Secret Emilia-Romagna: 10 Places That Aren't Bologna or Rimini

Emilia-Romagna is the Italian region stretched long as a frontier line: from the Po Valley to the Adriatic, from the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines to the Ferrara coast. Bologna and Rimini pull the crowds; the rest — Ferrara, Piacenza, Comacchio, the Malatesta villages — is first-rate and far less trodden.

1. Renaissance Ferrara

Ferrara (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) is the ideal Renaissance city, drawn by Biagio Rossetti in his celebrated "Addizione Erculea." Castello Estense rises inside a moat still filled with water, Palazzo dei Diamanti bristles with its 8,500 diamond-cut ashlars, and Palazzo Schifanoia holds the famed Salone dei Mesi, frescoed by Francesco del Cossa, Cosmè Tura and other masters of the Ferrarese school.

2. Comacchio and the Po Delta

Comacchio, "the little Venice," is a lattice of canals and brick bridges (the Trepponti), a town of eels and the storied culture of the valli. The Emilian Po Delta reaches out to the Comacchio salt pans and the Abbey of Pomposa (ninth century, with its Giottoesque frescoes).

Instead of Venice: Comacchio →

3. Ravenna and the Byzantine mosaics

Ravenna counts eight UNESCO monuments: the Basilica of San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Sant'Apollinare in Classe. Here you find the finest Byzantine mosaics in the West. A single combined ticket covers the sites, and booking ahead lets you skip the line.

4. The Motor Valley (Modena and beyond)

It isn't only the Ferrari Museum in Maranello. The Motor Valley takes in the Ducati Museum in Bologna, the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena, the Pagani factory in San Cesario, and Lamborghini at Sant'Agata Bolognese — plus the workshops of small restorers (Maglioli, Uonna) around Modena.

5. Piacenza and Guercino

Piacenza, the least-visited of the Emilian capitals, has Palazzo Farnese (with canvases by Guercino, including his cycle of the Fasti Farnesiani), a Romanesque cathedral, and the Basilica of San Savino. Nearby: Bobbio with the Abbey of San Colombano (seventh century), the Ponte Gobbo, and the Val Trebbia — the valley a famous, never fully verified quotation attributes to Hemingway as "the most beautiful in the world."

6. Secret Parma, beyond the Parmigiano

Parma isn't exactly "secret," but the Baptistery (octagonal, faced in pink Verona marble) and the Camera di San Paolo (frescoed by Correggio) are routinely skipped. The Duomo holds Correggio's Assumption, one of the masterpieces of Mannerism. Add Fontanellato with the Rocca Sanvitale (frescoes by Parmigianino).

7. The Tuscan-Emilian Apennines

The Tuscan-Emilian Apennine National Park, a UNESCO MAB biosphere reserve, rolls out ridgelines, glacial lakes (Lago Santo, Lago Scaffaiolo) and dense woodland. Set up base in Corniglio (PR) or Cerreto Laghi (RE). Signature trails include the Via del Ducato and the Alta Via dei Parchi.

8. The Malatesta towns: San Leo, Verucchio, Santarcangelo

In the Romagnol Montefeltro, San Leo (the fortress where Cagliostro died), Verucchio (a Malatesta stronghold) and Santarcangelo di Romagna (with its tuff-cut caves and tight-woven old town). Rimini is for the beach; these places are for the history.

9. Brisighella and the three hills

Brisighella (in the province of Ravenna), one of the borghi più belli d'Italia ("most beautiful villages in Italy"), is known for the Via degli Asini: a raised, covered fourteenth-century street with no equal in the world. Above the village rise three hills, each crowned by the Rocca, the Clock Tower and the Sanctuary of Monticino. Thermal baths, DOP extra-virgin olive oil.

10. Modena's Duomo and Piazza

Modena's Piazza Grande (Duomo + Torre Ghirlandina + Palazzo Comunale) is a UNESCO site. The Romanesque cathedral by Wiligelmo (eleventh century) is among the loveliest in Italy. The compact centro storico deserves a full afternoon — and Modenese cooking (gnocco fritto, a fried dough puff; tortellini in brodo, in broth) is without rival.

When to come?

April–June and September to mid-October for cities and hills. Summer: the Romagna Riviera is pricey and packed, but the Apennines are perfect. Winter: Bologna and the Emilian cities under snow are quietly magical.

How to plan it

A weekend: Ferrara + Comacchio, or Modena + Motor Valley, or Ravenna + Brisighella. A full week: Bologna as base + Emilian loop (Modena–Parma–Piacenza) + Romagna (Ravenna + the Malatesta towns).