Food destinations within easy reach of Parma, worth the early start.
Food destinations within easy reach of Parma. worth the train, the rental car or the early start.
Famous for: Prosciutto di Parma curing houses and the frescoed Castello di Torrechiara
Langhirano is where Prosciutto di Parma actually cures: a valley of curing houses on the Parma stream, with Torrechiara's castle guarding the road from Parma.
Famous for: The Reggia di Colorno palace and Al Vedel's culatello cellars
Colorno pairs the Reggia, its little Versailles north of Parma, with serious eating: Al Vedel, an inn since 1780, ages culatello under the village.
Famous for: Culatello di Zibello DOP in its foggy homeland on the Po
Polesine Zibello is culatello's homeland, 35 km from Parma on the Po: fog, curing cellars, the Culatello Museum and Massimo Spigaroli's starred farm court.
Famous for: Verdi's hometown with spalla cotta and Bassa salumi
Busseto belongs to Giuseppe Verdi and the Bassa's tables: after the composer's theatre, the town near Parma's Po edge eats spalla cotta and culatello.
Famous for: The Rocca Meli Lupi, the Parmigiano museum circuit and Birrificio del Ducato
Soragna stacks a lived-in princely Rocca, the food-museum circuit's Parmigiano seat and Italy's most-medalled brewery into one Bassa town near Parma.
Famous for: Salame di Felino, the wine museum in the Rocca and ducal woods
Sala Baganza and Felino hold Parma's salame country: the Felino museum, the wine museum in Sala's Rocca and trattorias at the edge of the ducal woods.
Famous for: The moated Rocca Sanvitale and Bassa trattoria cooking
Fontanellato circles its moated Rocca Sanvitale with porticoes and welcoming trattorias, the easiest castle-plus-lunch day out on Parma's western plain.