Definitely stay in the center of Bologna if you’re interested in tourist things like sightseeing, eating, and shopping. When searching for a place to stay, we considered staying just north of the train station but our friends who stayed there said it’s rather silent there and needed to walk into our direction every day. Technically it’s fine but it’s inconvenient for pit stops back in the middle of the day.
Laura’s place is super central and at a terrific price. It’s in a busy square with popular bars downstairs so you will hear noise until about 2am or so. That’s probably the only downside. Other than that, you’re surrounded by highly rated restaurants including an amazing pizza restaurant right downstairs. There’s a small supermarket and also drug store less than a block away as well.
The apartment was clean, spacious, and we felt very safe.