Elegant and sophisticated, but at the same time young and lively, Bologna invites you to go shopping everywhere you look: its historic center is full of shopping streets with countless, unique shops representing different facets of the city's spirit. Shopping in Bologna is a thrilling adventure combining fashion, tradition, and fine foods and wines.

Via Indipendenza is one of Bologna's main streets. Bustling and popular, it is famous for its arcades, and is home to shops offering apparel, footwear, and accessories by a great many brands. On the weekend it is closed to traffic and turns into a pedestrian area to make shopping even more pleasant and enjoyable. The quadrangle of luxury shopping, with a wealth of shops that hold strong ties to the city's history, is formed by Via Rizzoli, Via D’Azeglio, Via Farini and Via Castiglione, which offer just as many options for shopping, whether for fashion, electronics, homewares, or gift items.

The most exclusive designer name boutiques are in Galleria Cavour, the hub of luxury and high-end shopping with all the most famous brands represented. Nearby, enclosed in the picturesque Piazza Maggiore and Piazza Galvani, is Via dell’Archiginnasio. This street is renowned for its shops, in addition to being home to the Municipal Archaeology Museum and the Archiginnasio Municipal Library. Bologna is famous for its many historic shops, which express its most authentic local spirit.

Near Piazza Maggiore and in points throughout the historic center, decades-old shops offer their wares: the classic fruit and vegetable stalls and small groceries in Via delle Pescherie; the Atti bakery, which has been operating for five generations in Via delle Drapperie; the historic Campora leather shop, which sells bags, suitcases, and umbrellas under the Voltone in Piazza Maggiore; the Tamburini delicatessen, where one can purchase typical Bolognese products like tortellini and mortadella in Via Caprarie.

The Mercato di Mezzo, one of the markets that has best represented Bolognese food culture since the middle ages, is in Via Clavature: refurbished in 2014, it is now home to a craft brewery, a pizzeria, and various shops selling meats, seafood, deli meats, fruit, bread, wines, and pastries.

The bustling Mercato delle Erbe, a market in Via Ugo Bassi, is perfect for shopping and for savoring a glass of wine in one of its wine bars. In Via Santo Stefano, the pastry shop Pasticceria Laganà, in operation since 1955, is also worth a visit.