Bologna and Emilia Romagna in five days

Your driver will wait for you in the arrival lobby. He will hold a board with your name and help you with your luggage.

Bologna airport is close to the city center, expect a 0:30 hours transfer.

A free afternoon to start discovering Bologna and its vibrant atmosphere. Don't miss an aperitivo with the traditional snacks, cheeses and cured meats.

Best places are Tamburini, or the Baita Vecchia Malga area, both are located in the old market area.

You will have your first approach with Bologna tasty dishes, where the highlights are Tortellini, Tagliatelle alla bolognese and Lasagne.

We suggest the Buca di San Petronio, a few steps from the main square and the old market. 

The tour starts at Piazza Maggiore with the City Hall, Podestà Palace, Neptune's Fountain, King Enzo's Palace, Sala Borsa (closed on Sundays), Palazzo dei Banchi, dei Notai, Accursio Palace and Basilica of Saint Petronio (visit inside according to opening hours and services) with the sundial. 

The tour continues with the medieval Galluzzi court, Piazza Galvani the Archiginnasio, the first unique seat of the University of Bologna, and via Farini with its branded products and clothings. 

A Walk through Food Marketup to Saint Steven square with its porticos, palaces and the Saint Steven Churches Complex (visit inside according to opening hours and services). 

Through the Isolani Court we will reach Via Strada Maggiore, the Two Leaning Towers, Via Zamboni, the present university area and the old Jewish Ghetto. 

In the Mercato di Mezzo some locals will be visited in order to explain the typical food of Bologna and show the close relationship between culture and food.

Afternoon: 3:30 PM – 7:30 PM, dinner included

Standard Cooking Lesson: you will learn the techniques to prepare the famous Ragu alla bolognese and hand made pasta provided by the certified classic recipes of the traditional “Cucina Bolognese”:

• Ragù alla Bolognese (Bolognese meat sauce)
• Lasagne alla bolognese
• Tagliatelle
• Fragole o Pesche (Strawberries or peaches) Big Carlo style

After the lesson our famous lunch or dinner with cotton tablecloth and napkins, ceramic dishes and cristal glass:

• Appetizers with Prosciutto di Parma riserva 24 mesi, Mortadella Bologna, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese 32 mesi and Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena gold 25 years
• Pasta that you have prepared
• Strawberries or peaches Big Carlo style
• Tiramisu
• selected wines Prosecco DOGC and Sangiovese Superiore Riserva

You will be given
– a book of traditional recipes
– a special cotton apron of Bologna Cooking School then remains to students for to remember
– Certificate
– Photo of the lesson

From Bologna central station catch one of the many local trains to Ravenna. Expected transfer time: one hour.

Even just a half day visit is enough to enjoy the best of what the astonishing city of Ravenna has to offer. Discover the Early-Christian and Byzantine mosaics of the 5th and 6th centuries with a local and licensed guide and I am sure you will be fascinated and amazed!

A guided 2.5 hours walk through the old city centre with a pause and a practical demonstration of mosaic -making technique, enjoying and understanding the enormous history and the quiet rhythm of life in Ravenna.

The visit includes:

• Church of S. Vitale commissioned by the Emperor Justinian of Byzantium. In the mosaics here he is masterfully depicted with his fabulous wife Theodora.
• Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, A powerful building created to honour the resilient and colourful empress of the Western Roman Empire.
• The tomb of Dante, close to the Basilica of San Francisco and its cloisters
  Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo which was the private chapel of the Ostrogoths King Theoderic.

In the heart of Ravenna, Cà de Vèn has been a popular meeting point for both Ravenna citizens and travellers. 

Located in a beautiful fifteenth-century building with a charm of yesteryear, the wine shop still preserves nineteenth-century bottles of the most prestigious wines of Romagna. 

In the restaurant you can enjoy local wine and foods traditions that recall past times, with typical Romagna dishes and the real "Piadina" (local flat bread) served with cured meats and Squaqquerone cheese. 

Continue your exploration of this lovely town. You can browse the old cobble streets and visit on your own many other Roam remains, such as the Arian Baptistery, the Archiepiscopal Chapel and the Baptistry of Neon, one of the most ancient monuments of the city of Ravenna.  

Before catching your train back to Bologna, take your time to sip a glass of local white wine in the lovely Piazza del Popolo.

Enjoy a food tour in Emilia Romagna heart! Tasting and guided tour to discover the best traditional Food, including Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and thr real Balsamic Vinegar.

The day begins with a morning excursion to a cheese factory where you will experience the entire production process of Parmigiano Reggiano D. O. P. - the KING of Cheeses. You will have a rare opportunity to view each step of the process in the creation of this superb cheese, including the heating of the fresh milk used. 

Your tour will continue with a visit to the impressive "cheese library", which houses million of Euros worth of Parmigiano Reggiano. At the end of the visit we will take a tasting of this delicious cheese.

Then you will visit one of the region's historic acetaia, a farmhouse where the famous traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena D. O. P. is made. You will discover the "Black Gold" , learn about the methods used to produce this artisanal treasure... and taste it!

Transport from railway station included.

Modena is full of delicious restaurant, we will be pleased to share our preferred ones and help with your reservation.

If you wish to treat yourself, reserve at the Michelin starred Osteria Francescana restaurant.

Free afternoon to explore on your own beautiful Modena (don't miss the cathedral and the central square!) and / or to visit Ferrari Museum in Maranello.

On top of Ferrari museum you can also have an exclusive shuttle bus tours to the Fiorano track and along the Viale Enzo Ferrari boulevard in the factory complex.

We can arrange guided tours and tickets for your cpnvenience.

Catch a local train to Modena.

Expected transfer: 00:40 hours.

Ferrara is a lovely ancient city, Unesco heritage site, known for its Renaissance city center, its food... and its bicycles (they are everywhere!). 

Ferrara became an intellectual and artistic centre that attracted the greatest minds of the Italian Renaissance. The humanist concept of the 'ideal city' came to life here in 1492 and it marked the birth of modern town planning. 

It is an outstanding planned Renaissance city which has retained its urban fabric virtually intact. Among the great Italian cities Ferrara is the only to have an original plan that is not derived from a Roman layout. It did not develop from a central area but rather on a linear axis, along the banks of the Po River, with longitudinal streets around which the medieval city was organized. 

The most significant characteristic of Ferrara's urban history rests on the fact that it developed, for the first time in Europe, on the basis of planning regulations that are in use nowadays in all modern towns. Ferrara is the only planned Renaissance town to have been completed. 

The brilliant Este court attracted a constellation of artists, poets and philosophers during Renaissance time.

Your Two hours walking tour starts with the Renaissance Herculean addition and the inner courtyard of Palazzo dei Diamanti, and then will slowly move around the ancient cobbled streets, until you reach the former Jewish ghetto. 

Before coming back to Bologna you can browse the old and lovely cobbled streets, visit one of the many arts exibitions at Palazzo dei Diamanti or walk around the old city walls.

After breakfast and based on your flight schedule, your driver will pick ou up at your hotel to drive you to the airport.