Montechiarugolo Takes the Spotlight: Emilia Romagna’s Gem Prepares for the 2025 Edition! Travel Expo

In the heart of Emilia-Romagna’s Food Valley, between Parma and Reggio Emilia, lies Montechiarugolo — a small town most travellers drive past without stopping. That is beginning to change. The announcement that Montechiarugolo has been selected to represent the entire Emilia-Romagna region at the 2025 Travel Expo is a significant moment for the local community, and a useful signal for travellers who prefer authentic, unhurried experiences over the well-worn itineraries of mass tourism.

Emilia-Romagna Beyond the Headlines

Emilia-Romagna is one of Italy’s most rewarding regions for travellers — and one of its most misunderstood. International visitors tend to concentrate in Bologna, Parma, and Rimini, bypassing the smaller towns and countryside that hold much of the region’s character. Yet it is precisely in these places — the hilltop villages, the riverside hamlets, the medieval fortresses surrounded by vineyards — that the slower, more genuine version of Emilian life persists.

The region is built on its food designations: Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena, Culatello di Zibello. These are not marketing labels but the product of specific landscapes, specific climates, and centuries of accumulated knowledge. For travellers wanting to understand where these products come from, the countryside around Parma is the right place to start. Our guide to the gourmet region of Emilia-Romagna provides the broader context.

Montechiarugolo: What to Expect

Montechiarugolo sits in the flat agricultural plain southeast of Parma, where the Enza river marks the boundary between the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia. The town is small and unpretentious, shaped by farming, and by the castle that has defined its skyline since the 15th century.

The Castello di Montechiarugolo is the town’s centrepiece — a well-preserved medieval fortress with cylindrical towers and internal courtyards that once housed the Simonetta and Farnese noble families. Today it hosts cultural events, exhibitions, and guided visits that bring the structure’s layered history to life. The surrounding countryside offers walking and cycling paths along the Enza river, riverside parks, and agricultural landscapes largely unchanged from a century ago.

Food and Gastronomy in the Food Valley

Montechiarugolo sits within the heart of what Emilia-Romagna promotes as the “Food Valley” — the corridor of territory between Parma and Reggio Emilia that produces a concentration of DOP and IGP products found nowhere else in the world. Within a short drive of the town you can visit a Parmigiano Reggiano dairy, a prosciutto curing facility, and a Lambrusco producer. Local trattorias serve handmade pasta, culatello, and seasonal dishes using ingredients sourced almost entirely from the surrounding fields.

For travellers using Montechiarugolo as a base or a stop, the nearby city of Parma offers the widest range of food experiences in the province. See our guide to planning your trip to Parma, or the dedicated guide to the best Parmigiano Reggiano dairies to visit and Parma ham factories open to visitors.

Montechiarugolo at Travel Expo 2025

Being selected to represent Emilia-Romagna at the 2025 Travel Expo gives Montechiarugolo a platform it has not previously had at international level. The event brings together travel professionals, journalists, and tourism boards from across Europe and beyond, offering smaller destinations the chance to connect directly with operators and media who shape travel trends.

For Montechiarugolo, the opportunity is both symbolic and practical. Symbolically, it positions the town alongside Emilia-Romagna’s better-known cities as a legitimate travel destination in its own right. Practically, the exposure could accelerate the development of visitor infrastructure — guided tours, accommodation, culinary experiences — that would allow the town to welcome a wider range of international visitors.

Why Montechiarugolo Is Worth a Visit

• The castle: One of the best-preserved medieval fortresses in the Parma province, open for guided visits and cultural events throughout the year.
• Countryside and nature: Cycling and walking paths along the Enza river, surrounded by Po Valley agricultural landscapes and Apennine foothills in the distance.
• Food Valley access: Within easy reach of Parma’s Parmigiano Reggiano dairies, prosciutto factories, and Lambrusco producers — the most concentrated food-production corridor in Italy.
• Strategic location: Midway between Parma and Reggio Emilia, easily combined with day trips across the region or as part of a longer Food Valley itinerary.
• Authentic scale: Small enough that visitors are treated as guests rather than tourists — the trattorias, the market, and the local events are genuinely local.

How to Get There

Montechiarugolo is approximately 15 kilometres southeast of Parma, reachable by car in under 20 minutes via the Via Emilia. Public bus services connect the town to Parma’s main station. The nearest airport is Parma (Verdi Airport), with connections to several Italian and European cities. Bologna Guglielmo Marconi Airport, approximately 90 kilometres east, offers the widest range of international connections and is a common gateway for the region.

Montechiarugolo is best visited as part of a wider Food Valley itinerary rather than as a standalone day trip. Combined with Parma, a Parmigiano Reggiano dairy, and the Apennine foothills to the south, it makes for one of the most genuinely rewarding routes in Emilia-Romagna. For inspiration, see our guide to the best food day trip from Bologna.