Parma travel guide
Correggio's dome, Verdi's opera and the home of prosciutto
A prosperous Emilian city between Bologna and Milan, home of Parma ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano, with Correggio's painted dome in the cathedral and a demanding opera house. Visit from April to June or in September and October, when Festival Verdi runs. Two days is about right. Prices are high, and Schengen rules give many visitors 90 days.
Between Bologna and Milan on the Emilian plain, Parma lends its name to two great Italian foods: Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano-Reggiano. It is the second city of Emilia-Romagna. A stream of the same name splits it in two, with the Oltretorrente district on the west bank.
Art is the other draw. In the Duomo, Correggio's Assumption of the Virgin swirls across the inside of the dome, and the octagonal baptistery beside it, designed by Benedetto Antelami in pink Verona marble, seems to change colour with the light. The Palazzo della Pilotta holds the National Gallery and the wooden Teatro Farnese. Opera matters here too. Teatro Regio audiences are notoriously hard to please, and Festival Verdi fills October.
Eat as the locals do. Start with a plate of prosciutto and aged Parmigiano, then tortelli d'erbetta, pasta parcels filled with greens and ricotta. Around 6pm Via Farini fills with people drinking an aperitivo outside its bars, often with a free buffet. The historic centre is compact and flat, and plenty of residents get around by bike.
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Renaissance frescoes, an opera house, a pink marble baptistery and serious food.
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Best time to visit Parma
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Mild days and, in October, Festival Verdi at the Teatro Regio.
Hot and humid on the plain; save the walking for the evening.
Foggy and cold at times, but the opera season and warming bowls of pasta make up for it.
Festival Verdi runs through October and Teatro Regio performances sell out, so buy tickets early.
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Getting there
Train from Bologna or Milan
Parma's Giuseppe Verdi airport (PMF), 3 km north-west of the centre, serves only a few routes, so most visitors fly into Bologna (BLQ) instead. A shuttle links Bologna airport with Bologna Centrale, and from there trains reach Parma in about an hour.
- Train from Bologna
- About 1 hour
- Train from Milan
- About an hour on the faster services
- Station to centre
- An easy walk; the bus station is next door
- Milan is about an hour away on the faster Frecciarossa and Frecciabianca services and less than two hours by road on the A1 motorway.
- Car hire desks operate at the small airport just outside town.
- Do not drive into the centre: an access control system admits only tagged local vehicles, though it is usually switched off after midnight. The largest garage is behind Teatro Due.
Where to stay
Piazza Garibaldi, the Duomo quarter or across the Parma stream
Hotels fill up for trade fairs at the Fiere di Parma and again for Festival Verdi in October, so book well ahead in those weeks. The rest of the year you can sleep almost anywhere inside the ring of boulevards and walk to the sights.
- Piazza Garibaldi and Via Farini
- The middle of everything, with the tourist office and the aperitivo bars a minute away; expect street noise until late
- Around Piazza Duomo
- Quiet lanes behind the cathedral and baptistery, among the most atmospheric addresses in town
- Oltretorrente
- Across the stream near the Parco Ducale; residential, with neighbourhood trattorie and a short walk over the bridges to the Pilotta
- Near the station
- Practical for day trips by train, about ten minutes on foot from the Pilotta, but plainer and quieter in the evening
- What changes from street to street is the mood: shops and aperitivo noise near the main square, cobbled quiet behind the cathedral, local life on the far bank of the stream.
- With a car, choose a hotel that can register your plate for the restricted zone or that has a garage outside it.
Getting around
Bicycles, Mi Muovo buses and taxis by the Palazzo del Governatore
Almost everything worth seeing in Parma lies within a short, flat walk of Piazza Garibaldi, and the Oltretorrente across the stream is only a little further. Bicycles are everywhere, because the terrain is level and locals use them for daily errands. Taxis wait at the station and across the street from the Palazzo del Governatore.
- Walking
- Duomo, Pilotta and Teatro Regio are close together
- Bicycle
- The way many locals get around the flat streets
- Taxis
- Ranks at the station and opposite the Palazzo del Governatore
- For buses, the regional Mi Muovo system includes a 12-trip ticket that suits short stays.
- Driving is the hard option: the centre is closed to unregistered vehicles and parking is tight, so use the garages on the edge.
- Buy the Mi Muovo Multibus ticket if you expect to take several buses in a short stay.
Know before you go
What makes Parma worth the trip, and what catches visitors out.
Why travelers love it
- Correggio's dome in the Duomo, an upward rush of figures into the light.
- The pink marble baptistery at different times of day, as its colour shifts.
- Aperitivo on Via Farini around 6pm, drink in hand on the pavement.
Good to know
- Driving into the centre is restricted to registered vehicles; use a garage outside, such as the large one behind Teatro Due.
- Teatro Regio shows sell out, especially during Festival Verdi in October, so book early.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Parma, month by month
Hotels fill early in October for Festival Verdi. Compare that month with the rest of Parma's year in the averages below.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Parma (Arpae Emilia-Romagna, via Wikipedia).
Correggio's dome, the Teatro Farnese and the Regio
Two days in Parma mix art and food. Day one covers the cathedral with Correggio's dome, the pink marble baptistery, the Palazzo della Pilotta and the Teatro Farnese, then aperitivo on Via Farini. Day two is a long food lunch, a walk in the Oltretorrente and an evening at the Teatro Regio.
Day one, morning: start at Piazza Duomo. Inside the cathedral, crane your neck at Correggio's Assumption in the dome, then step across to the octagonal baptistery and watch how the pink marble changes as the sun moves. The Romanesque Bishop's Palace closes the square.
Afternoon: walk to the Palazzo della Pilotta for the National Gallery and the wooden Teatro Farnese. Evening: join the aperitivo crowd on Via Farini around 6pm, then go on to dinner.
Day two: give the morning to food, perhaps a long lunch of prosciutto, aged Parmigiano and tortelli d'erbetta. In the afternoon, cross the stream to wander the streets of the Oltretorrente, where the city feels more residential. In the evening, try for a seat at the Teatro Regio. In October, plan the whole trip around Festival Verdi, and in football season you could catch Parma at the Stadio Ennio Tardini, 500 m from the centre.
Culatello, aged Parmigiano and tortelli d'erbetta
Parma's two famous products are Parmigiano-Reggiano, aged from 18 to more than 30 months, and Prosciutto di Parma, cured at least 10 months. Also order culatello and tortelli d'erbetta with butter and cheese, drink Lambrusco, and from about 6pm join the Via Farini aperitivo, where a drink often comes with a buffet.
Parma's food is its fame, and two products lead. Parmigiano-Reggiano is made from the milk of cows fed on grass and hay from the surrounding fields, then aged from 18 months to more than 30; ask for pieces of different ages side by side. Prosciutto di Parma cures for at least 10 months in carefully controlled rooms and is sliced paper thin, eaten alone or, in summer, over ripe melon. Ask also for culatello, the prized cured pork from the lowlands along the Po.
On the pasta side, order tortelli d'erbetta, filled with greens and ricotta and dressed with butter and cheese. Wash it down with a glass of Lambrusco, the sparkling red of Emilia.
The local drinking ritual is the aperitivo. From about 6pm, the bars of Via Farini spill onto the street, and buying a Martini or an Aperol spritz usually brings a free buffet with it, enough to stand in for a light supper.
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How we research our Parma travel guide
Parma's restricted traffic zone, train links and Festival Verdi dates are updated when they change, using the Comune di Parma website and Italia.it.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of ParmaItalia.itUNESCO World Heritage Centre
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick answers to the questions travelers ask most before visiting Parma.
Getting there
Usually. Bologna (BLQ) has far more routes; a shuttle runs to Bologna Centrale, and trains from there take about an hour. The Verdi airport has only a handful of flights.
Parma's Giuseppe Verdi airport (PMF), 3 km north-west of the centre, serves only a few routes, so most visitors fly into Bologna (BLQ) instead. A shuttle links Bologna airport with Bologna Centrale, and from there trains reach Parma in about an hour.
General
Yes, and with the Frecciarossa trains that stop here they are the quickest option, at about an hour. Slower regional trains on the same line take longer but stop at more towns.
Easily. Head south past the Pilotta and you reach the main square in around 15 minutes on flat streets.
Ask for a tasting of different ages, from about 18 months to more than 30, ideally alongside a few slices of prosciutto or culatello.
The Duomo with Correggio's painted dome, Antelami's pink marble baptistery and the Palazzo della Pilotta with the Teatro Farnese.
The large garage behind Teatro Due is the usual choice, since cameras keep unregistered cars out of the centre. The controls are normally switched off after midnight.
On Via Farini, where bars fill from around 6pm and often set out a buffet with your drink.
The district on the west bank of the Parma stream; the name means the other side of the stream.
Almost everything worth seeing in Parma lies within a short, flat walk of Piazza Garibaldi, and the Oltretorrente across the stream is only a little further. Bicycles are everywhere, because the terrain is level and locals use them for daily errands. Taxis wait at the station and across the street from the Palazzo del Governatore.
Timing & weather
Every October, celebrating Giuseppe Verdi with opera at the Teatro Regio.
The best time to visit Parma is Apr to Jun, Sep to Oct. Mild weather for walking, and October brings Festival Verdi.
- Best overall: April - June, September - October (Mild days and, in October, Festival Verdi at the Teatro Regio)
- Summer: July - August (Hot and humid on the plain; save the walking for the evening)
- Winter: November - March (Foggy and cold at times, but the opera season and warming bowls of pasta make up for it)
Stay & facilities
Yes. One day covers the Duomo, the baptistery and the Pilotta; the second leaves time for a long lunch, the Oltretorrente and an evening at the Teatro Regio.
Visa & documents
Schengen rules apply in Italy. Citizens of the EU and of many other countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records non-EU travelers' fingerprints and a photo at the border.
Health & safety
Violent crime against visitors to Italy is rare. Pickpocketing is the main problem, especially on buses and metros in Rome (bus 64 is notorious), at Roman and Florentine sights, and at Termini and Naples Centrale stations. Wear your bag across your body and zip it, and use only licensed white taxis or official ride apps.
