7 highlights of an Emilia Romagna road trip

Fly into Bologna or Milan to take an epic road trip along the ancient Via Emilia that hosts a string of beautiful Italian cities. In the heart of Emilia Romagna lies Italy’s Food Valley. Make sure that you stop along the way for dishes and wines that have received worldwide acclaim.

Hot, hot summers and cold winters, with moisture trapped by the Apennine mountains, coalesce for perfect growing conditions for food that has become legendary: globally.

Michelin-starred restaurants

Such is Emilia Romagna’s prominence in Italy’s gastronomic scene that Modena recently hosted the Michelin Guide 2025 Awards: essentially Italy’s foodie Oscars. In addition, Emilia Romagna will also host the awards for 2026 and 2027.

Amongst the culinary rock stars at the awards, Massimo Bottura is a God of the industry. The success of his 3 Michelin star Osteria Francescana in Modena, sometimes lauded as the World’s Best Restaurant, gives Massimo a platform to speak for Emilia Romagna and for the restaurant industry as a whole.

Awards granted by the 2025 Italy Michelin Guide increased the number of Bib Gourmand restaurants within Emilia Romagna to 33. Good news for those touring the region looking for restaurants recognised by Michelin as providing quality with exceptional value.

A spectacular landscape

Create your own gourmet trail through Emilia Romagna which runs from Piacenza in the west, along the ancient route of the Via Emilia through Bologna, Modena, Parma and through to Rimini sat on the Adriatic.

Essentially, the route of the River Po, backed by the Apennine mountains to the north, is a gentle landscape where cows are milked to create vast wheels of Parmigiana Reggiano cheese.  This is Italy’s bread basket, packing the markets with vibrant fresh produce. A land of slow food, those wheels of cheese mature for years, and fast cars. Modena is the home of Ferrari and the Ferrari Museum. 

Pavarotti’s house and restaurant

Emilia Romagna demands an operatic sound track. Call in on the former home of Luciano Pavarotti, near Modena, to make those long-held tenor notes a reality. A mural, emblazoned on the mansion’s wall, even larger than the great man’s personality, signals that you have arrived. 

Now a shrine to the great tenor, the museum displays letters of admiration from Sinatra, Bono, Sting, Hillary Clinton, Springsteen and Princess Diana, testifying to Pavarotti’s universal appeal. 

Pavarotti worked hard for his fame, saving his voice for performances, always scouring stages for a bent nail that brought good luck and losing three kilograms every time he performed. Beyond music, Pavarotti enjoyed painting and his cookbook shows his love of food. Book a table in the neighbouring restaurant for the complete Pavarotti experience. 

Mercato Albinelli, Modena

Call in at the wrought iron Liberty style market in Modena for an artisan introduction to the food and produce of Emilia Romagna. Stalls overflow with the produce of Italy’s bounteous bread basket.

Artisan restaurants around the fringes of the market, with humble trestle table seating offer a chalked-up intro to regional specialities. 

As well as dishes that have now become global favourites, for instance bolognaise and lasagne, this is the place to try local dishes such as tortellini in broth. 

Parma

Allegedly, Bologna is the gastronomic capital of the world or so the locals say as they sit with an intense expresso explosion of coffee. Or look into each other’s eyes as they give a toast with a knock of their glass on the table, echoing “Chin-chin” before sipping one of Emilia Romagna’s 24 DOC wines. 

Yet, it is Parma that UNESCO has given the award of a gastronomic capital: probably for the gastronomic virtuosity of its production of Parma ham, Parmigiana Reggiano cheese, plump tomatoes and some of those DOC wines. 

Verdi Corale

You can’t escape from opera in Emilia Romagna, the Verdi Corale is an opera school for Verdi aficionados. Lunch to arpeggios and ascending scales of Verdi lovers from all over the world loosening their vocal cords for their favourite arias. 

Amongst the dark wood and dining tables of the restaurant a grand piano sits on the stage for more tributes to the great opera composer born in Parma. 

Trattoria Amerigo 1934

Unless you are a licensed truffle hunter, with a keen-nosed Lagotta Romagna dog, considerable experience and a slice of good luck, you are unlikely to find your own truffles. The next best option in the truffle country around Savigno, in the foothills of the Apennine mountains, for tasting truffles, is to dine at the Trattoria Amerigo. 

Since 1934, the Bettini family has run this rustic-styled trattoria, where the decor still pays homage to the 1930s, with adverts from the era extolling Campari and Cinzano lifestyles. 

The trattoria has just been awarded a Michelin star for the 28th consecutive year. Those in the know book into one of the adjoining inn’s rooms, particularly when Savigno’s annual truffle festival comes around in late autumn.

Disclosure: Our stay was sponsored by Emilia Romagna Turismo.

Michael Edwards

Michael Edwards is a travel writer from Oxfordshire, UK. Although Michael had his first travel pieces published nearly four decades ago, he is still finding new luxury destinations to visit and write on.