Ravenna in 2 days, on foot

This 2-day self-guided walking plan for Ravenna covers 13 narrated sights in an easy day-by-day order. Each day is split into a morning and an afternoon loop, and every stop has a two to three minute audio story in the Gingerguide app.

You set the pace: this is a suggested order, not a schedule. Walk it in 2 days, or stretch it out. Reorder freely; Ravenna rewards a detour.

The Ravenna route at a glance

• Day 1
• Day 2

Day 1

Day 1 covers 7 stops and about 2.1 km on foot, from Sant'Apollinare Nuovo to Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra. ≈ 2.1 km of walking, about 25 min

Morning

1. Sant'Apollinare Nuovo: Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, the palace church built by Theodoric in Ravenna around 505, whose long nave walls are covered with gold mosaics of saints, virgins and the three Magi in procession. 0.4 km on foot (5 min) to the next stop
2. Arian Baptistery: The Arian Baptistery in Ravenna, a small eight-sided brick building of around 500, built by the Gothic king Theodoric for his Arian Christian community, with a dome mosaic of the baptism of Christ. 0.3 km on foot (4 min) to the next stop
3. Piazza del Popolo: Piazza del Popolo, the main square of Ravenna, with two tall columns of 1483 from the time of Venetian rule, an arcaded Venetian palace and the battlemented town hall, closed to traffic since 1969. 0.3 km on foot (4 min) to the next stop
4. Tomb of Dante: The Tomb of Dante in Ravenna, a small neoclassical temple of 1780 to 1781 beside the church of San Francesco, where the remains of the poet Dante Alighieri rest after his death in exile in 1321. 0.4 km on foot (5 min) to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Archiepiscopal Chapel and Museum: The Archiepiscopal Chapel of Sant'Andrea in Ravenna, the private chapel of the bishops built around 500, with mosaics of Christ as a warrior, and the museum with the ivory throne of Maximian. 50 m on foot (1 min) to the next stop
2. Neonian Baptistery: The Neonian Baptistery in Ravenna, an eight-sided brick building of the fifth century beside the cathedral, whose dome shows the baptism of Christ among the twelve apostles in mosaic. 0.6 km on foot (7 min) to the next stop
3. Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra: The Domus dei Tappeti di Pietra in Ravenna, the House of the Stone Carpets, a late Roman and Byzantine townhouse found in 1993 three metres below a church, with fourteen mosaic floors.

Day 2

Day 2 covers 6 stops and about 2.6 km on foot, from National Museum of Ravenna to Classis Ravenna Museum. One longer hop is best done by public transport or taxi. ≈ 2.6 km of walking, about 30 min

Morning

1. National Museum of Ravenna: The National Museum of Ravenna, in the old Benedictine monastery beside San Vitale, with Roman and early Christian stones, ivories, icons and medieval frescoes around two cloisters. 0.2 km on foot (2 min) to the next stop
2. Basilica of San Vitale: The Basilica of San Vitale, an eight-sided church of the sixth century in Ravenna, whose apse glows with Byzantine mosaics of the emperor Justinian and the empress Theodora. 60 m on foot (1 min) to the next stop
3. Mausoleum of Galla Placidia: The Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, a small cross-shaped building of the fifth century whose dome is covered with a starry sky of gold on deep blue mosaic. 1.7 km on foot (21 min) to the next stop

Afternoon

1. Mausoleum of Theodoric: The Mausoleum of Theodoric in Ravenna, the stone tomb of the Ostrogothic king built around 520, roofed with a single block of limestone about ten metres wide and weighing hundreds of tonnes. 5.3 km to the next stop: take transport
2. Sant'Apollinare in Classe: Sant'Apollinare in Classe, a basilica of 549 standing alone among the fields south of Ravenna, whose apse mosaic shows Saint Apollinaris among white lambs in a green meadow under a jewelled cross. 0.7 km on foot (8 min) to the next stop
3. Classis Ravenna Museum: Classis Ravenna, the museum of the city and its territory in a former sugar factory at Classe, and the nearby excavated Roman port, telling the story of Ravenna from the Etruscans to the early Middle Ages.

Walking distances and times follow streets and footpaths (routing by openrouteservice.org, map data © OpenStreetMap contributors). Times are walking only, at an easy pace; add time at each stop.

Updated: October 26, 2026

Full Ravenna guide and all stops →