Getting to Parma

Parma's Giuseppe Verdi airport has had long gaps with almost no scheduled flights, so check before you plan around it. Ryanair's own timetable for the winter season, read on September 29, 2026, shows three routes running through the winter:

Ryanair's Cagliari and Tirana flights run in October and then pause until late March 2027. The airport's own destinations list also names Olbia and Chișinău. For an American visitor, PMF only helps if you connect through London Stansted. For a British visitor, the Thursday and Sunday Stansted flights are the one direct option into Parma itself.

Getting into town is simple. TEP city bus 6 stops a few metres from the terminal and reaches the station in about 15 minutes, every 30 minutes on weekdays, on an ordinary €2 urban ticket. On days with arrivals after 8 p.m., TEP runs extra evening buses timed to the flights, as far as Barriera Bixio via Viale Mariotti and the station. The airport puts a taxi to the station at €10–€13. Radio Taxi Parma answers around the clock on +39 0521 252562.

Bologna has far more flights than Parma, and the rail link is quick. Two legs:

1. Marconi Express monorail from the terminal to Bologna Centrale: about 7 minutes, one stop at Lazzaretto. It runs from 5:40 a.m. to midnight, every 7 minutes at peak and every 15 minutes otherwise. A single is €12.80 by ticket or contactless card at the gates; the online fixed-date web fare is €8.20. Between midnight and 5:40 a.m., bus Q covers the route.
2. Train to Parma: regional fast trains (Regionale Veloce) take 58 minutes for €8.50. Frecciarossa trains take 55 to 59 minutes and cost €15.90–€18.90. The fast regionals left Bologna at 5:33 p.m. and 6:33 p.m. on our sample evening, so the pattern is roughly hourly.

Allow about 1 hour 30 minutes from landing to Parma station, including the change. One warning for the next week: the monorail is suspended from September 29 to October 1 and October 3 to 6, 2026 for tests and maintenance, with replacement buses. Radio Taxi Parma quotes €190 for Parma to Bologna airport by day, motorway tolls included.

If you want a day in Bologna itself, read our Bologna day trip page, and see Parma or Bologna as a base.

Milano Centrale has direct trains to Parma through the day. On our sample Wednesday:

• Regionale Veloce trains at 20 minutes past most hours: 1 hour 38 to 1 hour 42 minutes, €12.35.
• Intercity trains: 1 hour 19 to 1 hour 50 minutes, €11.90–€15.90.
• A few direct Frecciarossa trains (7:50 a.m., 5:50 p.m., 6:35 p.m. and 7:50 p.m. that day): 51 minutes to 1 hour 6 minutes, €14.90–€24.90.

The planner also offers Frecciarossa trips via Reggio Emilia AV Mediopadana with a connecting bus for €45–€49. They are no faster than the direct regional and cost four times as much.

Malpensa (MXP) is the long way round. The Trenitalia planner sells Malpensa Terminal 1 to Parma as one ticket, Malpensa Express plus a regional train, for €27.35, taking about 2 hours 50 minutes to 3 hours 10 minutes. A taxi is €350 by day on Radio Taxi Parma's list.

Linate (LIN) is 12 minutes from central Milan on the M4 metro, according to the airport. From there you connect to Milano Centrale for the train. A taxi from Parma is €242 by day.

Bergamo (BGY), where Ryanair has most of its Milan flights, is furthest. The flibco bus to Milano Centrale takes about 50 minutes and starts from €8, then you take the train. Budget about 3 hours door to door. Trenitalia's own planner routes Bergamo airport to Parma via an Orio Airlink bus in 4 hours 13 minutes to 5 hours 16 minutes, from €31.25: ignore it. A taxi is €333.

The Trenitalia planner offered no direct fast train from Rome on our sample morning. You ride a Frecciarossa to Bologna and change to a regional. The 8:15 a.m. from Roma Termini reached Parma at 11:31 a.m., for €49.40: 3 hours 16 minutes. Trenitalia prices high-speed trains dynamically, so book early for less and expect more on busy dates. Buy the Bologna to Parma leg separately if the combined fare looks high: the regional price of €8.50 is fixed.

From Florence Santa Maria Novella there is one useful direct train: Intercity 580 left at 8:21 a.m. and reached Parma at 10:37 a.m. for €17.90. Otherwise take a Frecciarossa to Bologna and change: the 8:36 a.m. arrived at 10:31 a.m. for €31.40. Slow all-regional combinations cost €17.20 and take 3 hours 22 minutes or more.

In the other direction from Bologna Centrale, the morning pattern was a 58-minute fast regional at 33 minutes past the hour (€8.50), an Intercity at 9:46 a.m. (51 minutes, €12) and a EuroCity at 9:06 a.m. (1 hour 1 minute, €9.90).

Parma is on the A1 motorway between Milan and Bologna. By car, Bologna is about 99.5 km (62 miles) and 77 minutes from Piazza Garibaldi. The trouble starts at the edge of the old town. The historic centre is a limited traffic zone (ZTL) from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. every day, watched by cameras, and the pedestrian zones are closed around the clock. Read our ZTL and parking guide before you drive in, and do you need a car in Parma? before you rent one.

If you want a car only for the castles and dairies, pick it up after your city days. For carless options in the countryside, see the Food Valley without a car.

Parma station was rebuilt between 2007 and 2014 and sits on the north edge of the centre. From the station door it is about 10 minutes' walk to the Palazzo della Pilotta, 15 minutes to Piazza Duomo and 16 minutes to Piazza Garibaldi. City buses stop on the forecourt; a TEP ticket is €2 for 80 minutes. By taxi, a short ride into the centre costs the €6.80 daytime minimum fare.

If you are taking trains most days, sleeping near the station makes sense: see around Parma station. Otherwise compare the options in where to stay in Parma.

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From Bologna: Parma Cheese & Ham Factory Tours and Tastings

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From Bologna: Parmigiano and Prosciutto Tour by 1st-Class Train

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