The hook
The gastronomic heart of Italy, a region where the everyday food is arguably the country's best, anchored by Bologna, a warm red-brick university city of endless arcaded porticoes that most first-timers skip on the dash between Venice and Florence.
01Why it's worth it
Emilia-Romagna is where Italians themselves point when the topic is food. This is the birthplace of tagliatelle al ragù (the real "bolognese"), tortellini, lasagne, mortadella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, and traditional balsamic vinegar aged for decades, and eating your way across it, Bologna for the pasta, Parma for the ham and cheese, Modena for the balsamic (and the Ferrari museums), is one of the great culinary journeys anywhere. Its capital, Bologna, is a superb and underrated city in its own right: a compact, lived-in medieval centre of terracotta towers and some forty kilometres of covered porticoes (now UNESCO-listed), home to the Western world's oldest university, a buzzing, left-leaning, student energy, and markets and trattorias where the eating is sublime and unpretentious. Nearby, easy day trips reach the mosaic-rich Ravenna, moated Ferrara, and the food capitals. Less mobbed than Tuscany or the lagoon, it rewards travellers who come for substance, and appetite, over the postcard.
02How to experience it
Base in Bologna for the porticoes, towers, food markets, and trattorias, and day-trip the food towns: Parma (ham and Parmigiano, tour a cheese dairy), Modena (a balsamic acetaia and, for petrolheads, Ferrari), and Ferrara or Ravenna. Come hungry, pick this region for a food-focused week, and don't try to see it all.
From the locals
When Italians and Italy regulars are asked the most underrated place, the answer is almost a chorus: "Especially 'cause your top priority is food, don't miss Emilia-Romagna," one wrote, reeling off "Bologna (tortellini, lasagne, tagliatelle al ragù), Parma (Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma), Ravenna, Ferrara" — with a local admitting flatly, "my favourite food is Emilia-Romagna's."