Private Food Tour Parma: Cheese Factory & Ham Tasting

Taste Parma's two most famous products where they're made, not on a plate

A private half-day food tour in Parma takes you to a Parmigiano Reggiano cheese dairy and a Parma Ham factory, where you taste both products at their source and learn how they're made. The tour includes hotel pickup, a professional guide in English or Italian, and ends with lunch and local wines at a traditional restaurant. Duration is approximately 4 hours.

Step-by-step itinerary

Discover Parma's culinary traditions

• Visit Parmigiano Reggiano cheese dairy
• Learn cheese making process
• Enter cheese ageing rooms
• Taste cheeses of different ages
• Travel through Parma countryside
• Visit Parma Ham factory
• Learn ham selection and ageing
• Taste Parma Ham and cold cuts
• Enjoy local products and wines at restaurant

The experience

You start from your Parma hotel or preferred pickup point and travel by private vehicle through the countryside to a Parmigiano Reggiano dairy. Inside, you walk through ageing rooms holding around 5,000 cheese wheels stacked in rows, each one aging toward the sharp, crystalline texture that makes this cheese distinctive. You taste wheels of different ages to feel how the flavor deepens and sharpens over time. The dairy shows you every step from milk to wheel: the natural process with no additives, the precise temperature control, the turning and salting that builds the rind.

Next is a Parma Ham factory, where you follow the meat from selection through the months-long aging process. You taste the ham itself (the sweetness is immediate and different from any cured ham you've had elsewhere) along with other local cold cuts. By the end of these two stops, you've seen how both products earn their reputation and their price.

The tour ends at a typical local restaurant where you sit down to a meal built entirely from the territory's products. You eat what you've just tasted at their source, paired with local wines like Lambrusco and Malvasia. Your guide, who speaks English or Italian, stays with you throughout and handles all transport. If you choose the option without transport, you arrange your own way to and from the factory visits.

Options for this experience

2 options

Guide in English or Italian09:00

Guide in English or Italian09:00

You pick the guide language when booking. Options with the same name differ in details you'll see when you pick a date.

You see the exact price of each option when you check availability.See dates & prices

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and drop-off from your Parma accommodation (or your preferred pickup point in the city).
• private vehicle transport when the transport option is selected.
• professional guide speaking English or Italian.
• tastings at both the Parmigiano Reggiano dairy and Parma Ham factory.
• lunch and local wines at a traditional restaurant.

Days and timesDaily · 09:00

Ages5 to 91 years · Under 5 — No ticket type: can't be added to a booking

Meeting point and pickupPickup optional · ends where it starts36 pickup points to choose from.Meeting point, per the operator: “Your guide will wait for you in front of the Roadhouse Restaurant, which is just outside Parma highway exit.”

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 12 days ago

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Maestro Travel Experience

Is this one for you?Book with transport if you're staying in Parma without a car. Book without transport if you're driving yourself or prefer to meet the guide directly at the factories.

Traveler reviews

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Top questions

What languages is the guide in?

Live guide in English and Italian.

What exactly happens inside a Parmigiano Reggiano dairy?

You enter the ageing rooms where thousands of cheese wheels sit in rows, then taste wheels of different ages to see how the flavor changes as it matures. The dairy walks you through the natural making process from milk to finished wheel, with no additives involved.

Is the Parma Ham tasting just a small sample, or do you get a real taste of it?

You taste the ham itself, enough to feel its distinctive sweetness, along with other local cold cuts produced in the same region. The factory shows you how the meat is selected and aged before you taste it.

Does the tour include a meal, or just tastings at the factories?

The tour ends with lunch at a traditional local restaurant where you eat a full meal made from the territory's products, paired with local wines like Lambrusco and Malvasia. The factory tastings are separate from this meal.

How does the transport option work?

You can book the tour with private vehicle transport included, which means pickup from your Parma hotel and drop-off after lunch, or without transport if you prefer to arrange your own way to the factory visits and restaurant.

How long does the whole tour take?

The tour runs approximately 4 hours from pickup to drop-off, including both factory visits, tastings, and the restaurant meal.