You can find the opening times of all the post offices in Italy at their website, available in English at www.poste.it/en. Every post office has different opening times.

In Italy, you can do a lot more at the post office than just buying stamps and mail packages. Italian post offices also offer a banking service, so you can pay utility bills or open a savings account.

In Bologna, the main post office is found at:
Piazza Minghetti, 1
Tel. 051 230699 Fax 051 261567
Mon-Fri 8:00am-6:00pm, Sat 8:00am-12:00pm

Some tips:

* Regular letter-sized envelopes cost half the price of slightly bigger ones. Prices also depend on whether you write on your postcard, whether the envelope is sealed, or whether you have written a long note to include inside a card.
* You have a range of options for sending letters and packages in addition to the regular postal service.
* Posta celere (express mail) is a good, secure way of sending packages anywhere in Italy.
* If you need proof of your letter's arrival at its destination, send it as a raccomandata (registered mail).
* You can also send it assicurata (insured mail), although this involves filling out a lot of forms.
* If all you have to do is send a letter you can avoid going to the post office at all, as you can buy stamps (francobolli) at any tabaccheria for Italy and abroad.