Discover Verdi’s Parma

Finally, the erudite, elegant, compact northern city of Parma can beat its drum as Italy’s 2020 Capital of Culture. Here is a clever foil to the tourist thrums of Venice, the fashion snappiness of Milan and the blousy beauty of Florence. Parma is small but punchy; a city where perfectly preserved medieval and baroque buildings sit side by side with a staggering modern Renzo Piano auditorium and Mario Botta’s solemn pool at Piazzale della Pace.

Steps away is the Galleria Nazionale, with its Renaissance roll call of Leonardo, Parmigianino and Canaletto. And the city's ornate churches have an embarrassment of frescoes and trompe l’oeil. At the Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta, Correggio’s cupola of the Assumption is a neck-craning wonder. Next door is the octagonal baptistery, an 800-year-old ode to the pale pink marble of Verona. All this and you have barely registered 1,000 steps on your FitBit.

Music of course also plays an integral part to the identity of the place. This was, after all, where Verdi was born and was the city he called home for much of his life. The 19th-century Teatro Regio, often lauded as the true birthplace of opera, is also one of the loveliest theatres in Italy – and you have to book well in advance to secure a pair of tickets for a performance in its gilded auditorium (though there are daytime tours too, just for a peek).

In this part of the country, Emilia-Romagna, food is crucial to its cultural identity; easily as revered as the history and the art. Parma is Italy’s poster boy for the pig: prosciutto, salami, culatello and coppa grace every table, alongside vast aged wheels of Parmesan cheese. The traditional trattorias, street-side cafes, wine bars and delis all stick to the status quo, serving rich, comforting, winter-warming bowls of festive anolini in brodo and lasagne made with green spinach pasta layers. And while old favourite restaurants like cosy Cocchi (ristorantecocchi.it) are deliciously reliable, places such as Parizzi (ristoranteparizzi.it) and Inkiostro (ristoranteinkiostro.it) are pushing the culinary boundaries. Meanwhile Alma (alma.scuolacucina.it), the best cooking school in the country, is just out of town. For the Capital of Culture is not Parma’s only trumpet-tooting title. This was the first Italian spot to be designated a UNESCO Creative City for Gastronomy, after all.

Plus, don’t miss a visit to Fidenza Village, a member of The Bicester Collection, sitting in beautiful Parma.