Parma hospitality

Parma Calcio occupy a sweet spot in Italian football mythology, a provincial club from a small Emilian city that in the 1990s assembled one of the great European sides of the era. Bankrolled by the Parmalat dairy empire, the gialloblù won three Coppa Italia, two UEFA Cups, a Cup Winners' Cup and a European Super Cup between 1992 and 2002, fielding the likes of Hernán Crespo, Gianluigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro, Juan Sebastián Verón, Hristo Stoichkov and Faustino Asprilla. They never won the scudetto, the only major Italian trophy that eluded them, but for a decade they were arguably the best Italian club nobody outside Parma actually disliked. Then came the Parmalat collapse of 2003, two bankruptcies, relegation to Serie D in 2015, and an extraordinary climb back through the divisions by a fan'owned then American'owned reincarnation. The current Parma Calcio 1913 are not quite the team of Crespo and Buffon, but the badge, the stadium and the passion remain. The ultras of the Curva Nord are loyal, the local derby with Reggiana (Reggio Emilia, half an hour east) is genuinely fierce, and the city itself is a food and music pilgrimage site. For visiting fans, Parma offers something unusually civilised: a serious football club, an authentic ground, and access to the great Italian cured meats, cheeses and operatic Verdi associations all within a short walk of each other.

The Stadio Ennio Tardini, known to everyone simply as the Tardini, opened in 1923 and is one of the older grounds still in use in Serie A. Capacity is around 22,000, with no athletics track and stands hard against the pitch on all four sides, an increasingly rare configuration in Italy. The Curva Nord houses the Parma ultras and the Boys Parma 1977 banner that has flown over the curva for nearly half a century. The Tribuna Petitot is the oldest stand and retains an art deco feel. The away end sits in the Curva Sud, with reasonable views and the usual basic facilities. Plans for redevelopment have been floating around for years and may eventually rebuild the ground entirely, but for now the Tardini retains its slightly faded, working'class atmosphere. Concourses serve Moretti, espresso, and excellent torta fritta (fried dough) with prosciutto. The ground sits in a residential area about a kilometre south of the centre, easily walkable.

Parma is one of the finest small cities in Italy, the historic capital of an independent duchy under Marie Louise of Austria, Napoleon's second wife, and still operating with a certain ducal swagger. The Piazza Duomo with its Romanesque cathedral and pink octagonal baptistery is one of the great urban set pieces in Europe; the Camera di San Paolo holds frescoes by Correggio that are worth a special trip. But the real reasons to come are edible and musical. This is the home of Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano Reggiano, culatello, and tortelli d'erbetta. It is also the city of Verdi (born in nearby Roncole) and Toscanini, with one of Italy's most demanding opera audiences at the Teatro Regio. Eat at Trattoria Sorelle Picchi for traditional Emilian, Pepèn for a panino, and any salumeria for an aperitivo board. The historic centre is compact, elegant and walkable in 20 minutes end to end.

Parma sits on the main Milan to Bologna railway line, with Frecciarossa services from Milan (75 minutes), Bologna (45 minutes) and Rome (around three hours). The station is a 15 minute walk from the centre. There is no direct passenger airport at Parma; the nearest options are Bologna (90 minutes by train) and Milan Linate (under two hours). The Tardini stadium is about a kilometre south of the centre, an easy ten minute walk through residential streets, or city buses 9 and 13 from the station. Stay in the historic centre between the river and Piazza Garibaldi; everything is walkable. Restaurants book up at weekends, especially during opera season at the Teatro Regio. Cash and card both work; Italian smaller bars still occasionally prefer cash.