Immerse yourself in the food culture of Emilia-Romagna. Visit food and wine producers, eat regional specialties in local restaurants and enjoy hands-on cooking with like-minded food and wine lovers in a relaxed, comfortable environment on this food tour of Emilia-Romagna.
The below itinerary covers the tour highlights, the order of activities and locations may vary.
We’ll start our Emilian adventure in the beautiful city of Parma. Easy to discover on foot and full of fabulous food and fashion shops as well as impressive cultural landmarks.
From Parma we’ll take day trips to visit producers of Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano and enjoy a tasting and lunch with the winemaker at a very special winery in the nearby hills.
We'll spend a day in Modena discovering what makes Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena so special with a tour and tasting at the last acetaia within the city area in a 4th-generation family home.
Travelling east to Romagna on the Adriatic, the second half of our tour starts in Comacchio on the Po Delta, built on canals like a mini-Venice! Dishes based on eel from the lagoon are a local delicacy.
We’ll visit Ravenna, famous for its splendid Byzantine mosaics. Instead of painted frescoes, the domes and walls of its basilicas sparkle with vivid images composed of millions of tiny tiles.
Romagna’s southern coast is famous for seafood, which we’ll enjoy at traditional trattorias and Rimini's Trattoria da Lucio, where bright young chef Jacopo Ticchi has generated quiet a following.
At Casa Artusi, a museum, library and cooking school named for Pellegrino Artusi ‘the father of Italian home cookery’, we’ll learn to make piadina, the local flatbread, and other regional specialties.
Our tour ends in Bologna, where we’ll explore one of Italy’s most extensive food markets for final souvenir shopping and to lunch on a bar stool outside an ancient deli for a spot of people watching.
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Emilia-Romagna is known as Italy’s Food Valley because of its huge variety of world-class produce and diverse culinary traditions. Between the better-known Emilia in the west, with the foodie cities of Bologna, Modena and Parma, and the less-visited Romagna in the East with Adriatic seafood and produce from the Po Delta, Emilia-Romagna is a food and wine lover’s paradise.
On last count Emilia-Romagna had 44 products with either PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) or PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) designations! These include renowned foods like Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, Prosciutto di Parma and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena, as well as lesser-known regional specialties including small goods, cheeses, fresh produce, meats, rice, pasta, and baked goods.
Bologna is the capital city of the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna. It’s most famous dish may be tagliatelle alla Bolognese, fresh egg pasta dressed with the local rich meat ragù (the ancestor of spaghetti Bolognese). Lasagne Bolognese is justifiably famous too.
Emilia-Romagna is a region of northern Italy, north of Florence and south of Milan and Venice. It stretches from the Adriatic Sea in the east almost to the Mediterranean in the west, cut off from that coast only by the thin crescent of Liguria.
Emilia-Romagna is home to Ferrari, Ducati, Lamborghini and Maserati. The Enzo Ferrari museum in Modena is well worth a visit for anyone with even a passing interest in cars.
On last count Emilia-Romagna had 44 products with either PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) or PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) designations, more than any other Italian region!
