The charming, overlooked Italian city you'll want to keep to yourself

Times

4 hours ago

When the King and Queen visited Italy in April, their unexpected day trip to Ravenna turned heads. But they weren't the first Brits charmed by this overlooked little city. Lord Byron spent two eventful years here and his former home is now a museum celebrating his love for Italy.
While much of the country was still developing, Ravenna had already been a capital three times: of the Western Roman Empire (402-476), the Ostrogothic Kingdom (493-540) and the Byzantine Exarchate (540-751). This was the original east meets west — Roman, gothic and Byzantine influences merging in temples, tombs and churches adorned with stunning mosaics of gold, stylised figures and Greek iconography unseen elsewhere in western Europe.
Since then, elegant, walkable Ravenna has gone a bit quiet, though the food — heavy on the pastas and flatbread, along with meats, cheeses and sangiovese wine — is some of the heartiest in Italy. 'Ravenna retains more of its old Italian style than any other city,' Byron wrote in 1819. 'It remains out of the way of travellers and therefore that style has remained original.' Original indeed. There is simply nowhere like Ravenna.
• Morning: Basilica of San Vitale• Eat at: Hostaria Pasolini• Afternoon: Museum hopping • Drink at: Mowgli• Evening: Passeggiata from Piazza del Popolo• Eat at: L'Acciuga Osteria
• Morning: Punta Marina beaches • Eat at: La Piadina del Melarancio• Afternoon: Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo• Drink at: Pionia • Evening: Teatro Alighieri • Eat at: Ca' de Ven
• Of Ravenna's eight Unesco world heritage sites, the centrally located Basilica di San Vitale best captures the city's golden age. Its 1,400-year-old mosaics are the finest in the ancient world, with the standout being the radiant portraits of Emperor Justinian and his wife, Theodora, who invested their limitless resources in trying to turn Ravenna into the new Rome. A combined ticket will provide access to San Vitale, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo and the Museo Arcivescovile and is valid for seven days (£9; turismo.ra.it).• In 1819 Byron moved into the home of Count Alessandro Guiccioli, who was unaware that the poet was having a steamy affair with his wife. Byron spent two years here writing, romancing and mingling with the local revolutionaries. Now transformed into the Byron Museum, it celebrates the poet, his lover's devotion (she kept locks of his hair, one of a number of intimate items on display) and the enduring cultural ties between Britain and Italy (£9, including access to the Risorgimento Museum, in the same building; museibyronedelrisorgimento.it).• Soak up the small-town Italy vibe by joining the locals on their passeggiata, the evening stroll that starts at Piazza del Popolo and fans out into the city's winding streets and cryptic courtyards. Highlights include Dante's tomb, the Duomo's leaning 10th-century bell tower and the contemporary mosaic-inspired street art — a nod to Ravenna's title as the City of Mosaics.• The coast once came right up to Ravenna; now it's some six miles away, but the city never lost its connection with the sea. Buses 70 and 80 whisk you between the beach and central Ravenna train station every 30 minutes and you can pay by contactless (single tickets £2; startromagna.it), or it's a 25-minute bike ride along a segregated cycle road (rent one from Ve.Ra outside the station for £3.50 for three hours; velostazione.ra.it). While it's not exactly the azure seas of southern Italy, at Punta Marina there's a mix of free and organised beaches with blue flag status, including Chicco beach, which is designed with accessibility in mind to help bathers with mobility issues fully enjoy the sea.• There's something deeply moving about the Basilica di Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, whose mosaics are the best after San Vitale, particularly the lavish 'procession of martyrs', which stretches the length of the church. (Included in the £9 combined ticket to San Vitale; see above.)• Locals are immensely proud of their grand, peach-coloured Teatro Alighieri, just off Piazza del Popolo, which has been the home of opera in the city since 1852. The annual Ravenna Festival, which runs from May to July, with an opera-themed reprisal in November, has an eclectic mix of music, dance and theatre by internationally renowned artists (festival shows from £12, opera from £47; teatroalighieri.org).
This low-key restaurant in the centro storico is a pastaphile's dream. Simply choose your homemade pasta (local specialities include tagliatelle and the fedora-shaped cappelletti) and your sauce (try the local Mora sausage and kale). This is the kind of stuff Ravenna prides itself on (mains from £8; @hostariapasolini_).
• Beat the crowds to this glorious unsung Italian coastal city
Stop for a refreshing Hugo (prosecco, elderflower syrup and mint), which is challenging the traditional spritz for popularity, in the atmospheric courtyard of this cool new joint (cocktails from £6; @mowgliravenna).
Extend your passeggiata ten minutes further, to L'Acciuga Osteria. The ravennati are just as renowned for their surf as their turf, and a lot of them come here for calamari with black truffle and spaghetti with fried anchovies. The dishes here are more creative than they sound; Michelin was impressed enough to give them a mention in its 2024-25 guide (mains from £17; lacciugaosteria.eatbu.com).
The people of Ravenna have an almost cult-like devotion to the piadina, a flatbread sandwich traditionally filled with ham, rocket and dribbly squacquerone cheese. Il Melarancio stands out for the quality of its oven-fresh bread and the diversity of its fillings (try some caramelised figs), all washed down with a £2.50 glass of regional sangiovese (piadinas from £3.50; @lapiadinadelmelarancio).
This flashy new cocktail bar is a key feature of Piazza John Fitzgerald Kennedy's transformation from a drab car park into a lively pedestrian-friendly hub, where its ensemble of Renaissance palaces once again takes centre stage. The mixologists here love their zany creations; try the 'sbaglio a Kyoto' — a wicked mix of saké, Campari and vermouth (cocktails from £8; @pionia_ravenna).
You can feel the history at this Ravenna institution, in a sumptuous 15th-century palazzo complete with frescoed ceilings. The menu is deeply, almost haughtily Romagnol. Treat yourself to a budino (soufflé) filled with squacquerone, ham and wine sauce, or any number of lavish charcuterie boards showing off the region's meats and cheeses (mains from £11; cadeven.it).
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Aristocratic appeal in a 15th-century palazzoAccommodation doesn't get more historic than Albergo Cappello, a sumptuous seven-bedroom hotel where every suite evokes the high Renaissance (though mod cons like air conditioning have been sneaked in). Francesca da Rimini, a friend of Dante who features in his Divine Comedy, is said to have been born here. The hotel's restaurant is one of the most highly rated in Ravenna (B&B doubles from £159; albergocappello.it).
A historic, homely hideawayIn an 18th-century palazzo but filled with an eclectic potpourri of art from ancient to contemporary, Casa Masoli is one of Ravenna's quirkier stays. With private parking on site (something not to be taken for granted in central Ravenna), it suits those who are renting a car. Guests looking for a more hands-on experience can book a mosaic course from Barbara Liverani, a friend of the owner. Oh, and don't forget the lavish breakfasts served in a fresco-covered salon (B&B doubles from £117; casamasoli.it).
Affordable, fuss-free staysPleasant, workaday Centrale Byron is a stone's throw from the central Piazza del Popolo. Rooms are old-fashioned but have safes, minibars and air con. The breakfast is good but the main attraction is the location. You really are in the thick of it (B&B doubles from £80; hotelsravenna.it).
An hour from Ravenna, Rimini airport has direct flights to and from London Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports. From Rimini railway station — connected by frequent buses from the airport (about 25 minutes) — regular trains run to Ravenna (one hour, from £9 return; trenitalia.com). Once you're in the city you can get everywhere on foot.
Extend your stay and head south to explore Rimini, which has a cute old town with Roman, Renaissance and baroque buildings and the newly opened Fellini Museum. Bologna and Modena are both easily accessible from Ravenna.
Alex Sakalis was a guest of Emilia-Romagna Turismo (emiliaromagnaturismo.it)