The Food Valley in 2 days
Covers hotels, areas, day trips and planning: rates for real dates, train and bus fares, and the traffic zone.
UpdatedThis page carries dated prices or seasonal dates checked on the date above, and that window has now passed. Re-check the sources at the foot of the page before you book anything.
The Food Valley is not a place you can see from Parma's center. The hams hang in the hills at Langhirano, the cheese is made in dairies on the plain, culatello cures in the fog by the Po, and traditional balsamic comes from Modena and Reggio Emilia. With a car and two days you can see all four made or aging, book each visit directly, and pay a fraction of the €135 to €183 that van tours charge per person.
The timing is set by the producers. Cheese is made only in the early morning, so the dairy is at 9 a.m. The ham house runs its English tour at 10:30 a.m., and in October 2026 only on 15 dates, so book it first and build the days around it. Torrechiara closes at 3 p.m. on weekdays. Start on a Wednesday, Thursday or Friday. The plan costs about €422 for two in tickets and meals; car hire and fuel come on top: the cheapest 24-hour hire on Kayak for October 14 to 15, 2026 was €39, searched September 29.
At a glance
- Works on
- Day 1 on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday; day 2 the following day. Never Monday; Tuesday closes the lunch trattoria on day 1.
- Day 1
- Torrechiara castle 9 a.m. (€8), Salumificio Conti ham house 10:30 a.m. (€26), lunch at Antichi Sapori, Acetaia Malpighi balsamic 4 p.m. (free).
- Day 2
- Caseificio Ugolotti 9 a.m. (€23), Culatello Museum at Antica Corte Pallavicina (€7), Hosteria lunch, Busseto's three Verdi sites (€15).
- Cost for two
- About €422 for tickets and meals. Car hire (from €39 per 24 hours on Kayak), fuel and hotels are extra.
- Driving
- About 190 km (118 miles) on day 1 with the Modena leg, about 100 km on day 2.
- Book ahead
- Conti first (English tour on set dates only), Ugolotti online, Malpighi 48 hours ahead, Antichi Sapori and the Hosteria by phone, both dinners.
- Base
- Outside the ZTL with parking: Best Western Plus Hotel Farnese (free parking), or a night in the Parma hills.
In this guide
Day 1 morning: Torrechiara and a ham house
- 8:30 a.m. Drive south on the road to Langhirano: 19.8 km (12 miles), 29 minutes from Piazza Garibaldi.
- 9 a.m. Torrechiara castle. €8. It opens at 9 a.m. Tuesday to Friday and closes at 3 p.m. See the Camera d'Oro first, before anyone else is in it. Leave by 10:05 a.m.
- 10:30 a.m. Salumificio Conti. €26 each, 75 minutes, in English or Italian, with a tasting of 24-month Prosciutto di Parma, dolce culatta and fiocco. On weekdays you may see one or two steps of the work; at weekends none. Conti gives no refunds, only a new date, and says to come by car or taxi. Its calendar for October 2026 lists this one English slot on October 6, 7, 8, 10, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 24 and 27 to 31; Visit Emilia's older 11:30 a.m. time is out of date.
- 11:45 a.m. Langhirano, 11 minutes on. On weekdays the Prosciutto Museum opens only for booked guided visits, so use the time for a coffee and a look at the curing houses along the road, with their tall slatted windows.
Day 1 afternoon: lunch at Gaione, balsamic in Modena
- 1:15 p.m. Trattoria Antichi Sapori, Gaione. 22.5 km and 25 minutes back toward Parma. A Michelin Bib Gourmand in the cheapest price band, closed Tuesday. It publishes no current prices; a 2023 review paid about €32 a head, with tortelli at €12. Hours are not reliably published, so phone +39 0521 648165 to book.
- 2:50 p.m. Drive east to Modena: 70.9 km, about 54 minutes on the A1.
- 4 p.m. Acetaia Malpighi. A free guided tour and tasting, 30 to 60 minutes, at its museum on Via Vignolese, which Malpighi says is 300 m from the Modena Sud exit. Book 48 hours ahead (+39 059 467725); more than 15 minutes late and the tour may be cut short. You taste Tradizionale DOP, aged at least 12 years, against everyday IGP.
- 5:15 p.m. Back to Parma, about 49 minutes. Park and rest.
- 8 p.m. Dinner at Trattoria del Tribunale: anolini €13, culatello €14, about €80 for two before wine. Call ahead, because it publishes no hours.
If a second long drive is too much, skip Modena. Acetaia San Giacomo at Novellara, 48 km from Parma, charges €28 for a fuller visit and tasting by booking; or leave balsamic out and book a Colli di Parma winery in the hills instead: Monte delle Vigne charges €20 for a tour and three glasses, if someone in the car is not drinking.
Day 2 morning: a dairy at 9 a.m., then the Po
- 9 a.m. Caseificio Ugolotti. 4.8 km (3 miles) east of Piazza Garibaldi. €23 each for the 9 a.m. English tour, which the dairy says shows the milk heated, the curd broken and cooked. Several dairies show live production only between 7:30 and 9 a.m.; later slots show the aging rooms. About 1.5 hours with a tasting of three ages.
- 10:30 a.m. Buy Parmigiano in the shop: 24-month was €22.90 per kg in 1 kg pieces. Bring a cool bag; it will spend the day in the car.
- 10:45 a.m. Drive 44.6 km (28 miles), about 50 minutes, north-west to Polesine Parmense.
- 11:35 a.m. Culatello Museum, Antica Corte Pallavicina. €7 with an English audio guide; it ends in the aging cellars. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The €8 culatello tasting is optional, since lunch is next. On October 18, 2026 only guided visits at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. run.
Day 2 afternoon: culatello lunch and Busseto
- 12:45 p.m. Hosteria del Maiale e del Culatello. The informal room at Antica Corte Pallavicina: culatello board €18, tortelli or anolini €12, cover €3, the estate's Lambrusco €5 a glass. Our restaurant page puts a culatello lunch for two at about €60 with wine. Book. The starred restaurant (tasting menu €150) is the splurge alternative, and it is closed at lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday.
- 2:20 p.m. Drive 6.9 km to Busseto.
- 2:30 p.m. Teatro Verdi, guided every 30 minutes from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- 3 p.m. Casa Barezzi, 250 m away: the afternoon tour is at 3 p.m. Tuesday to Friday (2:30, 3:30 and 4:30 p.m. at weekends).
- 4:15 p.m. Verdi's birthplace at Roncole, 4.9 km out, open to 6 p.m. (last entry 5:30 p.m.). One €15 ticket covers all three.
- 5:15 p.m. Back to Parma, 37 km, about 40 minutes.
- 8 p.m. A lighter dinner at Osteria del 36 (Monday to Saturday, about €30 a head on TheFork).
The Busseto hours are published to October 31, 2026. For a winter trip, call the Busseto tourist office on +39 0524 92487, or swap Busseto for the Reggia di Colorno on the drive home.
Which days work
| Start day | Works? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | No | Torrechiara, the Culatello Museum and the Verdi sites are closed. |
| Tuesday | No | Antichi Sapori closes on Tuesdays; swap lunch for the Hosteria's culatello and turn the plan around if you must. |
| Wednesday, Thursday, Friday | Yes | Castle open from 9 a.m., ham house working, dairy and museum open the next day. Check Conti's calendar: it skipped October 9 and 23. |
| Saturday | With changes | Torrechiara opens at 11 a.m., so do Conti at 10:30 a.m. first (Saturday tours on October 10, 24 and 31) and the castle at noon. No live work at Conti. |
Ugolotti suspends visits in December. Our Caseifici Aperti page covers the open-dairy weekends, and the November Porc page the pork fairs in the Bassa on November weekends.
What the two days cost for two
| Item | For two |
|---|---|
| Torrechiara castle, €8 each | €16 |
| Salumificio Conti tour and tasting, €26 each | €52 |
| Lunch, Antichi Sapori (2023 bill, about €32 a head) | about €64 |
| Acetaia Malpighi tour and tasting | €0 |
| Dinner, Trattoria del Tribunale, before wine | about €80 |
| Caseificio Ugolotti tour, €23 each | €46 |
| Culatello Museum, €7 each | €14 |
| Lunch, Hosteria del Maiale, with wine | about €60 |
| Busseto combined ticket, €15 each | €30 |
| Dinner, Osteria del 36 (TheFork average) | about €60 |
| Car hire and fuel, about 290 km | not in the total: car from €39 per 24 hours, fuel about €43 at 7 liters per 100 km and €2.122 a liter |
| Total before car and hotel | about €422 |
For comparison, ParmaLook's one-day cheese, ham and balsamic van tour was €183 a head on its product page, €366 for two, with no lunch and no culatello. The tour wins if nobody wants to drive; our Food Valley tour page does the sums.
Where to sleep, and the ZTL
Do not drive into the historic center: the ZTL cameras run from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. every day. Best Western Plus Hotel Farnese is on the ring road with free outdoor parking, €107 to €125 a double on the dates we checked, and reaches the hills and the Bassa without touching the zone. Hotel Daniel has free parking too, and Ristorante Cocchi downstairs.
To combine both kinds of base, sleep the first night in the Parma hills, where doubles with breakfast ran from €79 in Langhirano to €150 at Torrechiara on October 14, 2026, and the second in the city. Then walk in for dinner from a car park; the hotel pages list the prices.
Tickets and tours you can book
Parma: Cheese, Ham, & Balsamic Vinegar Tour with Tastings
Starts 8:30 or 10 a.m. at the NH Parma hotel (9:30 a.m. from Reggio Emilia AV). Tastings only, no lunch. No open-toed shoes.
Rating as shown on GetYourGuide
Cavedoni Balsamic Vinegar Tour: The Oldest in Modena
Same €75 as the acetaia's own 'Visita Gourmet'; its plain tasting visit is €35 direct. It is 25 km from Modena; no transport.
Rating as shown on Viator
From Parma: Parmesan, Parma Ham & Balsamic Vinegar Tour
Meets at the Toschi car park, 10-12 minutes' walk from the station. Minimum two people. Lunch with wine is included.
Rating as shown on GetYourGuide
Booking through these links supports this site at no cost to you. Prices move by date, so we do not print them here; the official prices we checked are in the page above.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a car for the Food Valley?
For this plan, yes. Conti says to come by car or taxi, the culatello estate has no public transport we could verify, and the balsamic makers are in Modena and Reggio Emilia. Without a car, a dairy and Torrechiara work by bus (see Parma in 2 days), and van tours cover the rest.
What time should I visit a Parmigiano dairy?
At the first slot, usually 9 a.m. or earlier. Several dairies show live production only between 7:30 and 9 a.m. Caseificio Ugolotti says its 9 a.m. tour sees the first stages; its last slot of the day shows no cheesemakers at work.
Can I bring the cheese and ham home?
Parmigiano can fly to the US if you declare it; Italian prosciutto, salami and culatello cannot. Britain bans EU cheese and pork in personal luggage. Full rules, with the official sources, are in our buying guide.
Is balsamic vinegar made near Parma?
No. Traditional balsamic comes from Modena and Reggio Emilia. That is why this plan drives to Modena for Acetaia Malpighi's free tasting, and why tours sold as balsamic "from Parma" drive there too.
How much does a Food Valley weekend cost for two?
About €422 for tickets and meals on this plan, plus car hire, fuel and two hotel nights. The visits themselves cost €158 for two (castle, ham house, dairy, culatello museum, Verdi sites); the rest is lunches and dinners.
Further reading
Official sources
- Salumificio Conti - guided tour booking (official) – €26, 75 minutes, tasting; English tour 10:30 a.m. only, October 6, 7, 8, 10, 15, 16, 20-22, 24, 27-31, 2026; no refunds; car or taxi only; checked September 29, 2026
- KAYAK - Car hire in Parma, October 14 to 15, 2026 – Cheapest 24-hour rate €39; Europcar Strada dei Mercati 3 from €46; searched September 29, 2026
- MIMIT - Average fuel prices by region – Emilia-Romagna self-service petrol €2.122 a liter, September 29, 2026
- Consorzio Parmigiano Reggiano booking - Caseificio Ugolotti (official) – €23, English, 9 a.m. first stage; suspended in December
- Acetaia Malpighi - free guided tours by reservation (official) – Free tour and tasting, 30-60 minutes, book 48 hours ahead, Via Vignolese museum 300 m from Modena Sud
- Antica Corte Pallavicina - the visit and museum (official) – Museum €7, tasting €8; Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; October 18 guided visits only
- Complesso della Pilotta - Torrechiara hours and tickets (official) – Torrechiara Tuesday to Friday 9 a.m.-3 p.m., weekends 11 a.m.-5 p.m., €8
- Busseto Live - Teatro Verdi and Casa Barezzi (official tourism site) – Casa Barezzi guided Tuesday to Friday 3 p.m., weekends 2:30-4:30 p.m.; combined ticket €15
- MICHELIN Guide Italia 2026 - Parma area – Antichi Sapori Bib Gourmand, closed Tuesday; Osteria del 36 listed
- OSRM routing (OpenStreetMap) – Drive times: Langhirano-Gaione 22.5 km/25 min, Gaione-Malpighi 70.9 km/54 min, Ugolotti-Polesine 44.6 km/50 min; queried September 29, 2026
