GUIDES
The Emilia-Romagna Food Trail
Parmigiano, prosciutto, balsamic and Sangiovese — from Italy's most confident region
There is a stretch of Italy that never had to invent a personality, because it already had the only one that mattered: it feeds you, and it feeds you correctly, and it has been doing so since long before anyone thought to put a word like "gastronomy" on it. Emilia-Romagna doesn't ask you to admire its food. It simply assumes you will, the way it has assumed that of every traveler who has passed through since the Romans first laid the Via Emilia straight through the middle of it.
I went looking for the mountains and the mosaics, and came home instead with the taste of a cheese aged three years in a warehouse the size of a cathedral, a vinegar so old it had outlived the family that started making it, and a glass of Sangiovese poured by a man who seemed personally offended that I hadn't tried it sooner. This is a region that turns geography into flavor — the Po Valley's grasses becoming milk becoming Parmigiano, the pig farms of Parma becoming prosciutto sweet enough to eat with your hands, the attics of Modena turning grape must into something closer to alchemy than condiment.
This trail runs through four towns and four things worth crossing an ocean for. Bring an appetite. Bring patience — nothing here was ever meant to be rushed, least of all by the people who make it.
THE CITIES
Where the Food is Made
Parma — Parmigiano Reggiano & Prosciutto di Parma
Twenty minutes outside Parma, in caseifici that still follow rules written in 1934, wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano age on wooden shelves for a minimum of twelve months — some for thirty-six, in warehouses so vast and so exactly climate-controlled they resemble cathedrals built for cheese instead of God. Visit in the early morning, when the day's curd is still being worked by hand in copper vats, and you'll understand why this is the only cheese in the world allowed to call itself by this name. A short drive away, in the hills around Langhirano, hams cure in cellars ventilated by the same mountain air that has shaped Prosciutto di Parma for centuries — nothing added but salt, nothing rushed but time.
Modena — Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale
In the attics of Modena, rows of wooden barrels — oak, chestnut, cherry, juniper, mulberry, each imparting something different — hold vinegar that has been aging, evaporating, and moving from barrel to smaller barrel for a minimum of twelve years, sometimes twenty-five. This is not the balsamic sold in supermarkets. Traditional Balsamico is made in quantities so small and guarded so closely that families have historically set aside a barrel at a child's birth, meant to be opened only at their wedding. A few drops, aged decades, change a dish entirely.
Bertinoro — Sangiovese di Romagn
Bertinoro has earned its nickname — "the balcony of Romagna" — honestly: vineyards climb the hills below a view that runs, on clear days, straight to the Adriatic. Sangiovese di Romagna is a different animal from its Tuscan cousin — brighter acidity, less tannin, built for the region's own cured meats and cappelletti rather than a Chianti-style steak. Small, family-run cantine still dominate here, and a tasting often comes with the winemaker themselves pouring, unhurried and mildly incredulous that you'd want to talk about anything else.
Bologna — Tortellini & Mortadell
Bologna closes the trail the way it should — not with a single hero ingredient, but with what happens when the whole region's pantry meets a rolling pin. Tortellini in brodo, folded by hand in kitchens that have been folding them the same way for generations, and mortadella, Bologna's actual namesake export, made from cuts and spices most of the world's "baloney" never came close to representing accurately.
RECOMMENDED ITINERARY — 4 Days on the Food Trail
Day 1 — Bologna
Land at Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport, 20 minutes by taxi or the Marconi Express monorail into the historic center. Spend the afternoon on the Bologna Food & Market Tour, threading through the Quadrilatero's stalls and trattorias — the region's whole pantry in one afternoon. [Stay: Grand Hotel Majestic già Baglioni]
Stay at the Grand Hotel Majestic. Eat at a trattoria removed from the main piazza, unless you've done your research. And, of course, don't miss out on a Bologna food tour ... in the food capital of Italy, it's a must-do.
Click here to stay at the Grand Hotel Majestic
Click here to go on a Bologna food tour
Day 2 — Parma
A 25-minute high-speed train from Bologna Centrale into Parma. Book the Parmigiano Reggiano & Prosciutto Tour for the morning — the curd work happens before 9am, and the cellars of Langhirano round out the afternoon. Absolutely do not miss Galleria Nazionale, an absolute gem of a museum and probably the closest you'll ever get to a work by Leonardo da Vinci. This is a great city for wandering — better yet, rent an e-bike and to cruise beyond centro. There are endless opportunities for authentic regional dishes and the fabled lambrusco wine (traditionally served in bowls).
Click here to stay at Sina Maria Luigia
Click here to go on the Parmigiano Reggiano & Prosciuotto Tour
Day 3 — Modena
A short train hop (roughly 30 minutes) into Modena. Spend the late morning on the Cavedoni Balsamic Vinegar Tour — twelve-year and twenty-five-year side by side is the only way to understand the difference. Afternoon free for the Ghirlandina tower and Piazza Grande.
And did you say food? Yes, Modena is the home of Italy's most celebrated chef, Massimo Bottura. Reservations at his legendary Osteria Francescana need to be booked months in advance. But rest easy, because Modena is filled with wonderful food experiences. We love the local spots where the menu changes daily, such as Trattoria Ermes (don't miss their lasagna).
Click here to stay at Phi Hotel Canalgrande
Click here for the authentic Balsamic Vinegar experience.
Day 4 — Bertinoro & Return to Bologna
Drive roughly 90 minutes into Romagna's wine country for the Sangiovese Tasting at Fattoria Paradiso — vineyard walk, peacocks in the historic park, and a five-wine tasting paired with local olive oil and balsamic. By now, your blood should be mostly wine and your belly mostly cheese, ham and vinegar. Return to Bologna the next morning for departure.
Click here to stay at Grand Hotel Castrocaro
Click here to book a private airport transfer.
A Different Way to See It All
For travelers with an extra afternoon in Bologna, a Private Hot Air Balloon Flight lifts off over the region's vineyards and castles — including Ferrara's moated Castello Estense — closing with a glass of sparkling wine on landing. It's less a fifth stop than a way to see the whole trail from above before or after the drive into the hills.
WHERE TO STAY
Emilia-Romagna's Finest
Grand Hotel Castrocaro
Castrocaro Terme
"The Grand Hotel opened in 1938 to give an international clientele somewhere fitting to take the town's salsobromoiodic thermal waters."
A 1938 Art Deco spa palace built around Castrocaro's thermal springs, set in an eight-hectare park in the Tuscan-Romagna foothills.
Grand Hotel Rimini
Rimini
"This is the only hotel in Rimini with a private beach, and one of the only Art Nouveau buildings on the Adriatic still standing exactly as it was."
Rimini's only five-star hotel and only private beach, a national monument since 1994 and the Art Nouveau icon that raised Fellini's imagination.
Grand Hotel Majestic già Baglioni
Via dell'Indipendenza, Bologna
"The I Carracci restaurant alone is reason enough to stay. Everything else is a considerable bonus."
Bologna's only five-star hotel — an 18th-century palazzo built over an ancient Roman road, with 109 rooms of aristocratic Italian elegance and a restaurant frescoed by the Carracci school.
Palazzo Galletti Abbiosi
Ravenna
"Ravenna doesn't so much renovate its past as fold it into daily use — and Palazzo Galletti Abbiosi, chapel and all, does exactly that."
An 18th-century noble residence turned hotel, with an intact chapel and frescoed ceilings, directly across from the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo.
Palazzo Dalla Rosa Prati
Parma
"Not to sound too clichéd, but you'll be living like royalty here — sharing a courtyard with the Marquis Dalla Rosa Prati and his family, who still call part of this palazzo home."
A 13th-century palazzo on Piazza Duomo, still partly home to the noble family whose name it bears.
TASTE THE TERRITORY
The LussoIQ Experience
PRIVATE TOUR
Medieval Villages Getaway: Brisighella & Dozza
A private guide collects you in Bologna and drives into the hills for a day between two of Romagna's most beautiful borghi — an olive oil tasting and fortress walk in Brisighella, a two-course trattoria lunch with local wine, and an afternoon wandering Dozza's mural-covered medieval streets and its own hilltop fortress.
Best For:
Duration:
Adventurers
8 hours