Holidays in Emilia Romagna

Spending your holidays in Emilia Romagna is the custom of many Italians and foreigners. In fact, every year the region is visited by thousands of tourists, especially in the summer months, but not only.

Landscape, Emilia Romagna is one of the most complete regions of Italy. Half of the territory is composed of plain, the famous Padana Valley, while in the other half mountains and plains are composed mainly of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.

Noteworthy and certainly the protagonist of the region is the longest river in Italy, the Po, which flows entirely in the region.

In Emilia Romagna the centers with the strongest tourist appeal are numerous and are concentrated along the coast washed by the Adriatic Sea, both scattered throughout the hinterland of the region. While along the coast, the so-called "romagnola riviera", there are the main seaside destinations, among which stand out Cattolica, Cervia, Rimini, Riccione, Ravenna and Cesenatico, in the entire territory of Emilia and Romagna there are numerous cities of art: Bologna, Ferrara, Parma, Piacenza, Modena, Forlì and Cesena.

The Romagna Riviera

As mentioned above, the entire stretch of the coast of Emilia Romagna is part of the "Romagna coast". With this name, in fact, the entire seaside area was made famous by Fellini's films, Giovanni Pascoli's poems and Secondo Casadei's timeless songs.

Since the 30's the whole area has been affected by mass tourism. With the construction of hotels and guest houses, the first summer colonies for the less wealthy families and the construction of the Rimini waterfront, the entire Riviera becomes the protagonist of an enormous growth in the tourism sector. Rimini, arm in arm with the nearby Riccione, becomes one of the most important tourist destinations in Italy and Europe.

Along the coast, the cities do not exclusively boast important accommodation facilities, but sites of historical and archaeological interest that make the area highly attractive.

Ravenna, for example, has a very important history. It was the capital of the Western Roman Empire, of the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths and of the Byzantines. For the vestiges of this luminous past, the complex of the first Christian monuments of Ravenna is included in the list of Italian sites, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The cities of art: Bologna, Ferrara and Modena

The entire territory of Emilia Romagna is steeped in history and the main cities have been recognized as "cities of art".

Bologna

The first city that deserves a mention is certainly Bologna, the city of arcades. The arcades, born from the need to make the most of the spaces, allow you to cover most of the streets away from rain and snow and it is very pleasant to walk through the streets of the center even on days when the climate is not mild. The city, although it extends over the vast hills, has a very small center and the main points of interest are all gathered a few meters from each other. Both religious buildings and towers and civil buildings. In Piazza Maggiore, for example, there is the precious basilica of San Petronio and a few steps away the church of San Francesco, containing some works by Michelangelo. The noble towers are one of the most characteristic features of the city. The famous two towers need no introduction: the Torre degli Asinelli and the Torre della Garisenda. The two towers are the symbol of the city and the first enjoys the title of the highest leaning tower in Italy. Among the numerous palaces to mention in a brief description of the city of Bologna, surely one cannot not start from the buildings that rise on Piazza Maggiore: the Palazzo Comunale, the Palazzo del Podestà and the Palazzo Re Enzo.

Ferrara

The city of Ferrara enjoys the title of "city of bicycles" and this should already be enough to capture the slow and relaxed pace that one breathes during a walk in the city center. Among the various milestones during a visit to the city during their holidays in Emilia Romagna there is certainly the Estense Castle, built by the Este family in the 14th century. If you saw a postcard from Ferrara, it certainly depicted the Castle, a true symbol of the Emilian city. The main religious place of the city is the Cathedral dedicated to San Giorgio. It is located a few steps from the Castello Estense, in front of the Palazzo Comunale in Piazza Trento e Trieste. One of the most important palaces worth a visit is the Palazzo dei Diamanti. The name derives from thousands of blocks of marble streaked with pink that form the external structure. The most famous street in Ferrara is Via delle Volte, an ancient trade route used in medieval times, now a place used as inns and trattorias typical of the area.

Modena

Modena is a small city and almost all places of interest are within a few kilometers. The first place worth visiting is Piazza Maggiore, a UNESCO heritage site. The square is surrounded by numerous prestigious buildings, such as the Palazzo Comunale, the Duomo and the Ghirlandina. Like all the cities of Emilia, Modena also has its own historical center which is detached from the context. The city is characterized by major streets with arcades, paved alleys sometimes pedestrian and finally by small squares distributed in the center.

All the cities of Emilia owe their fame to ancient lordships and medieval vicissitudes. In Modena there is a more recent past made up of success stories, inextricably linked to the city: Ferrari. What initially was a simple family-run workshop, in a few years turned into an empire. Today, near the birthplace of the Ferrari family, the Ferrari Museum has been built, a museum dedicated to the world famous brand for the flaming red single-seater. Inside are exposed historic cars, helmets, suits and many curiosities that are not worth giving up during a stay in the city, or more generally during their holidays in Emilia Romagna.

Modena also opens a tasty chapter of this brief descriptive journey of the region: the chapter of local cuisine.

Fried dumplings, Tortelli Lasagne and Mortadella

The Emilian cuisine offers a huge variety of typical dishes that will surely delight tourists' palates during a stay in this magnificent region.

The first dish of Emilia to taste is certainly the fried dumpling. A dough made with flour, salt water, milk, lard fried and served on a plate of cold cuts and cheeses. Tortelli and Lasagne do not need a presentation. The peculiarity of these dishes is certainly fresh pasta. Exceptional. The Emilian cuisine deserves a decidedly wider space, but already the list of second courses is enough to understand how varied the culinary offer is: cutlet alla bolognese, roast guinea fowl, the numerous "hunters" of chicken, rabbit, etc., the cotechino, the zampone, the salama da sugo, meatloaf, meatballs, the stracotto, the Piacenza tripe.

Emilia boasts a production of cured meats that, due to its variety and value, is unequaled worldwide. The mortadella from Bologna, the proscitti from Parmense, the culatello, the cotechino and the zamponi from Modena are just a taste of it.

The Emilian wine par excellence is Lambrusco, also famous throughout the world.

Choosing Emilia Romagna as a destination for your holidays is a perfect choice for visitors who do not want to miss out on visiting exceptional architectural beauties to take relaxing walks in the pretty urban centers or to spend sunny days on the Romagna Riviera, ending them in the most crowded discos of Italy.

Emilia Romagna is a very large region and there are many places of interest. Surely, tourists who choose to spend their holidays in Emilia Romagna will not be disappointed. Even the most demanding.