Rocca Meli Lupi, Soragna

You cross a 17th-century masonry bridge, which replaced the drawbridge, between two stone lions holding balls under their front paws. The moat on two sides is dry. Inside, the rooms the family shows include:

• The Sala del Baglione, or Room of the Grotesques, painted by the 16th-century Cremonese artist Cesare Baglione, the same painter you find at Torrechiara.
• The Sala del Bocchirale, linking courtyard and garden, with a 17th-century French tapestry of exotic animals embroidered with beads.
• The grand staircase, designed by the Piacenza architect Carlo Virginio Draghi and built by the Puignaghi brothers of Brescia, with a red Verona marble balustrade and seven stone putti.
• The state rooms, 50 to 300 square meters, with the original gilded furniture.

The family coat of arms, a blue wolf rampant on a gold field, is a pun on the name Lupi. The tour is in Italian; English and French tours are available if you book, at extra cost.

These times apply from September 1 to November 1, 2026:

Exception: on Sunday, October 4, 2026, visits start from 1:30 p.m. The ticket office opens 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at weekends. The castle asks you to book by email or phone (+39 0524 597964). In rain or strong wind, the park visit is cancelled.

Visitors with disabilities and one companion enter free. Times after November 1 were not yet published when we checked, so check the castle's site before a winter visit.

Most guidebooks and many tour listings still place the Museo del Parmigiano Reggiano in Soragna. Since June 13, 2026 it has been in a new home at Corte Castellazzi, Piazza Convento 1, Fontevivo, which is on the same bus line, closer to Parma.

• Hours: March 1 to December 8, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. On weekdays only as a booked guided visit. Closed December to February except for booked groups.
• Tickets: €5; €4 for over-65s; €10 family ticket for two adults and all their children. Add €1 for a taste of Parmigiano Reggiano.
• Card: the €15 Musei del Cibo card covers all the food museums in the province; see the Food Museums.

A museum is not a dairy. To see cheese being made, book a morning at a working caseificio; our page on Parmigiano Reggiano explains the ages.

Car: 33 km (21 miles) from Piazza Garibaldi, about 34 minutes. Soragna is 8 km (13 minutes) from Fontanellato and 10.3 km (16 minutes) from Busseto, which makes a three-stop day by car easy.

Bus: TEP line 2120 (Parma, Fontanellato, Soragna, Busseto) is thin but usable on weekdays from Tuesday to Saturday. Take the 12:50 p.m. from Parma station, at Soragna piazza Garibaldi at 1:35 p.m., in time for the 3 p.m. tour. Come back on the 5:52 p.m. from Soragna to Fontanellato and change there to line 23 at 6:26 p.m., reaching Parma station at 7:05 p.m. The single fare is €4.80. On Sundays there is only one useful run each way, so drive.

For the Parmigiano museum at Fontevivo, the Fontevivo stop is on the same route; the fare from Parma is €3.

If you only have time for one castle, see our castles of the Duchy guide. In short: Torrechiara is the finest building at €8; the Rocca Sanvitale has the best single room; Soragna has the best furnished interiors and the only family still in residence, at the highest price.

By car, a good Saturday: the Rocca Sanvitale at 10 a.m., lunch, Soragna at 3 p.m., and the Labirinto only if you still have energy. Or go north into the Bassa for culatello. See the castles-by-car day.