“The people of Emilia-Romagna eat more, care more and talk more about food than anyone else in Italy,” says food writer Claudia Roden.
Emilia-Romagna is called Italy’s ‘Food Valley’ because of its wide variety of world-class food and diverse culinary traditions.
Did you know it has more foods with protected designations (PDO and PGI) than any other Italian region?
My Italian food and wine tour of Emilia-Romagna is your opportunity to discover all these and more.
We’ll visit producers of Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena for tours and tastings.
And enjoy lesser-known regional smallgoods, cheeses, seafood, pastas, and breads in local trattorias.
This is a food and wine tour of Italy’s most food-obsessed region.
And that’s before we talk about the local wines served each day at lunch and dinner.
We’ll also visit two boutique wineries in beautiful locations and enjoy cellar tastings with the winemakers.
I’ve chosen mid-autumn for this year’s gourmet tour to Italy.
The days are still warm and the seasonal produce – including wild mushrooms and cave-aged cheeses – are at their best.
Scroll down for a detailed itinerary. See what last year’s Italian food and wine tour guests thought. And find answers to the most frequently asked questions about gourmet tours to Emilia-Romagna.
Immerse yourself in the food culture of Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy’s most important food region. Visit artisanal 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 and wine 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.
In Modena we'll discover 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 villa.
Travelling east to Romagna on the Adriatic coast, 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 specialty.
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. Inland we'll visit the hilltown of San Leo high up on an impenetrable rock, to lunch on local pasta specialties.
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 traditional fresh egg pasta.
Our tour ends in Bologna, where we’ll explore one of Italy’s most extensive food markets for final souvenir shopping and to lunch in an ancient deli in the market's cobbled streets.
Share page on:
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 and the Luciano Pavarotti Museum, in the late maestro’s home on the outskirts of Modena, is a fascinating tribute to this much-loved star.
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!
