Emilia-Romagna

Parma ham, balsamic vinegar, and tortellini, plus Byzantine mosaics, Ferrari, and Italy's longest seaside promenade: Emilia-Romagna is a region for food lovers. A vacation in Emilia-Romagna combines city trips along the ancient Via Emilia with beach holidays on the Adriatic.

Two Parts, One Region

The double name tells the story. Emilia in the west, with Parma, Reggio, Modena, and Bologna, was shaped for centuries by duchies and the Papal States. Romagna in the east, with Ravenna, Forlì, and Rimini, mostly belonged to the Papal States and has its own dialects and customs. The cities are linked by the Roman Via Emilia, which runs dead straight from Piacenza to Rimini. To the north lies the flat Po Valley, which gives way in the east to the Po Delta with its lagoons and bird habitats. To the south, the Apennines rise to over 2,000 meters, with chestnut forests, castles, and the Foreste Casentinesi National Park on the border with Tuscany.

Bologna, Parma, and Modena

Bologna has three nicknames: la dotta, the learned one, for Europe's oldest university, founded in 1088; la rossa, the red one, for its terracotta roofs and political tradition; and la grassa, the fat one, for its cuisine. Almost 40 kilometers of arcades, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, shelter pedestrians from rain and sun. The two leaning towers, Asinelli and Garisenda, the Piazza Maggiore, and the Quadrilatero market district belong on every visit. Parma is elegant and musical, home to Verdi and Toscanini, with the octagonal Baptistery and Correggio's dome frescoes in the cathedral. Modena has a world-class Romanesque cathedral and lies in the heart of Motor Valley; nearby, museums in Maranello and Modena tell the history of Ferrari, and Lamborghini and Ducati are not far away.

Sights in Emilia-Romagna

Ravenna was the capital of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th and 6th centuries and later the seat of the Byzantine governor. The early Christian mosaics in San Vitale, in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, and in Sant'Apollinare Nuovo shine as brightly as the day they were made and are a World Heritage Site. Dante is buried here. Ferrara was laid out under the Este family as Europe's first modern planned city; you can cycle around its city walls, and the moated Castello Estense dominates the center. Smaller towns such as Brisighella with its clock tower, Dozza with its murals, or Castell'Arquato near Piacenza are worth a detour. Faenza gave faience its name and has a large ceramics museum.

The Romagna Riviera

Between Comacchio and Cattolica, beach resorts line up with wide sandy beaches and densely packed rows of loungers. Rimini is the best known, and also a city with an Arch of Augustus, the Bridge of Tiberius, and the Tempio Malatestiano; Federico Fellini was born here. Riccione is considered chicer and is known for its nightlife and shopping streets. Cervia, with its district Milano Marittima, has pine forests and historic salt pans that produce an especially mild salt. Cesenatico has a canal harbor designed by Leonardo da Vinci, with historic sailing boats. For families, there are amusement parks such as Mirabilandia and Italia in Miniatura. Just a few kilometers inland, the tiny republic of San Marino sits atop its rock.

Food and Drink

Many products considered quintessentially Italian worldwide come from here: Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, Culatello di Zibello, mortadella from Bologna, and traditional balsamic vinegar from Modena and Reggio, aged for at least twelve years. Fresh egg pasta is rolled out by hand, served as tagliatelle with ragù, as tortellini in broth, or as lasagna. In Romagna, people eat piadina, a thin flatbread with squacquerone cheese and arugula. A sparkling Lambrusco in Emilia and a Sangiovese di Romagna in the east pair well with it.

Getting There and Best Time to Visit

Bologna Airport is served from many European cities, Rimini mainly seasonally. Bologna is a major rail hub: high-speed trains reach Florence in a little over half an hour and Milan in about an hour, and regional trains run along the Via Emilia all the way to Rimini. Spring and fall are ideal for the cities, and fall is also the season for truffles, mushrooms, and festivals. The beaches fill up from June to August; in May and September they are much quieter. In winter, fog often hangs over the plain.