Parma, Bologna and Ferrara Tour

Day 01: Milan Arrival – Welcome to Italy ! Upon arrival at Milan airport please proceed through the Passport Control and collect your luggage inside the customs area. Meet your driver and transfer to Parma Hotel. Rest of the day at leisure. Overnight in Parma.

Day 02: Parma | Breakfast at the Hotel. In the morning enjoy a Morning Private Guided Tour of Parma. Parma is known all over the world for three things: Ham, Parmesan cheese and Verdi, associated both in Italy and abroad with savoir-faire and the good life. Parma was the capital of the Duchy of Parma who enriched the city with a series of magnificent artworks, like the Battistero and Pilotta Palace, house of Farnese family. Lunch and afternoon at leisure. Overnight in Parma.

Day 03: Lunigiana Castles & Borgos | Breakfast at the Hotel. Today you will venture into the Lunigiana, The Land of 100 Castle. Your Lunigiana tour starts at one of the most fascinating of all the castles in Lunigiana, Fosdinovo castle. It is strategically placed halfway between the peaks of the Apuan Alps and the coast. Today, the descendants of the ancient feudal Malaspina family still live in the castle. The Malaspinas built the castle in the Middle Ages and their fortunes are interwoven with its history. Inside, the frescoed walls and furnished halls reflect what life was like during those times. From Fosdinovo, we head towards northern Lunigiana. After lunch, proceed to Pontremoli, the door of Tuscany. It is a typical medieval town on the Via Francigena, full of history and traditions. Crossing the Cresa bridge, you enter the walled town and head for Piagnaro Castle, the magnificent fortress that dominates the town. In the castle, you visit a small but extraordinary museum, the Stele Statue Museum. The stele statues are prehistoric, anthropomorphic sculptures dating from between the first and fourth millennia BC, and represent warriors and women with a typical semi-lunar head, which is now the symbol of Lunigiana. Late afternoon return to your hotel. Overnight in Parma.

Day 04: Food Valley, Ferrari & Mantua | Breakfast at the Hotel. Meet your driver in the lobby. Private Transfer from your Parma Hotel to your Hotel in Ferrara, en route stop at Parmiggiano Reggiano factory to learn about the production and taste the best cheese in the world. Possibility to visit the Museum Ferrari in Maranello. Continue to Mantova, one of the best-kept secrets in Italy. Mantua’s historic power under the Gonzaga family made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Italy. Mantua had a significant role in the history of opera and the city is known for its beautiful elegant palaces or palazzi and its medieval and Renaissance cityscape. Continue to Ferrara, check-in and overnight in Ferrara.

Day 05: Ferrara | Breakfast at the Hotel. Today discover Ferrara with your private guide. Ferrara still has the atmosphere of the past, which blends in harmoniously with the lively atmosphere of the present. During Renaissance, the age of splendor of the Estense court, the city became a jewel, as recognized by UNESCO that included the historical center of Ferrara in the list of World Cultural Heritage as a wonderful example of a town planned in the Renaissance and still keeping its historical center intact. Overnight in Ferrara.

Day 06: Ferrara | Breakfast at the Hotel. Today spend the day at leisure in Ferrara. The town, which grew up around a fiord over the River Po, became an intellectual and artistic center that attracted the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance in the 15th and 16th centuries. Here, Piero Della Francesca, Jacopo Bellini and Andrea Mantegna decorated the palaces of the House of Este. The humanist concept of the ‘ideal city’ came to life here in the neighborhoods built from 1492 onwards by Biagio Rossetti according to the new principles of perspective. The completion of this project marked the birth of modern town planning and influenced its subsequent development. Overnight in Ferrara

Day 07: Ferrara – Ravenna – Bologna | After Breakfast at the Hotel meet your driver in the lobby. Private Transfer to your Bologna Hotel via Ravenna for a morning Private Guided Tour. Ravenna, the city of mosaics, has been recognized as a world heritage by UNESCO: eight historic buildings are on the World Heritage List. It is a treasure chest of art, history and culture of the highest order with ancient origins and a glorious past; it was capital three times: of the Western Roman Empire, of Theodoric King of the Goths, and of the emperor of Byzantium. In the afternoon continue to your hotel in Bologna. Overnight in Bologna.

Day 08: Bologna | Breakfast at the Hotel. Meet your guide in the lobby for a Private Guided Walking Tour of the beautiful town of Bologna. Also called “The Learned” for its old University, and “The Fat” for its food tradition, the city is also a “UNESCO creative City of Music” and has one of the largest and most well-preserved medieval historical Centre, full of restaurants, taverns, theatres and shops. Overnight in Bologna.

Day 09: Bologna Gourmet Full Immersion | Breakfast at the Hotel. A guided cultural tour of the town that focuses on food aspects. During the tour we’ll stop in some ancient food shops and we taste our local products, telling their legends, stories and jokes. Walking around the medieval market we can taste mortadella, ciccioli, salsiccia passita, chocolate, etc.). All the different tastings will make your lunch! To follow the demonstration from the traditional pasta-makers, the “sfogline” of Bologna. With skill and patience, these ladies with their magic touch will teach the curious visitor the secrets of making and rolling out the pasta. As a kind of magic: tortellini, tagliatelle and lasagne will appear. Discovery of the ancient taverns of Bologna. A lovely walk through the ancient pubs in the historic city centre. The presence of university students has helped the opening of this kind of “shops” since the XIIIth Century and also today, among the narrow streets of the medieval town, some XIVth Century pubs are still very crowded. This kind of reality didn’t change during the centuries and today, like ever, Bologna nightlife is peculiar for its vivacity and innovation. It is a pleasant walk during the late afternoon and evening to taste better the most typical Bologna atmosphere, where you’ll visit different locations with a tasting in each one. Overnight in Bologna.

Day 10: Bologna Departure | After breakfast at the hotel enjoy a Private Transfer to Bologna Airport.

• 3 Nights in Parma:
• 3 Nights in Ferrara:
• 3 Nights in Bologna:
• Assistance and Porterage at Airports, Train Stations and Hotels
• Private Transportation by Mercedes E or V Class with English Speaking Driver
• Private Guided Tours with Professional Local Guides | Door to Door Service
• Entrances to Museums, Galleries, Archeological Parks and other Venues
• Breakfast at Hotels, All Food & Wine Tours/Enogastronomic and Most Lunches.
• 24/7 Assistance and Support from our Ground Operational Office in Italy