Overview
Emilia-Romagna is the region most Italians would name if you asked where they eat best. Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, traditional balsamic vinegar, mortadella, tortellini and fresh egg pasta all come from a strip of towns along the old Roman Via Emilia between Piacenza and Rimini. The region also holds some of Italy's most underrated art: the Byzantine mosaics of Ravenna, Correggio's dome in Parma and Modena's Romanesque cathedral.
Bologna, the capital, is a working university city with about 24 miles (38 km) of arcaded sidewalks, red brick, fewer tourists than Florence and better food than almost anywhere. It sits on the main north-south rail line, so it is easy to slot two to four nights in between Florence and Venice or Milan, and use it as a base for day trips to Modena, Parma, Ravenna and Ferrara.
The region is Emilia in the west (Bologna, Modena, Parma, Piacenza) and Romagna in the east (Ravenna, Rimini and the Adriatic beaches). They have different dialects, pasta shapes and loyalties; do not call a Romagnolo an Emiliano.
Getting there and around
By train
Bologna Centrale is a hub for the high-speed lines run by Trenitalia (Frecciarossa) and Italo. Florence is about 40 minutes away, Milan about an hour, Venice about 1 hour 30 minutes and Rome about 2 hours 15 minutes. High-speed trains use an underground station beneath the main one; allow 10 minutes to reach the platforms.
Regional trains, which never need a reservation, link the Food Valley towns. Modena is about 25 minutes from Bologna, Parma about an hour, Ferrara about 30 minutes and Ravenna about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. Fares are fixed and modest, so buy as you go in the Trenitalia app. Paper regional tickets must be validated before boarding. See Getting around Italy.
Watch out
Italian transport strikes (sciopero) are announced in advance and usually last 24 hours with guaranteed service bands. A 24-hour national strike was called for Friday, October 30, 2026, which may affect trains and the airport monorail. Check the operator's site the day before any strike date.
From the airport
Bologna's Guglielmo Marconi airport has connections through the big European hubs. The Marconi Express monorail runs to Bologna Centrale in about 7 minutes for €12.80 (about $14), up to eight times an hour from about 5:40 a.m. to midnight. After midnight, city bus line Q covers the route.
Do you need a car?
Not for the cities. Bologna's historic center is a camera-enforced ZTL (limited traffic zone), and since 2024 most of the city has a 30 km/h (19 mph) speed limit. A car does help for Parmigiano dairies, balsamic producers and prosciutto towns in the hills, which are scattered in the countryside. Rent for a day or two from the Bologna or Modena station and return it before you enter a city center. You need an International Driving Permit; see Driving in Italy.
Bologna: what to see
Bologna's nicknames sum it up: la dotta (the learned, for its university, founded in 1088 and often called the oldest in the Western world), la grassa (the fat, for its food) and la rossa (the red, for its brick and its politics). Most sights are free or cheap and within a 20-minute walk of Piazza Maggiore.
Piazza Maggiore and San Petronio
The main square, with Giambologna's Neptune Fountain at the corner. San Petronio is one of the largest churches in Italy, its facade left half-finished; inside, a meridian line on the floor tracks the sun at noon. Dress for a church, and expect bag checks.
Archiginnasio
The university's first permanent seat, its walls covered with thousands of student coats of arms. The wooden Anatomical Theater, where dissections were taught, is the highlight. Small fee.
Santo Stefano
A cluster of linked churches, cloisters and chapels known as the Seven Churches, some dating to the early Middle Ages, on a sloping triangular piazza.
The Quadrilatero
The old market lanes: delis hung with mortadella, fishmongers, fruit stands and wine bars. The covered Mercato di Mezzo has food stalls, and the Mercato delle Erbe north of center is where locals shop and eat.
Portico di San Luca
The world's longest portico, 666 arches running about 2.4 miles (3.8 km) up to the hilltop sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca. The last stretch is a steady climb. A small tourist train goes up from the center if you prefer.
Pinacoteca Nazionale
The city's painting gallery, strong on Raphael, Parmigianino, the Carracci and Guido Reni, and rarely busy.
Salaborsa
A public library in a former stock exchange. Glass floor panels show Roman and medieval remains below, and the basement excavations can be visited.
The porticoes, about 24 miles (38 km) of them in the center, were listed by UNESCO in 2021. They mean you can walk the city in rain or summer sun under cover, a small luxury Americans quickly come to love.
The Two Towers and the Asinelli climb
Bologna once had dozens of medieval family towers. Two famous ones still lean over Piazza di Porta Ravegnana. The Asinelli is about 318 feet (97 m) tall with 498 wooden steps, and its summit view was long the classic thing to do in Bologna. The shorter Garisenda leans much more steeply.
In October 2023 monitoring showed the Garisenda was at risk. The city fenced off the area around both towers and closed the Asinelli climb. A long stabilization project for the Garisenda is under way, and the city has said the works will run until about 2028. In 2025 the city said it would decide during the works when the Asinelli can reopen. Before you plan on climbing, check Bologna Welcome, the city's official tourism site.
Insider tip
For a view over the red roofs while the Asinelli is shut, look at the panoramic terrace of San Petronio when it is open, the Torre Prendiparte (a private tower that opens for visits on some days), or simply walk up to San Luca for the view back over the city and the hills.
Eating in Bologna
There is no "spaghetti Bolognese" in Bologna. The local meat sauce, ragù, is a slow-cooked mix of beef, pork, a little tomato and milk or wine, served on fresh egg tagliatelle or layered in green lasagne. The other essentials:
- Tortellini in brodo: tiny stuffed pasta in capon or beef broth, the holiday dish of the city.
- Tortelloni: larger, usually filled with ricotta and herbs, served with butter and sage.
- Mortadella: the real one from Bologna, sliced paper-thin, often with crescentine or tigelle (fried or griddled breads) and soft cheese.
- Wine: sparkling red Lambrusco from around Modena, dry white Pignoletto from the Bologna hills, Sangiovese from Romagna.
Look for osterie and trattorie with handwritten menus. Long-standing favorites include Trattoria Anna Maria for tortellini and Osteria dell'Orsa for cheap student plates, both $–$$. Osteria del Sole, in the market lanes, sells only wine and lets you bring your own food from the delis around it. Dinner starts around 8 p.m.; lunch runs about 12:30 to 2:30. Expect the coperto (cover charge) on the bill. More in Food.
Different from home
Many family trattorie close for a week or more around Ferragosto (August 15) and one day a week all year, often Sunday evening or Monday. Check before you walk across town, especially in August.
Insider tip
Bologna is one of the best places in Italy for a pasta-making class. Many schools teach you to roll sfoglia (the egg pasta sheet) with a long pin and shape tortellini; book a few days ahead and pick a small group.
Modena
Modena is a prosperous, elegant town 25 minutes from Bologna by train, and an easy half day or full day trip. Its Romanesque cathedral, the Ghirlandina bell tower and Piazza Grande together form a UNESCO World Heritage site. The cathedral's carved reliefs from the early 1100s are among the finest in Italy.
Modena is also car country. The Museo Enzo Ferrari in town and the Ferrari Museum in Maranello, about 12 miles (20 km) south, are run by Ferrari; a shuttle links the two and the station. Lamborghini, Maserati and Pagani are all nearby, and some offer factory or museum visits by booking.
The famous table here is Osteria Francescana, Massimo Bottura's three-Michelin-star restaurant $$$$. Reservations open months ahead and go quickly. For everyday Modenese food, look for tigelle, gnocco fritto and tortellini in the trattorie around the Albinelli covered market.
Balsamic vinegar: what to know and how to visit
Two different products share the name, and the difference matters for what you buy:
| Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena DOP | Aceto Balsamico di Modena IGP | |
|---|---|---|
| Made from | Cooked grape must only | Grape must plus wine vinegar |
| Aging | At least 12 years in a series of ever-smaller wooden barrels; 25+ for extravecchio | From a few months; "invecchiato" means 3 years or more |
| Bottle | The same small 100 ml bulb-shaped bottle, sealed by the consortium | Any bottle |
| Use | Drops on Parmigiano, strawberries, gelato, risotto | Salads and cooking |
| Price | Expensive; a small bottle costs as much as a good bottle of wine or more | Supermarket to deli prices |
Traditional vinegar ages in attics, where the summer heat and winter cold drive the process. Visiting an acetaia (vinegar house) means climbing into a loft full of barrel sets (a batteria), hearing how a family started them generations ago, and tasting several ages side by side. Many small family producers around Modena and the hills toward Spilamberto and Vignola give tours, often free or for a small fee with the tasting, as long as you book. Larger names such as Acetaia Giusti, which dates its business to the 1600s, run regular scheduled tours. Allow an hour, and expect to be offered a bottle at the end.
Save money
Buy traditional balsamic at the producer you visit; prices are fair and you know what you are getting. Avoid "balsamic" souvenir sets at train stations and airports, which are usually basic IGP vinegar. A 100 ml bottle fits in carry-on liquid limits, and food bought in Italy can go in checked luggage to the US. Declare it; see Shopping and US customs.
Parma and the Food Valley
Parma is about an hour from Bologna by regional train, less by some faster trains. It is a refined, walkable small city, a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, with three sights to see: the Duomo with Correggio's swirling dome fresco of the Assumption, the octagonal pink-marble Baptistery next door, and the wooden Teatro Farnese inside the Pilotta palace complex.
Visiting a Parmigiano Reggiano dairy
Parmigiano Reggiano can only be made in a defined area around Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, and parts of Bologna and Mantua. Each dairy (caseificio) makes cheese every morning from that day's milk. A visit lets you watch the cheesemakers cut the curd in copper vats, lift each mass out in cheesecloth and set the wheels in molds, then walk through aging rooms of thousands of wheels, each about 88 pounds (40 kg).
- Book ahead through the official Parmigiano Reggiano consortium site, which lists dairies that take visitors, or through the dairy or a local tour operator. Walk-ins are rarely possible.
- Plan to arrive early. The cheesemaking happens at about 8 to 10 a.m.; by late morning you mostly see the aging rooms.
- Expect about 1 to 1.5 hours with a tasting of different ages, typically 12, 24 and 30-plus months. Some visits include a small fee for the tasting.
- Most dairies are in the countryside, so you will need a car, a taxi or an organized tour.
- Wear closed shoes; floors are wet. Dress warmly for the aging rooms.
Prosciutto and culatello
Prosciutto di Parma comes from the hills south of the city, centered on Langhirano, where producers and a ham museum explain the salting and long air-curing. In the flat, foggy lowlands along the Po, around Zibello, the prized culatello is cured in damp cellars; a tasting lunch at a farm there is a highlight for serious eaters.
Insider tip
A full "Food Valley" day from Bologna or Parma typically strings together a dairy at 8 a.m., an acetaia mid-morning and a prosciutto producer with lunch. Driving it yourself works if you book each visit and keep to back roads. Small-group tours handle the logistics and the tastings so nobody has to drive after the Lambrusco.
Ravenna's mosaics
Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire in its last years and then a seat of Byzantine power in Italy. Eight of its early Christian buildings are a UNESCO World Heritage site, and their mosaics of the 400s and 500s, deep blues, greens and gold, are the finest of their age outside Istanbul. Ravenna is about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes from Bologna by regional train, and the main monuments are a short walk from the station.
Basilica of San Vitale
An octagonal church with the famous mosaic panels of Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora and their courts.
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
A tiny brick building whose vault is a night sky of gold stars on deep blue. Visits are short and timed; booking is mandatory.
Sant'Apollinare Nuovo
Long processions of saints and virgins in white and gold along both sides of the nave.
Neonian Baptistery
The baptism of Christ in a ring of apostles on the dome. Timed booking required.
Archiepiscopal Museum and St. Andrew's Chapel
A small chapel with intact mosaics and an ivory bishop's throne in the museum.
Sant'Apollinare in Classe
A vast basilica with a green apse mosaic of a saint among sheep. Run by the state with its own ticket; reach it by a short train or bus ride.
Tickets and hours
The first five monuments above are sold together by the diocese at ravennamosaici.it in itineraries of 2, 4 or 5 sites. The reduced rates for students and large groups are €9.50, €11.50 and €13.50 (about $11, $13 and $15); full prices are a little higher, so check the current rates when you book. Galla Placidia and the Neonian Baptistery need a booked entry time.
- Through November 2, 2026: 9 a.m.–7 p.m.
- November 3, 2026 to March 6, 2027: 10 a.m.–5 p.m., last entry about 30 minutes before closing.
- Closed December 25 and January 1.
Also in Ravenna: Dante's tomb (the poet died here in exile in 1321), the Arian Baptistery, and the Mausoleum of Theodoric, a stone tomb capped by a single enormous slab. A long day trip covers the center; staying overnight lets you add Classe and a dinner of piadina (Romagna flatbread) and cappelletti.
Ferrara and the Romagna coast
Ferrara, 30 minutes from Bologna by train, was the court of the Este family: a moated castle in the middle of town, Renaissance palaces, and intact city walls with a path on top that locals cycle. Rent a bike; Ferrara is flat and has more bikes than cars. Try cappellacci di zucca (pumpkin pasta).
Rimini and the Romagna Riviera are Italy's classic mass beach holiday, with rows of numbered stabilimenti (beach clubs) and lively nightlife. Rimini's old town has a Roman bridge and arch and the Fellini Museum, and tiny San Marino, a separate country, is a bus ride inland. See Outdoors for beach clubs.
When to go
| Season | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Spring (April–June) | Ideal: mild, green, outdoor tables under the porticoes. |
| Summer (July–August) | Hot and humid in the Po plain, often 90°F (32°C) or more. Bologna empties in August and some restaurants close. |
| Fall (September–November) | Excellent for food: grape harvest, mushrooms, truffle fairs in the hills, and the start of the tortellini season. |
| Winter (December–February) | Cold, often below 40°F (4°C), with dense fog on the plain. Few tourists, and the best time for tortellini in brodo and bollito. |
More in When to go and Festivals.
Four days from Bologna
- Day 1
Bologna
Piazza Maggiore, San Petronio, the Archiginnasio, the Quadrilatero for a mortadella lunch, Santo Stefano. Tagliatelle al ragù for dinner.
- Day 2
Food Valley
Pick up a car or join a tour: a Parmigiano dairy at 8 a.m., an acetaia near Modena, lunch in the hills. Evening in Modena's Piazza Grande, then train back.
- Day 3
Ravenna
Morning train. San Vitale and Galla Placidia (booked), Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, the Neonian Baptistery, Dante's tomb. Piadina for lunch.
- Day 4
San Luca and Parma or Ferrara
Walk the San Luca portico early, then an afternoon train to Parma for the Duomo and Baptistery, or to Ferrara for the castle and a bike ride on the walls.
Where to stay
Bologna is the best base: central, with trains in every direction and good value hotels. Stay inside the ring of avenues that follows the old walls, ideally between the station and Piazza Maggiore along Via dell'Indipendenza, or in the quieter streets around Santo Stefano. Prices are mostly $$, with grand hotels at $$$–$$$$. Hotels fill up and prices jump during big trade fairs at BolognaFiere, so check the fair calendar before you book. For the countryside, an agriturismo (farm stay) in the hills south of Modena or Parma puts you close to the dairies and acetaie. Bologna charges a nightly tourist tax per person, paid at the hotel. See Where to stay and Money.
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