or Bologna) or by car (these are the major uncovered parking lots, for a fee, in center: San Vitale, Piazza Baracca, Largo Firenze, Piazza Kennedy, Loggetta Lombardesca).
Getting around the city: on foot (the center is quite small) or by bicycle (there is a bicycle service for public use. For information, contact the Tourist Office, via Salara 8, tel. 0544 35755); the bus is only necessary to visit the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe (lines 4-44 from the train station); just born is also the classic red open bus, City Sightseeing Italy.
What to see, a must, in the city: Basilica of San Vitale e Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Baptistery of the Orthodox, Archiepiscopal Museum e Chapel of Sant'Andrea (a combined ticket is available for these six monuments); National Museum, Mausoleum of Theodoric, Sant'Apollinare in Classe (a cumulative ticket is available for these three monuments); Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra, TAMO (a combined ticket is available for these two monuments); Arian Baptistery, Church of San Giovanni Evangelista, Basilica of San Francesco, Dante's Tomb and Museum, Classense Library, Church of Santa Maria in Porto, Cathedral, Basilica of San Giovanni Evangelista, MAR (City Art Museum). If you are not in a hurry, I recommend adding: Rocca Brancaleone, Church of Santa Maddalena, former church of San Domenico, church of Santa Giustina (recently restored), church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Two "facilities" for tourists visiting Ravenna: the "Romagna Visit Card" and the newly created application for mobile devices, "Bazaar".
