Walk along alleys smelling fresh-baked bread, stopping by a market and tasting countryside products. Then why resist the temptation to try a dessert in a pastry shop or drink a glass of wine along shopping routes? The cities from the Circuito offer the chance to appreciate delicious food, immersed in history, in the most busy squares or narrow alleys.
PDO, PGI, TSG: all acronyms that might be difficult to grasp at the beginning, but indeed protect selected foods from Pianura Padana. These specialities are often at the centre of most tasting tours in the area.

Bergamo comes first in the production of PDO cheeses in Italy. About 150 mountain pastures are still active for cattle rearing; add to this, goat rearing and the delicious caprino cheese produced with their milk. The most famous of cheeses is taleggio, produced in the valley bearing the same name. From the recently built Ecomuseo Valtaleggio starts a food tour dedicated to taleggio and strachitunt, a round-shaped cheese almost forgotten yet still made by only one producer, now reaping the benefits of hard work.
Brescia province offers "Strada dei vini e sapori del Garda" which flanks the coasts of one of the most beautiful lakes in Italy, Garda Lake. From Limone to Peschiera, from the hills to the lake banks. Established in 2001, this route 'follows' typical products such as PDO olive oil, fish (bleak, coregonus and eels), dairy products both fresh or aged like Grana Padano and provolone, cured meats like soppressata and salame con il filetto.
For the two most important products in Monza, potato from the small village of Oreno - near Vimercate - and pink asparagus from Mezzago there is no special route. Both have been awarded the quality label "made in Brianza". In Orego there is also Sagra della Patata, held since the 1960s, and Sagra dell'Asparago, held each May.
In Cremona there is a route called Strada del gusto cremonese nella terra di Stradivari. Dedicated to the famous luthier, it is an interesting chest of typical foods: Grana Padano, provolone valpadana, salva cremasco, caprino cheese, salame cremona, cotechino, zampone, radici bianche di Soncino, honey, mostarda di Cremona, soft and hard torrone, torta bertolina, spongarda di Crema, bussolano di Soresina, and chocolate graffioni. To celebrate the richness of this territory, many events are cyclically organised: in Cremona and its province, "Caseifici Aperi", "Rassegna Gastronomica" and "Giornata delle carni", in Crema "Tortellata Cremasca", in Soncino "Sagra delle radici d'autunno", in Casalmaggiore "Festa del Cotechino", in Pizzighettone "Festa dei fagiolini con le cotiche", in Crema "Giornata del Salva", and the unmissable "Festa del Torrone" in Cremona.
In Lodi territory you can follow the Strada del Vino San Colombano e dei Sapori Lodigiani, about 60 km long, from Milan to the villages in Pianura Padana around Lodi, reaching Cremona and Piacenza province. The area is characterised by farming; its products include meats, typical cured meats, unique cheeses both fresh and aged. An interesting detour from food is the PDO ceramic laboratory of Lombardy, Laboratorio di Ceramica Artistica Lodigiana "Vecchia Lodi". Also jewellery designers of Graffignana and wrought-iron artists from Sant'Angelo Lodigiano deserve special mention.
In the province of Pavia there is Strada dei vini e dei sapori dell'Oltrepò Pavese. It covers a territory of 78 municipalities, extending over 1,089 square kilometres. It is a sort of triangle with the long side on the right bank of the Po river and the vertex between the provinces of Alessandria and Piacenza, toward the Apennines between Liguria and Emilia. Among its products it is worth mentioning Salame di Varzi, a PDO quality product typical of Staffora valley. Along the road there are places of rare beauty, with natural paths, 19th century villas, small churches and castles.
The food and wine tour of Piacenza stretches on Strada del Po e dei Sapori della Bassa Piacentina, unfolding circularly over about 80 km through villages on the Po river. Here you can find 5 PDO products: salame, coppa, pancetta, grana padano and provolone valpadana, a product awaiting the IGT label, but also white garlic, and 15 traditional products.
In Parma there are two gourmet food routes. The first, Strada del Culatello di Zibello covers about 90 km in Parma province between Via Emilia and the Po river, an area called 'la Bassa' and characterised by fog, art and history; the second is Strada del Fungo Porcino di Borgotaro, included in the natural scenario of Parma Apennines.
Also Reggio Emilia boasts two routes. Strada dei Vini e dei Sapori delle Corti Reggiane runs for about 300 km in the lands of a plain, called 'la Bassa', where you can feel the strong influence of ancient Signorie and taste delicious food from parmigiano reggiano to cappelletti, from tortelli di zucca to typical desserts from Reggio. Strada dei Vini e dei Sapori Colline di Scandiano e Canossa unwinds on 200 km between the high plain and the hills to the south of Via Emilia, reaching the feet of the Apennines in Reggio province. Apart from the outstanding castles once belonged to Matilda of Tuscany, historic villages, tower houses and ancient churches, this route preserves products such as parmigiano reggiano, traditional balsamic vinegar from Reggio Emilia but also less famous delicatessen like culaccia di Canossa.
Driving down to Modena you reach Strada dei Vini e dei Sapori della Pianura Modenese and Strada dei Vini e dei Sapori "Città Castelli Ciliegi". The former moves along the lowlands in the province, touched by the Secchia and Panaro rivers, offering tasty gourmet food like traditional balsamic vinegar from Modena and parmigiano reggiano. The latter unravels over 250 km in the hilly territory to the south of Via Emilia, between Bologna and Modena, on hills studded with strongholds and castles, the Panaro valley in the province of Modena, and that of Samoggia in the province of Bologna. These are the routes of parmigiano reggiano, traditional balsamic vinegar from Modena, but also the typical mortadella from Bologna, white truffle from the hills, chestnuts from the Apennines, and the famous tortellini and Torta Barozzi.