Food tours worth it Bologna and/or Naples? The ones I generally see are pretty basic usually

I realize this is just my personal opinion, but we did not book a food tour when we were in Bologna last May. I researched them, and both my husband and I decided they were quite expensive for what we would get. So we went to restaurants on our own. Two of them were recommendations I received on another travel forum, and our hotel recommended another restaurant that we were happy with.

In Bologna, we did wander around the big market (forgot the name) that is by Piazza Maggiore. Maybe it's because we were there later in the afternoon, but we weren't terribly impressed. We've been to better markets, and I might be an outlier by saying that. There is also a smaller market in Bologna where we had a good seafood lunch at one of the restaurants there.

Are you going to Florence on this trip? We thought the food market in Florence was outstanding. More vibrant, more bustling, more choices!

I don't see why you need a tour. It's easy to find out good salumerias and markets, and places for snacks, and you can research your restaurants. I agree with you son the salumi and cheeses.

This article does not exactly give a strong recommendation for food tours in Bologna!

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/09/opinion/italy-tourists-bologna-mortadella.html?unlocked_article_code=1.HVA.N6Ms.k9MEYh-LVjyn&smid=url-share

I might be able to give you some ideas for Naples, since I am looking myself for a trip in May. Not tours, just roaming around and snacking on savory and sweet snacks in Naples...things like sfogliatelle, fritti, pizza, etc

I’ve taken 4 tours with Culinary Backstreets (Lisbon, Marseille, Tokyo, and Osaka) and they have all been excellent. They go to places that are off the beaten path in a city. They have a couple food tours in Naples so you might check them out.

A food tour, if well made, is not only eating something. Means explain how a food is made, why a thing is different from another, how to recognize a certified one from a fake, why an ingredient is so important why others aren't, how a food has evolved along the centuries and much more.
Is like entering in a painting gallery: is perfectly fine enter, do some photos and take a selfie and go out. But with a guide you can learn the history of a painting, why the artist choose certain symbols, the historical period when has been painted, the meaning of a specific shape or object in the painting.
If you move around a market are you able to distinguish which fruit are seasonal and typical of Bologna (or Naples)? Do you know the difference from Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and Balsamic dressing (and which is a good natural from one that is chemically made)? Can you choose a local wine or is Prosecco and Chianti everywhere?
Like for art depends how better you want to know a thing and how deep is your knowledge of the topic before start.

Ricky's post reminded me of a fun thing I did in Bologna. The Giusti balsamic vinegar store offers free tasting to walk-in visitors for a whole range of balsamic -- different amounts of aging, different suggest food matching, some flavored etc. with explanations of how it is made. Of course they hope you will buy something but there was absolutely no pressure. The vinegar is from Modena and they have stores in other cities as well.

I have not done any food tours but I am curious to hear more about experience with different types such as dinner tours that go to multiple restaurants versus ones that focus on tasting at markets or food producers.

I did both the Taste Bologna morning tour and the Italian Days production tour and I'd recommend them both. Taste Bologna is your typical "walk around and eat some food while the guide talks" tour. It's a nice overview of the city and the guide talks about the history of the neighborhoods you walk through. They also send a list of restaurant recommendations that seemed to be "legit" and were also not typically on other lists.

The Italian Days tour takes you by bus/van to see where and how prosciutto, balsamico and parmigiano reggiano (and a bonus ricotta) are made. You see the workers making the wheels of parm and cutting the pork (balsamico production is seasonal, so you only see them working if it's in season). You snack on the food along the way as you watch them make it and it wraps up with a huge lunch (antipasti, primi, secondi, dolci).

Related to Laura's comment, I have participated in both Culinary Backstreets tours of Naples (on two separate trips), and I loved them both. They are not cheap, but the value is excellent because you visit so many places, eat so much tasty food, and meet local business workers. I highly recommend these tours.

I must agree. The routine Bologna food tour was not great, nor was the big market. But the little stores clustered together not far from there were terrific. We also appreciated balsamic tasting.

I also agree that a Culinary Backstreetstour is a whole different kettle of fish.

From Bologna I would absolutely do a production food tour to Parma. You start early to see cheese being formed and then see other aspects of production. Beyond tasting balsamic vinegar, you can see the barrels I which they are made and realize how limited production is. Likewise with seeing the ham production directly. We had lovely lunch at a winery as part of our tour. A tour like this is so much more in-depth than walking through a city tasting local specialties

We had a great experience with Explore Emilia and I highly recommend them.

We did the Italian Days food factory tour from Bologna last March. There were 4 of us, 2 couples in our 60's-70's, 1 couple had never been to Italy. I've been several times so I put together the trip (13 days total in Italy). I was nervous about the Italian Days tour because it was fairly expensive but we all agreed it would be our big splurge. I can tell you it was one of the highlights of our trip. It was an incredible experience, a full day, starting early in Bologna where we met the driver/guide in a very comfortable van. visiting the cheese making factory, basalmic maker with a wonderful breakfast, and then the prosciutto factory followed by a fantastic multicourse lunch that included meats, cheeses, pastas, contorni, ever flowing wine, dessert.... and then we were driven home safely while dozing in the van. It's possible that what made this trip so much fun for us was the company (the 2 couples get along very well and there's always lots of laughter) but for us it was more than worth the splurge!
I've done walking food tours in Testaccio neighborhood of Rome (fabulous), Paris and Porto. All were fun and interesting but still not the experience of the Italian Days tour.