San Luca Express — Local services in Bologna

AWFUL EXPERIENCE - AVOID! RUDE STAFF! First it was written that the tix should be bought from the ONBOARD staff before departing. So we queued and waited for the train to arrive (it was late). We got in and wanted to pay but were told it's too late and we should get out, buy tickets from the (onground) staff and wait again. Kids were crying, big drama but no chance of empathy from the staff who tolf us their English id not great because "here we are in Italy". Then the staff tolf us our baby should sit in the middle for safety. We did just that. The same staff member came angrily back to us before the train departed to us to yell the KIDS should BOTH sit in the middle. When I remarked it was not what they said earlier (our other child is 7yr so not a baby obviously!) I was snapped at becaude the staff member says she "speaks Italian and spanish". Not sure how is this my fault and how does this justify paying 40 euros to actually get yelled at in front of my family. SO ONE ADVICE FROM US - NOT WORTH THE HASSLE AND THE NERVES. Avoid this tour...

Train was almost 100% full going up to the cathedral. Driver amazingly took us through a maze of streets and through large city gates while the streets were fully car parked. Language on tape was bilingual with Italian followed by English. A few unintelligible moments occurred as the train travelled on bumpy pot holed city streets. Drop off at the top was uneventful. We did our customary 20 minute walk. It was windy and please be advised that there are many steps to climb in order to get to see the inside of the cathedral. Lots of tourists taking pictures. We came up on the red train and back on the white train. I would certainly recommend this trip. Return trip was 13 euros each. Money well spent. Photos from train trip going up, have been added, so that it is clear that is a must excursion for...

This was a very disappointing experience for our little family to say the least. The journey to San Lucca could have been nice but pretty much everything was problematic. The organisation is chaotic, the train was late. The staff is surprisingly rude, especially to non nationals. Don't you dare to ask anything politely to the two ladies on the piazza Maggiore who will snap at you. They clearly don't think of their job as anything but money cashing. We felt treated like cattle. The sound is bad as the headset provided is of extremely bad quality so you can't even hear the explanations. I would recommend taking the regular bus and having a stroll as a more enjoyable way to explore the area. We absolutely loved Bologna and always had great experiences in Italy, so this is truly a shame...