A cycling holiday in Emilia Romagna
We have never been on a cycling holiday before and I am happy to say that this 8 day trip was the perfect introduction to a cycling holiday.
The route started in Bologna and we cycled to Modena, Reggia Emilia and Parma. There are a number of companies that run similar tours and having looked at a few we chose Abicyclette which are a french based company. They were excellent in all aspects of the trip – good price, quick and comprehensive communication before hand and exemplary coordination during the trip i.e. excellent rented bikes, clear GPS routing and information about the places we were visiting. The rented bikes for our holiday were supplied by Cycle Europe who presumably work with Abicyclette. We opted for the premium bikes which were lovely to cycle and better still had very comfortable saddles! All the routes we cycled can be found on the link below. You will need the Ride with GPS site to look at them which has a free version
We stayed in 4 star hotels in Bologna and Reggia Emilia and 3 star hotels in Modena and Parma They were perfectly suited to our needs and in good locations
Obvioulsy one of the joys of a cycling holiday in a gastronomic paradise was that one had no guilt about eating vast amounts of delicious pasta every night washed down with copious amounts of delicious wine – the perfect combination!
Day One - Bologna
Bologna has a great feel to it. It has a beautiful central square – the Piazza Maggiore and a sumptuous food market the Quadrilatero. There are a number of places to visit which are well outlined in the blog The Perfect One Day in Bologna.
For myself the most extraordinary place was the Archiginnasio Palace which is the site of the worlds oldest university. It is also the place of an anatomical theatre which dates back to 1637 and with my medical hat was absolutely fascinating.
There are a host of excellent restaurants. We had lunch in Osteria Fortuna where the pasta is being made in the front of the restaurant. This is a simple osteria but the pasta was delicious.
Supper was a spectacular affair at Da Cesari. This had a great traditional feel to it and we had a gorgeous meal here – the star performer being green ravioli stuffed with rabbit with melted butter and smoked goat ricotta cheese. You will need to book to get a table
A representative from Cycle Europe met us at our hotel in the afternoon to give us our bikes. They were very efficient and helpful throughout our whole trip.
Day Two- Bologna to Modena
What was striking about the whole of our cycling trip was how fantastic the cycle paths are in this part of the world. In the towns virtually all the cycling was on cycle paths and in the countryside if we were on a main road there was almost always a dedicated cycle lane or we were on small secondary roads where there was virtually no traffic which compared to cycling in the UK was an absolute delight.
The first day cycling was 67km with 180m of ascent which was very civilised. On the way we went through Spilamberto which was a pretty village where we had a panini for lunch. The village also had a museum about Balsamic vinegar which was fascinating and well worth a visit.
We arrived in good time in Modena to sniff out a good restaurant and enjoy a welcome bottle of Lambrusco in the Piazza Grande.
Moderna is small but has a beautiful old centre. Dining again was a joy and we thoroughly enjoyed our supper at the Antica Trattoria Cervetta where the star performer was an enormous breaded pork cutlet.
Day Three - Cycle Loop to Castelvetro
Today was a cycle into the hills. The route was 65km with 397m of elevation which was a bit harder than day one but the climbs were not too severe. This was a pretty cycle into the hills and to the medieval town of Castelvetro with its castle. An ideal place for coffee. We then had lunch in Vignola another enchanting village where we had a most surprising lunch at Altrove Diablolab. It looked like a standard cafe but we had the most delicious plate of cold roast beef with vegetables. It definitely put a spring in our step for the last part of our cycle.
Back in Modena we had a well deserved ice cream at Gioelia Cremeria before more Lambrusco and another excellent meal this time at Da Danilo where we had tortellini al broda which is a famous dish in the region – it did not disappoint.
In addition to the wonderful feel of Modena a special mention must go to the food market. I have been to many food markets in my time – but the market here is up there with the best. Obviously there is balsamic vinegar in abundance which is truly delicious, also the vegetable stalls were works of art, the little bakeries were full of little packets of deliciousness as well as wonderful Parmigiano cheese.
Day Four - Modena to Reggia nell'Emilia
This was another gentle flat cycle. It was 56km long with 172m of ascent. The whole trip is a bit of a blur as it poured with rain the whole way! We were very relieved to have all the cycle paths as it would have been a nightmare trip if we had needed to contend with traffic as well.
However there was a highlight which was a visit to a Balsamic vinegar factory. This was a trip arranged by Abicyclette and took place at Acetaia Cavalli which was a small family run business. I must confess I was completely ignorant about how Balsamic vinegar was made and it was fascinating to learn about the process and to sample the vinegar which was delicious.
We arrived very wet in Reggia Emilia happily to our best hotel of the trip La Posta. This has been a hotel since 1515 and had some stunning old parts to it.
Having dried out we went in search of food and drink and came across Macramè which served all our needs – a very laid back wine bar and a very good restaurant where we decided we needed to sample the local speciality of tagliatelle with a Bolognaise meat ragout – much nicer than the spaghetti bolognaise one would have at home
Day Five - Loop out of Reggia nell'Emilia
We had two choices today a short loop of 32km with 146m of ascent or a harder one of 63km with 822m of ascent. We did a combination of the two and cycled 42km with 250m of ascent – which was enough for us. Our route took us into wide open countryside on quiet roads which was very peaceful. There were little climbs on the route but we avoided the more challenging climbs up to Canossa and Rossena castles.
We returned home to enjoy a wander around Reggia Emilia which is another historic town with a pretty old part and lots of pretty Piazzas.
Supper was an extraordinary affair. We went to the Canossa restaurant a traditional restaurant which I think it’s fair to say specialised in meat! It had the usual options of homemade pasta but the start turn which I would say about 90% of the clients had was the meat plate. This was a giant Carvery with a huge meat trolley where you were given large chunks of a wide selection of delicious meat and sausage – filling but delicious!
Day Six - Reggia nell'Emilia to Parma
Todays cycle was 44km with 191m of ascent so very civilised. Again lots of cycle paths and open countryside to arrive in Parma in time for lunch.
Parma is small but packs quite a punch – charming old town but it was the church’s that took my breath away. We started with the Basilica di Santa Maria della Steccata which was pretty impressive as was the Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista but Parma Cathedral was breathtaking. The interior is covered in beautiful frescoes – the most impressive ones having been done by Correggio in the late 1520’s.
Dining was a joy in Parma and we were spoiled for choice. Lunch was excellent panini’s in Da Pepèn which had great vibe -we felt that it had to be parma ham as a filling – excellent but the artichoke pie was also wonderful. We went upmarket for our supper in La Forchetta where we had our best meal of the holiday. Wonderful souffle of parmigiano to start followed by tagliatelle with cepes cooked in butter – just perfect.
Day Seven - Loop out of Parma to Torrechiara Castle
Todays cycle should have been 44km with 298m of elevation but we added a trip to a Parmigiana factory in Noceto as well which increased our route to 60km with 308m of ascent.
The cycle up to Torrechiara was very pretty and it was good to have a climb to finish our week’s cycling.
The visit to Casearia Corradi Parmigiano cheese producer was one of the highlights of the holiday. This was a four generation producer and we were were taken round by the daughter and her father. The tour through the whole process was fascinating and our numerous questions were all answered with patience and a smile. The whole trip was then finished off with tasting of Parmigiano of various ages which was a treat. We left loaded down with delicious cheese for the rest of our trip.
We then cycled to Torrechiara castle which was an imposing fortress overlooking the surrounding countryside. We then sped home alongside the river to have another superb ice cream at Ciacco.
For our last supper we went to Gallo d’Oro another friendly restaurant we branched out from pasta and had a lovely mushroom risotto
Day Eight - Return to Bologna and home
We left the bikes at the Button hotel to be collected by Cycle Europe and coght the train back to Parma whihc takes about one hour.
Before our flight home we had time to have a last stroll around Bologna – enjoy a coffee at the Piazza Maggiore and happily one last meal! We finished on a high at Ciacco Ristorante which is a fish based restaurant in Bologna. Star turn there was the gnocchi in a monkfish sauce.
This holiday is a perfect introduction to cycling holiday. Having our luggage taken from place to place was a very welcome luxury and the whole organisation of the trip made for a very relaxing holiday. The terrain is quite easy but you cycle far enough to build up an appetite and the places you visit and the food is just sensational.