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Emilia Romagna’s Culinary Delights

Emilia Romagna's Culinary Delights
  • Length 8 days
  • From USD$4795
  • Style/Level Classic 1.0
  • Countries Italy
  • Begin/End Cremona / Bologna
See related tours
On this popular tour, you’ll bicycle through Italy’s premier pasta region. Every meal will include extraordinary local dishes made according to tradition. Every day of pedaling will not only take you behind-the-scenes visits of Parmesan cheese, balsamic vinegar, and wine makers, but also to ancient castles and world heritage UNESCO sites. Here, history, art, culture, and tradition conspire to make this tour unforgettable!

***If this sounds great, but you’d like a longer tour check out our Emilia Romagna’s Culinary Delights Plus! tour.***

Highlights

  • Cremona – home to torrone or Italian nougat, Visit to a violin workshop, Balsamic vinegar cellar, Towns of Parma, Modena, and Bologna, Parmesan cheese, Castle Torrechiara.

Includes

  • 8 days, 7 nights accommodation

  • meals as noted in itinerary

  • cooking class in Bologna

  • guided visit of Bologna

  • special culinary highlights and tastings listed in itinerary

  • All Classic tour inclusions

Keep in mind

We work hard to maintain consistency across all of our tours, but some trips have unique differences. Here are some things to keep in mind about this tour.

  • You will be riding on popular bike paths and through some urban areas where cobblestones are common. Though the terrain is gentle bike handling skills are necessary.
  • We highly recommend you spend an additional day in Cremona before the beginning of the tour. It’s a true little gem to discover. For things to do, we recommend visiting the amazing Museo del Violino, and catching one of the concerts (note it is closed on Mondays). Read our article about Cremona.
  • Restaurant Osteria Francescana: This restaurant in Modena, our Day 6 location, has been voted one of the world’s top 50 restaurants! If you’d like to enjoy an evening here on your free night (Day 6), you will need to make reservations online in advance: osteriafrancescana.it
  • If you are looking for a more laid-back alternative, you may enjoy the Restaurant Franceschetta 58 in Modena, our Day 6 location. Franceschetta 58 is a bistro-style restaurant under the same ownership as the Osteria Francescana. If you’d like to take this opportunity, be sure to make your reservations in advance: franceschetta.it

Great tour for novice cyclists in terms of mileage and terrain, but bike handling skills are necessary due to starting/stopping and negotiating popular bike paths and cobblestones.

Date Price Private room fee Note
May 25-Jun 1, 2025 USD$4795 USD$550 Sold out! Waitlist available.
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Aug 24-31, 2025 USD$4795 USD$550 Departure confirmed to go!   
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May 24-31, 2026 TBA TBA Book now and save $300 per person.
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Aug 23-30, 2026 TBA TBA Book now and save $200 per person.
Book it
DateMay 25-Jun 1, 2025
PriceUSD$4795
Private room feeUSD$550
NoteSold out! Waitlist available.
Book it
DateAug 24-31, 2025
PriceUSD$4795
Private room feeUSD$550
NoteDeparture confirmed to go!   
Book it
DateMay 24-31, 2026
PriceUSD$4795
Private room feeUSD$550
NoteBook now and save $300 per person.
Book it
DateAug 23-30, 2026
PriceUSD$4795
Private room feeUSD$550
NoteBook now and save $200 per person.
Book it

Download Itinerary

We’ll send you a link to a full day by day tour itinerary that can be downloaded and printed so you can review all the details online and offline. This packet also includes details about what to expect on tour and arrival and departure details.
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Open all days
  • Total distance 312 km (193 miles)
  • Average daily distance 52 km (32 miles)
  • Tour style Classic
  • Tour level 1.0

Highlights: Cremona, home to creamy Italian nougat, handcrafted Stradivari violins, and an impressive plaza

Arrive in Cremona, home of the noble tradition of violin making. Visit the Museo del Violino to learn how Antonio Stradivarius raised violin-making to an art form and taste some torrone (the creamy nougat made from honey, nuts, and egg whites) in one of the several pasticcerie in town! We meet in the afternoon for our bike fitting at the hotel. After enjoying an aperitivo together, we celebrate the beginning of our culinary experience with a welcome dinner.

Meals : Dinner
 Lodging : Delle Arti Design Hotel

Highlights: Giuseppe Verdi’s homeland, Po River valley, Local gastronomy

A quick visit to Cremona’s important “liutai” or violin makers sets the tone for the day as we pedal through opera composer Giuseppe Verdi’s homeland. We’ll leave the city cycling along the Po River bike path and wind our way through a rural area to the small town where Verdi was born, raised, and started his music career at age 8 as the official organist. Continue pedaling to our boutique hotel, famous for its cuisine and maintenance of local culinary traditions including its special cold cut ageing and production (King Charles III has prosciutto here being cured for him!). A visit allows us a deep understanding of the local gastronomy.

Meals : Breakfast, Dinner
 Lodging : Antica Corte Pallavicina

Highlights: The gardens at the Regal residence of Colorno, Parma ham, World Heritage Site of Parma

We head south to Parma today, one of the undisputed culinary capitals of Italy, through pleasant country roads where you can catch a glimpse of local farm life. Our journey takes us to the ducal palace of Colorno. While it has passed through the hands of many rulers, today it houses the headquarters of ALMA, the International School of Italian Cuisine. Take time to walk inside the historical garden before continuing on to Parma, where your taste buds will not be disappointed. It is a city where the arts have flourished Parmigianino, Correggio, and Giuseppe Verdi are some of the most famous citizens.

Meals : Breakfast
 Lodging : Hotel Button

Highlights: Parma hills, castle of Torrechiara, lunch with a view

Get ready for another day of bicycling amidst ancient castles and local traditions! Today’s ride will loop to the breath-taking castle of Torrechiara. Dominating the Val Parma, the castle was constructed between 1448 and 1460, devised as an instrument of defense as well as a distinguished home for the count and his lover. This area is famous for its cured prosciutto and local salame–we will have lunch in this historic setting to taste them! We return to Parma, where, if you are still hungry, our tour leaders will suggest restaurants for dinner.

Meals : Breakfast, Lunch
 Lodging : Hotel Button

Highlights: Stay in an agriturismo

We’ll cycle to Montecchio today before heading to Reggio Emilia where you can grab lunch and explore this lovely village. Reggio Emilia was also known as the Tricolor town because it was here that the future Italian flag was first adopted in 1797. We’ll continue along back roads and bike paths to reach our agriturismo, a country house/hotel with a working farm, where we’ll stay tonight.

Meals : Breakfast, Dinner
 Lodging : Agriturismo La Razza

Highlights: Parmesan cheese making, a balsamic vinegar visit in a historical vinegar cellar, World Heritage Site of historic Modena

We have an early start this morning to observe the artistry of a working Parmesan cheese maker. The proud Consorzio will explain the intricacies of this poignant but delicate cheese on our guided tour. Another culinary mystery is unveiled today as we stop at an acetaia, a traditional balsamic vinegar factory to learn how leftover grapes are transformed into the sweet rich vinegar that can sometimes be worth hundreds of dollars. Tradition is beautifully preserved here as the historic methods of production are still in use. A picnic lunch will follow the visit to the acetaia before continuing on to Modena. Don’t miss a visit to the historic center of town.

Meals : Breakfast, Lunch
 Lodging : Phi Hotel Canalgrande

Highlights: Guided tour of Bologna

We leave Modena’s Duomo and the Ghirlandaia tower along a rails to trails bike path that leads to the fortress town of Bazzano, a perfect spot for a morning snack before enjoying stunning views of the hills along our route to Bologna. Later this afternoon we’ll have a guided visit of this great city.

Meals : Breakfast, Dinner
 Lodging : Hotel Dei Commercianti

Highlights: Cooking school and lunch

We invite you to stick around this morning as we have a special cooking demonstration and lunch planned. After that we’ll send you on your way to begin your own culinary explorations.

Meals : Breakfast, Lunch

Visit our Tour Level page to learn more about terrain levels and how we determine day and tour levels.

  • 2025 premium gravel bike

    Premium road bike

    Frame : Titanium with Carbon Fork built by Van Nicholas, or similar532
    Type : Premium Road

  • Titanium hybrid road bike with flat handle bars and rear rack

    Premium hybrid bike

    Frame : Titanium with Carbon Fork
    Type : Premium Hybrid

  • Titanium hybrid with step-through frame

    Premium mixte step-through hybrid

    Frame : Titanium with Carbon Fork
    Type : Premium Hybrid Mixte

  • Co-Motion or Cannondale tandem

    Frame : Steel / Aluminum
    Type : Tandem

  • E-hybrid bike

    Surcharge: $250 for 6-8 days; $300 for 9-15 days; $500 16+ days
    Frame : Aluminum frame with front suspension
    Type : E-Hybrid

  • e-gravel bike

    E-road bike

    Surcharge: $300 for 6-8 days; $375 for 9-15 days; $600 for 16+ days
    Frame : Carbon frame with carbon fork
    Type : E-Road

Pre-trip planning checklist

Italy travel planning page

See all trip photos

  • Spectacular scenery and food. SO MUCH food. SO MUCH fun. Awesome guides, awesome group of people on the tour.

    Susan L., Plano, TX – May 2023

  • Trip of a lifetime. Best trip I have ever taken. Tour of fantastic food sprinkled with enjoyable cultural additions.

    Josh S., Vestal, NY – August 2022

  • This is a tour with beautiful scenery, fascinating stops (meeting a violin maker, visiting an acetaia, etc.) and great food. The biking is relatively easy because most of it is on bike paths and farm roads and fairly flat.

    Pam K., Stanford, CA – August 2022
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