Emilia-Romagna Tour

[gdimauro]

Hello, we want to visit Italy next summer. This will be our third vacation there and we would like to see some of the "Must See" sites in Emilia-Romagna. However, we will be staying at a villa in Tuscany. Can anyone recommend some kind of a gastro-agro-cultural tour of Emilia-Romagna which could be possible to do even if we're staying in Tuscany? I know it all depends on where we stay in Tuscany, but we haven't decided on a place yet and we would just like to know if this would even be possible. Thank you so much for any info!

Gerald DiMauro

 

[Angela]

Hello, we want to visit Italy next summer. This will be our third vacation there and we would like to see some of the "Must See" sites in Emilia-Romagna. However, we will be staying at a villa in Tuscany. Can anyone recommend some kind of a gastro-agro-cultural tour of Emilia-Romagna which could be possible to do even if we're staying in Tuscany? I know it all depends on where we stay in Tuscany, but we haven't decided on a place yet and we would just like to know if this would even be possible. Thank you so much for any info!

Gerald DiMauro

Just for example purposes, Firenze to Modena is about an hour 45 minute drive. Firenze to Bologna about an hour and a half. Firenza to Parma about two hours and ten to fifteen minutes.

Modena might be a good option as it's centrally located.

In a video of Modena I posted they mention a food touring group, but I never went on it so I can't recommend it.

[video]https://www.eupedia.com/forum/threads/42674-Modena-Best-Food-in-Italy?highlight=Modena[/video]

Modena is, of course, the home of Osteria Francescana if that's something you even wanted to attempt to do.

 

[Pax Augusta]

Hello, we want to visit Italy next summer. This will be our third vacation there and we would like to see some of the "Must See" sites in Emilia-Romagna. However, we will be staying at a villa in Tuscany. Can anyone recommend some kind of a gastro-agro-cultural tour of Emilia-Romagna which could be possible to do even if we're staying in Tuscany? I know it all depends on where we stay in Tuscany, but we haven't decided on a place yet and we would just like to know if this would even be possible. Thank you so much for any info!

Gerald DiMauro

The main cities of Emilia are all in sequence (on the old Emilia road): Bologna, Modena, Reggio-Emilia, Parma, Piacenza (starting, I think, from Rimini and ending in Milan). So you can move around easily, either by car or train. One city that is a real gem is Ferrara, but it is on the north-eastern side of Emilia.

In Emilia-Romagna you can eat well everywhere, but it depends on you, your budget, and whether you prefer well-known restaurants (also frequented by tourists) or places generally frequented more by locals (although in Italy it is now very difficult in touristic regions to have places frequented only by locals, locals who are now less and less even the owners).

Just for example purposes, Firenze to Modena is about an hour 45 minute drive. Firenze to Bologna about an hour and a half. Firenza to Parma about two hours and ten to fifteen minutes.

From Florence to Parma are all cities on Italy's main railway line, as well as motorways. Train times on non-local trains are now even shorter. Firenze to Bologna is about half an hour by train (about 35 minutes). From Florence to Modena about an hour and 10 (the train still has to stop in Bologna), from Florence to Parma about an hour and 40 by train.

 

[gdimauro]

Hello Angela,
Thank you for sharing this info. We will definitely look into these things!
Best Regards,
Gerald

 

[gdimauro]

Hello Pax,
A big thank you to you also for sharing this information with us. I certainly have something to look into now.
Best Regards,
Gerald

 

[Angela]

The main cities of Emilia are all in sequence (on the old Emilia road): Bologna, Modena, Reggio-Emilia, Parma, Piacenza (starting, I think, from Rimini and ending in Milan). So you can move around easily, either by car or train. One city that is a real gem is Ferrara, but it is on the north-eastern side of Emilia.

In Emilia-Romagna you can eat well everywhere, but it depends on you, your budget, and whether you prefer well-known restaurants (also frequented by tourists) or places generally frequented more by locals (although in Italy it is now very difficult in touristic regions to have places frequented only by locals, locals who are now less and less even the owners).




From Florence to Parma are all cities on Italy's main railway line, as well as motorways. Train times on non-local trains are now even shorter. Firenze to Bologna is about half an hour by train (about 35 minutes). From Florence to Modena about an hour and 10 (the train still has to stop in Bologna), from Florence to Parma about an hour and 40 by train.

Yes, I like taking the trains; no parking hassles. I can take a train right in a village close to me in the Lunigiana and go straight up to Parma. From there I can then go straight down the line to Reggio Emilia, Modena etc. However, in the summer my relatives are all in their second homes in our ancestral mountain villages so it's not really convenient for seeing them, unless they come get me, which is also a trek for them and me. Plus, the train ride is really long: an hour and fifty minutes or so to go a mere 70 or so kilometers. That's why a good number of our young people go to the university of Pisa instead of Parma.

Of course, I hate actually driving up there from the Lunigiana as well. When I get way up into the mountains my fear of heights kicks in, so there's really no good option.

Even within the cities I like to visit frequently, driving or train is sometimes equally inconvenient: Perugia, for example, or Siena. Even in the village where I was born, I have to park below the actual village and then walk up to go into the gate. It can't be helped; they weren't built for modern transportation, which is, on the other hand, part of the reason I love them.