Parma Food Tours

We had a great day being driven around to a cheese factory and vinegar factory --- we swapped out the prosciutto visit for a wine visit. It was through Tours By Locals: www.toursbylocals.com. You'd have several guides to choose from ---- we liked ours but can't remember his name. It included lunch.

From Bologna i did the Food Tour with Allesandro and loved it. Great day and ate a lot. That was recommended to me by several people on here. You may have to train down to Bologna for pickup but you have to ask them

https://www.italiandays.it/tour-item/italian-days-food-experience-bologna-day-tour/

Here's a second vote for Alesandro's tour. It was one of the highlights of our entire trip.

It's always nice to get recommendations from multiple sources, and Alessandro's tour does look like what I want. But getting to Bologna won't work for me--I have opera tickets in Parma on the night I am able to do a food tour, so need one out of Parma. I looked at the Tours by Locals, and it isn't quite what I'm looking for, but there are several other sources, and perhaps one of them will be a known quantity to someone else. Thanks for the suggestions!

I have not taken this tour but will be doing so in September. It was recommended here on the forum. It starts and ends in Parma. Here’s a link to Laura’s website. she gets very nice reviews on Trip Advisor as well. I have emailed her and she provided the following info:

The itinerary is usually the following, even if it can be modified, if you prefer:

• 09:00 am: meeting point in Parma, at the train station or your hotel
• 09:30-11:15: tour of the Parmigiano-Reggiano factory
• 11:15-11:50: tour of the Lambrusco winery
• 12:00-12:45: tour of the Prosciutto/Culatello/Salami factory (they produce many types of meats)
• 12:50-14:00: lunch
• 14:15-14:50: tour of the Balsamic house
• 15:30: back in Parma

The cost is 260 euros in total not per person, including lunch and tastings. I can pick you up in Parma for free with my car.

Thanks, Philip. It's interesting that you have a different itinerary for Laura's tour than what she shows on her website--there it goes from 8:30 to 12:30, without lunch. Did she provide the one you sent in an email? There is also another one I came across, recommended by my hotel, from ParmaLook, with what looks like similar plans and price. I think that and Laura's look like the most likely so far.

We took the tour with Laura in 2015, and it was all day as Phillip posted. Had a great time! I checked her website and it does show the shortened tour, with no lunch. Maybe she changed her itinerary??

Love to hear how you make out! Planning to visit this area next March and would love to do a food tour.

Laura has a half-day and full-day tour. The one I posted is for a full day. If you’re interested in her tours, I just learned the hard way that my dates of choice, October 2 & 3 are already taken. Hopeful, she’ll find a workaround.

I just emailed her to see if September 29 is available, as that's my only day. Will see how lucky I am!

Well, no luck with Laura, she's booked for the day I have available. I'm now looking at Maestro and Parmalook. That was suggested by my hotel and they can make the booking. Since this is a busy time of year, that might be the best bet. It looks like most of the tours are pretty similar, and most have generally good reviews. After all, with good cheese, ham, wine, etc., what can be bad?

After looking at Maestro and Parma Look tours, I decided to go with Parma Look, the one recommended by my hotel. The private Maestro tour was much more expensive (210 euros per person, while Parma Look was 130 euros per person, like Laura). Maestro also has what is described as small bus group tours on Tasty Bus, which was less than 100 euros per person, but I decided I didn't want the small group--but it did look like a good option. Won't be back until mid-October, but I can post my thoughts about Parma Look then.

Since you’re restricted to a specific day and having issues, I’ll suggest an alternate type of “tour”. We stayed at Palazza Dalla Rosa Prati (next to the baptistery) when we were in Parma two years ago. They offered an option of a food tasting tour at their restaurant. We were presented with several courses of a plate of different types of prosciutto (so “buttery” fresh and amazing flavor!) and other meats that were equally good, parmigiana and balsamic vinegar the consistency of molasses -delicious! Each plate was paired with a wine. They were generous with the servings, so we didn’t need anything else for lunch and just had salads for dinner. All of this was in a private section of their restaurant - just the two of us. You could contact the hotel and see if they still offer it.

Funny you should mention that, Jean! We are (again) staying at the Palazzo, and the most helpful Vittorio suggested ParmaLooks to us and took care of the booking. But I know that the TCafe there has a lovely tasting, and we may do that anyway, since we'll need something early to eat before going to the opera. Vittorio suggested that to us as an option, as most places don't serve before 7 or 7:30, and with an 8:30 curtain, that could be a rushed dinner. Rushing dinner in Parma is not what you'd want to do!! But thanks for suggesting it.

And isn't it a lovely hotel?

Hi Lois, yes, we enjoyed staying at that hotel. We ate dinner one night at La Forchetta, just around the corner from the hotel - amazing food & presentation.

I’m stopping in Parma for a few hours on my trip in September to see the cathedral again. The interior is my favorite in Europe - meaningful & stunning. I contacted the hotel to see if I could leave my suitcase there, and besides agreeing, they said to stop in for a coffee chat.

Enjoy your time!