My wife and I took the full day tour with Michelle. She was a pleasure to spend a day with as well as knowledgeable and informative on the food specialties and history of Emilio-Romagna. We also enjoyed the lunch stop at a lovely restaurant at a country side spot we would otherwise never have visited. Highly recommended.
I cannot express how awesome the day we spent with Michelle was. There were four of us and we had our own rental, so she met us at our hotel and we took off for a day in the countryside.
She gave a lovely tour of the Caseificio San Lucio factory, and we enjoyed a cheese tasting. Each of us packing up 2kgs of parmigiano reggiano to bring home to Canada. It keeps well, and you don't have to worry about it spoiling before you get home, which is awesome.
We then drove through the valley and hills of the Parma province, to the Conti Parma ham plant in the Parma Hills. It was a very interesting tour. We had no idea how involved the process was for producing the Parma Ham. The views on the drive to the Plant were spectacular.
After, we drove out to Azienda Viticola Carra di Casatico for lunch. The food and wine were excellent.
Michelle was a fantastic tour guide. She has a breadth of knowledge, and was quite funny!
My group and I were in Parma and we were given Michelle’s contact info. On very short notice she coordinated a tour for us as well as helped us navigate through some transportation issues. She was a blessing. The tour itself was excellent and she provided excellent historical background making the tour very interesting. I highly recommend Michelle and Artemilia Guided Tours.
We took a full-day guided Food Tour with Michelle to visit a Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese factory, a Parma ham factory, and a traditional balsamic vinegar maker. We are a young couple that normally avoids guided tours, but as two "foodies" we thought this would be a great opportunity to make the most of our visit to Parma and learn more about these famous ingredients. We're really happy that we did! This was one of the highlights of our two-week trip to Italy.
Michelle was a great guide, with in-depth knowledge of the region, history, and all topics covering the visit. Her communication was very clear and she constantly adjusted her discussion according to our interests and questions. She had full access to the different factories and we were able to tour the places at our leisure, seeing for example where the cheese is aged and even having a go of "evaluating" the cheese based on a small hammer and the sound the cheese makes. Similarly we saw all the different rooms of the ham factory and acetaia.
We had excellent and informative tastings at the cheese factory and acetaia. We also stopped for a delicious lunch (and great value) at a remote agriturismo where we also sampled local ham. At each site, there was also the option (but no pressure) to buy the local produce with very sensible pricing.
Michelle also organized a car&driver for the day. (She gave us the option of renting a car for the day, but having driven earlier in Italy, we found having a driver to be the most relaxing option.) The driver was a real pro, and this really let us focus on the visit and Michelle's stories.
All in all, highly recommended! I also definitely suggest including the vinegar factory (acetaia), this was one of the most interesting stops and a completely new experience. You will never think of the same of balsamic vinegar!
My girlfriend and I had a great day with our wonderful guide Michelle. She was so friendly and talked so pasionnated about the Parmesan cheese, prosciutto ham and the balsamic vinegar, and a wonderful lunch at an even more wonderful place maked this day unforgettable. Thanks al lot Michelle, it was a great pleasure to have you in our car!!
