Hey Ecophiles, we love Italy and we love food. We want to take a foodie trip to Italy next year. What are the best destinations for Italian food?

– Andrew Norton

Hi Andrew,

Italy is gorgeous and brilliant for food lovers! Truth be told, there’s hardly a bad meal in sight, but if it’s good food you’re after, foodies can’t go wrong exploring these regions of Italy.

Naples

Italy is widely known to have the world’s best pizza, and Naples is the place to eat it in Italy. Yes, you can find pizza in most cities, but even Italians will tell you there’s nothing else like authentic Neapolitan pizza in Napoli.

Naples' Margherita Pizza

Photo: neciodesalida via Pixabay

Bologna

Emilia Romagna is Italy’s breadbasket and agriculturally rich region in the north central area of the country, loaded with tons of great restaurants (several of them Michelin star-rated), wineries and interesting foods to try. The Holy Trinity of Italian food comes from this region: Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, Traditional Balsamic di Modena, and Prosciutto di Parma. It’s a great place to eat your way through one plate at a time!

balsalmic

Photo: Lori Sorrentino

Tuscany

Arguably one of the richest regions of Italy for wine, Tuscany has enough unique varieties of wines to keep you tasting different wines for months, from bold reds like Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino, and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, to crisp white wines like Trebbiano and Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Trying them all makes the best kind of Italy vacation.

Salcheto Winery dining

Tuscan wine is an absolute treat. Photo: Lori Sorrentino

Sicily

The fertile soil of Italy’s southernmost island of Sicily is perfect for growing olives, citrus like oranges and lemons, nuts such as pistachios and almonds, eggplant, and of course tomatoes. Combine that with the abundant fruits of the sea and you might just spend your entire Italy trip right here, sampling foods that are so much a part of the healthy Mediterranean diet.

wine cheers. Italian food tour Bologna

Cheers to great Italian food! Photo: Lori Sorrentino

– Lori Sorrentino, Travel expert and Photographer

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