Photos: Bologna by Vanni Lazzari, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Dubrovnik by Natalia Semenova, CC BY 3.0, cropped.
Bologna or Dubrovnik?
Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.
Choose Bologna for
- food and drink
- live music and the arts
- shopping
What lies behind each score is written up on Bologna’s own page.
Choose Dubrovnik for
- beaches
- nature and the outdoors
What lies behind each score is written up on Dubrovnik’s own page.
Scoreboard
Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.
What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Bologna and Dubrovnik.
Your match
Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.
Wins on food and drink and live music and the arts with your weighting.
Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.
What matters to you?
When should you go?
Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.
Bologna in July
Dubrovnik in July
Daytime high, °C
Rainfall in the month, mm
Where the figures come from
Bologna has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Bologna's sunshine is measured 82 km from the centre, at Cervia.
Dubrovnik has no rain gauge within 25 km of the centre, so its rainfall comes from a gridded climate dataset read at the city rather than from a gauge further away.
Dubrovnik's sunshine is measured 83 km from the centre, at Mostar.
Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Bologna: 1991-2020 normals, Bologna / Borgo Panigale (5.5 km from centre). Dubrovnik: 1999-2020 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Dubrovnik / Cilipi (15.3 km from centre).
Before you go
| Measure | Bologna | Dubrovnik |
|---|---|---|
| Official language | Italian | Croatian |
| Currency | Euro (EUR) | Euro (EUR) |
| Sockets | CFL230 V, 50 Hz | CF230 V, 50 Hz |
| Driving side | Right | Right |
| Time zone | UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer | UTC+1, UTC+2 in summer |
| Emergency number | 112 | 112 |
| Elevation | 54 m | 10 m |
| Main airport | Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport (BLQ)6 km from centre98 non-stop destinations | Dubrovnik Ruđer Bošković Airport (DBV)16 km from centre76 non-stop destinations |
| Public holidays this year | 13 days | 14 days |
By the numbers
| Measure | Bologna | Dubrovnik |
|---|---|---|
| City population | 387,971 | 41,562 |
| People per km² | 2,754 | - |
| Museums within 10 km | 68 | 7 |
| UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km | 3 | 3 |
| Swim season, months above 21 °C | - | 5 months |
Where else could you go?
Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Bologna or Dubrovnik somewhere new.