Such a fun day exploring the foods of Bologna! First we were picked up promptly, first thing in…read morethe morning (the sun hadn't come up yet) at our hotel in a passenger van, and drove to the first experience which was the cheese factory/farm. We actually got to see how the whole processing of making Parmigiano Reggiano,from start to finish, which was very enlightening. I have to say their Ricotta cheese is the best I have tasted from all over the world. Next we drove to a family owned DOP balsamic vinegar vineyard where we were able to see the process of making balsamic vinegar. Did you know it takes years and years to make just a small amount of vinegar. Very fascinating to hear and to taste. We got to compare balsamic venegar that isn't DOP and some that is. We were also able to taste the 25 year old, and 50 year old vinegar. This is tightly guarded as it is quite an arduous process, and very, very, time consuming just to get a few bottles out of the 25 and 50+ vinegar. Let's just say it's yummy. Make sure you buy a bottle while you are there. I didn't, and I could kick myself as it's more expensive is the USA from the same vineyard. Then it was off to the place where the prosciutto di Modena is made. That was interesting as well all these ham hocks hanging up, and the process of how the most tasty prosciutto is made. Final stop was to have lunch at a cantina on a sprawling estate. Great views. Did I say FOOD, lots, and lots of Italian food and wine. Very tasty and a good variety of Italian dishes. Then off to our hotel we go. We had our driver drop us off closer to city center so that we could enjoy the city before heading back to our hotel since this was or last night in Italy. She was very happy to oblige us. Such a fun day. I highly recommend this tour.

We had a fabulous tour with Italian Days! We saw how they make Parmegiano Reggiano, Prosciutto and…read moreBalsamic Vinegar. Not only did we get to taste the finished product, the process that goes into making them was very interesting. Alessandro, our tour guide, was excellent at explaining all the steps for each. We had a lovely breakfast after the Parmegiano Reggiano tour. After touring the Prosciutto company, we had a lovely five course meal including wine. I highly recommend Italian Days.

My mom and I had a wonderful tour with Darren. The small group was fantastic and it gave the…read morefeeling of a group of friends exploring a new city. Darren was wonderful and provided excellent recommendations for other places to try in the city and was very knowledgeable. The food was fantastic and everything was well worth the tour price. It was about four hours and a perfect way to get to know the city!

Definitely, worth it!…read more Stumbled upon this tour, while doing some research for my trip. It had great reviews, so I was in. So I reached out to them on very short notice. The booking person, Andrea C. was so kind and went above and beyond to accomated our group so we could go the next day. Our total group size, upon arrival, was 10 total. We arrived at their requested meeting place, central location of the Basilica Petronia. Valentina was our tour guide, and she was so sweet. She gave us lots of fun facts and a little history, which I loved, along with each visit. They have several tours: Bologna Wine Tasting Tortellini Making Experience Cooking Class Sunset Food Tour Classic Tour We did the Classic tour. Includes yummy pasta tasting, with traditional broth, which tasted like a warm hug. We had several stops (dress comfortabld/sneakers), including traditional coffee shop, bread shop, and cheese shop, and farmers market. The group got along well, and enjoyed walking in and out of the cobble stone streets, and stopping to hear from Valentina. Great tour!

I've been to Italy many times before and I have never been so welcomed before as I did whilst…read moreattending a trip organized by italygate. Every details is cured to perfection... They are very detail oriented, yet cozy and flexible. No request is too big or too small for them! We visited the Acetaio Leonardi, the Caseificio Caretti and lastly, we visited Maranello for a dream car rental. The tour was personalized with detailed explanations of everything and we also got to eat in a beautiful emilian restaurant as the locals do.

From the owner: Italygate is an incoming tour operator that offers travel packages and daily excursions in Italy…read more We create and suggest exclusive tours for travelers  who love to socialize with the locals  and melt with natural environment, for people who always seek high quality service, unique emotions and attention to details. Our strength lies in personal attention and high quality services. We provide individual and complete travel solutions to our customers and we attend them, during their stay in Italy, with our detailed knowledge  of the destination.

Andrea / Massimo / Olga, thank you for the hospitality! I appreciate it greatly that you offered to…read morehelp pick me up and drop me off at my Airbnb (which I learned was not at the greatest part of town). I had a great day exploring Bologna. From the food tours (Parmigiano-Reggiano, prosciutto, balsamic vinegar, and all of that wine pairings!) who knew that bad mix vinegar was delicious on vanilla ice cream?! The day ended with a 6 course meal in Modena. The restaurant and scenery was beautiful. The food was of course delicious, you can never have too much pasta. You'll get treated like family here! Andrea and Massimo were always helpful, offering to take pictures and checking to see if we needed anything. See attached pics for a preview of what the day was like! Highly recommend this tour!

Fantastic tour. Totally worth the money. The two of us were picked up early at our hotel, we then…read morepicked up one other couple and were off for a day of food and wine. Started at Prosciuttificio Nini Gianfranco which was as small operation but cranked out a ton of prosciutto hams. We saw the entire production and tasted some various pieces with the owner. Then went to Parmigiano Reggiano in Modena and saw how they make the giant wheels of Parmesan. Also had an opportunity buy a wedge at a fantastic price. Then went to Azienda Agricola Romano Boni where they make some of the finest aged balsamic vinegar in all of Italy. Really nice guy running the place. Then went to Chiarli 1860 winery and saw the operation and tasted various wines including an amazing Lambrusco. Finished with a long lunch with several courses at La Ca' Bianca in Modena. Went upstairs to meet the dream team of ladies making all the various pastas and tortellini. Then a ride in the early evening back to our hotel. Took a ton of pictures, ate all kinds of food and wine and had a great day. Our guide Andrea and driver Ricci were spectacular. Totally worth doing this tour.

Hand-crafted pasta since 1912, the owner Giuseppe has been in the family business since 1950, is…read moreextremely friendly and informative, and made us feel welcome for our free, private tour. During World War II, the Nazis took over the building, a villa, making it their headquarters in 1944. The family had to walk for two days to Florence while the Germans occupied their home. Once the Nazis fled from Allied Forces, they returned home and were the first pastificio (pasta factory) of 36 in Pistoia to resume operations after the war. They are the only remaining pastificio of the original 36. The factory has been somewhat automated since 1950, but many of the pastas are still handmade. They have numerous varieties of pasta, including their signature brands, made with only Tuscan flour from the Pisa area. They recently unveiled a pasta in the shape of Pinocchio characters called "Le Bugie" ("the lies"), the result of a scholarship competition in the local schools. The factory employs only six people, but they produce a wide variety of pastas using old family recipes and processes. The small river behind the factory once spun the turbines beneath the building which allowed them to resume operations so quickly after the war. Special drying units maintain constant temperatures between 32 and 35 degrees Celsius (90-95 Fahrenheit) , ensuring that the pasta does not break, reducing waste, and resulting in quality products. Pastas take from 24 hours to six days to dry depending on the shape. The bronze pasta forms used to give the pastas their various shapes result in a special consistency not found in mass produced brands (De Cecco, Barilla). Their pastas take much less time to cook because the pasta from the brass forms allow the boiling water to saturate the pasta instead of cooking it from the outside. The water they are boiled in also has much more starch then that of the mass produced brands, allowing the water to be used to thicken sauces before serving. The valley in which the villa sits is quiet, green, lush, and much cooler than smoldering Florence, so it was a breath of fresh air, literally, after a month in 100 degree Florence and its wall-to-wall tourists. Giuseppe is working on adding a small gift shop and cafe, culinary demonstrations, and possibly pasta making and cooking classes in the near future, but in the meantime a tour of their operation is a must if visiting Tuscany and tell him CombatCritic sent you! CombatCritic Gives Pastaficio Chelucci Tour The Coveted 10 Bombs Out Of 10 ... IT'S THE BOMB ... More Bombs Are Better!

From the owner: Production of hand-crafted pasta utilising bronze forms as has been done for over one hundred…read moreyears. Our facility has been in the family since 1912 and was confiscated by the Germans during World War II, serving as their headquarters in 1944. We were the first of 37 pasta factories in Pistoia to reopen after the war and are the only remaining open to this day. We offer tours of our facility by appointment.

I did the full tour which included the tour of Parmigiano-Reggiano, prosciutto, and balsamic…read morevinegar and also a lunch. You book this tour through Maestro Travel Experience. They are great and very easy to communicate with. On the day of our tour, our train was delayed due to the snow and rain. We were able to get another train but we would still arrive 10 min late to Parma. I was able to contact Tasty Bus and our guide Silvia. Silvia was able to arrange the bus to pick us up at the station rather than us go to the meeting point. We were so happy we were able to make this tour! Silvia was a great tour guide -- very sweet and knowledgeable. All the places she took us to were wonderful. You got to see all or most of the steps of each process (Parmigiano-Reggiano, prosciutto, traditional balsamic vinegar). If you do the full tour, you have lunch provided. We went to a quaint restaurant called La Tavola del Contado. The food and treats they had was so good.

Davide (in English pronounced Davi-day) is an amazing tour guide! We went to a parmagiana reggiano…read morefacilty where Davide gave us a private tour and knew so much about the cheese... and knew all the people that worked there. We then had a tasting. We road back to the city to an amazing deli where we had all kinds of cured meats. We ordered (apart from the fee) wines and really had an amazing time talking to Davide. He's an amazing host and a great guy!!!!

Recommend!! We booked our tour just a few days before arriving to Parma and were able to customize…read moreit to our budget, interests, and schedule. We communicated with Davide via email then later FB messenger, and he was very flexible, accommodating, and communicative throughout the process. On the day of, it was supposed to rain but fortunately for us, it didn't! We met with Davide at the Cicleteria right next to the Parma station. Davide got us all set up with bikes and we were on our way! He was great at communicating where we were going and gave turn by turn signals to make sure we didn't get lost. He took us slightly outside the city to our first stop, a parmiagiano-reggiano factory. He had his own equipment so you know he's a regular and knows his stuff! Meanwhile, we got geared up in a protective smock and got to learn about every step of making parmigiano-reggiano cheese (and what goes into make the real stuff)! It was entertaining and a wonderful learning experience! We topped off the experience by getting to try differently aged parmigiano-reggiano cheese and became experts in distinguishing the different flavor profiles ourselves! We also had the chance to buy parmesano reggiano cheese from the cheese factory at a cheaper price. They had other food souvenirs as well. We wanted to try real and local balsamic vinegar, but since the bike ride to a balsamic factory would have taken us too long for our half day tour, Davide scheduled a tasting at Antica Salumeria Alimentaria Rastelli. We got to have a balsamic vinegar tasting, as well as taste some amazing burrata, pickled onions, olives, and Parma ham (prosciutto di Parma). So delicious! I would highly recommend Bike Food Stories and having Davide be your Parma guide! Grazie mille, Davide!!

Amazing day with Giacomo exploring Parma. The 3 stops to the cheese factory, Parma Ham, and…read moreBalsamic were all amazing. 10/10 recommend. And great price compared to other tours in the area!

This tour was so incredibly fun and oddly enough, much more affordable than the competition. We…read moreopted for the half day Parma food tour that included a Parma ham factory visit, Parmesan cheese factory tour, sampling and transportation. The cost per person was 59 euro. Each of the sampling rounds also included a small glass of wine- I seemed to really enjoy this extra touch ;) The group meets on the Piazza and takes a safe, air conditioned bus to the two stops. Along the way, our tour guide shared relevant history on the food and region. It was amazing to hear how far back the history goes between both the products and how their production is intertwined. Fun fact: the whey from the cheese is fed to the five million pigs needed each year for the demand of ten million Parma ham legs. One more fun fact: there are 150 Parma ham factories within 20 km. Both of the tastings are generous and offer the opportunity to buy at the end. The beauty of the Parmesan cheese is that it holds well with travel. Our tickets were purchased online the day before the tour. Festivities kicked off at 9:30 AM and wrapped up at 1:30 PM where everything started. Highly recommend for an up close Parma gastronomy experience!