My wife and I will be in Bologna for a few days this September. We will want to 1) take a walking tour of the city and 2) take a tour of the surrounding countryside with tastings of Parma Ham, Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese and Balsamic Vinegar. Any suggestions for individuals and/or tours with whom you've had good success would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Bob J
I liked the Discover Bologna center city walking tour offered by Bologna Welcome, the tourist information center. Their website has some information on other tours in the region. I did not do a food tour but a number of people on this forum have recommended the Italian Days tour for the foods and places you mention.
I did Italian Days' prosciutto, parmigiano reggiano, and balsamico tour and it was great. It's an early start because parmigiano reggiano is only made with the morning milk, but it finishes with a huge lunch.
From my 2023 trip report:
In Bologna, I scheduled a "Highlights and Secrets" tour through ToursByLocals with Sara Flammini. You can find her and this tour on the TBL website, but I also have her direct contact information. If you're interested, please DM me.
From Bologna, we did the Italian Days tour: https://www.italiandays.it/tour-item/italian-days-food-experience-bologna-day-tour/
The visits to the parmesan, balsamic and prosciutto "factories" were awesome, but really, the highlight of this tour is the breakfast and the multi-course lunch that they feed you at the end. I assumed we'd be doing tastings at each of the places we visited, but no - it's much, much more than that! I don't want to provide any spoilers but suffice it to say it's worth it.
