Food markets, pasta and gelato: meet the sfogline ladies!

Let yourself be seduced by colours, tastes and aromas of our local, Italian food! It can’t get any better for foodies then here in Bologna. This is the kingdom of foodies and food lovers all across the world. And officially ratified too, according to all gastronomy critics.

Are you ready to become official citizen of this realm of delicate, dangerously tasty food treasures and wonders!?

I can’t bring you my nonna to be lecturing you about local food, but I promise I will do something even better: I will be leading you all across a walking tour of Bologna city centre to be discovering the best gastronomy treasures of the city and Emilia-Romagna region overall.

Walking gourmet tour of Bologna is 4 hours long.

Tour details

On this tour you shall be discovering the rich, lavish food diet we have in this area of Italy, our finest, traditional food and recipes, the history and making process of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, prosciutto, hand-made pasta and traditional balsamic vinegar. And in the end, of course, it will be your palate being the very last judge!

I know how eager you must be to be trying real Italian food and discovering how we relate to it, so I’ll make sure to be offering you a tour of my selected delicatessen shops and best pasta producers in town!

Some of the most beloved and most sought-for foodstuffs of Italy are typical of this area of the country: from real Parmigiano Reggiano cheese to Prosciutto of Parma, from Modena traditional balsamic vinegar to tortellini and tagliatelle typical of Bologna, selection in this area of Italy is just endless. Be ready to be trying some of the most amazing and beloved treasures of all Italy!

This is the ultimate foodie walking tour in Bologna: stops will be arranged at iconic Medieval Market area as well as Herbs Market area.

At Herbs Market area you will experience the truest Bologna market shopping experience: this is the place we love having our errands into, chit chatting and checking the best stuff the many booths have to offer. I will introduce to local producers, discovering local, seasonal vegetables and fruits, also hitting cheese booth and cold cuts booths.

Later on, we will be strolling across the tiny, narrow alleys of Medieval Market area, where the most incredible number of food and gourmet shops is located, raging from lavish, seasonal vegetables and fruit booths to bakeries and delicatessen shops, coming with the most impressive collections of local sausages, prosciutto, cheese and handmade pasta. Here are the oldest bakeries in town, running ever since 1860, and a bakery founded in 1860. You shall be discovering typical bread and cakes of Bologna.

I will introduce you to lovely sfogline, the renown hand-made pasta ladies: it is them owning the secret of how turning a rich flower-egg dough into delicious pasta ready to be boiled and served. In the past, every lady here in Bologna used to be mastering her rolling pin in order to be changing pastry into tortellini, tagliatelle, tortelloni and lasagne. Nowadays, it is sfogline ladies being in charge of the old tradition, making the dough as large and extensive as possible, even as large as the whole table, mastering skilled techniques.

Of course, you will be trying by yourself folding down some tortellini, challenging the ladies themselves! But don’t worry: they are awfully nice and can’t wait to be showing you how to do it! They will provide you a pasta lesson, and you may have some real treat at the end of it.

I am often asked if I know where best gelato in Bologna is. I sure know where it is, since I am proud to announce I tried all gelaterias in town. And I will be leading you directly over there, at a facility having been scoring many awards for its lavish, rich, seductive gelato, in the past!

Handmade pasta and gelato tastings may be provided, and they come strongly recommended!

Costs covering possible pasta lesson and tastings, as well as gelato tastings, are not included into the tour fare.