Visit the Gastronomic Park FICO in Bologna

Today I take you to the region of Emilia Romagna, in the north of Italy, to know a very special place. Today we head to Bologna, the region’s capital and largest city, and it’s there that we find a very different enterprise: FICO, a gastronomic park owned by the Eataly Group. A true gastronomic experience that deserves special attention. Let’s go to our Post of the day: visit the Gastronomic Park FICO in Bologna. Here at Your Travel to Italy with Ana Patricia you make the trip of your dreams!!! ALSO: see our “Accommodation in Italy – Tips for your holidays!”

Watch this video and fall in love by the FICO Gastronomic Park

(Source: FICO Eataly World)

Our Introduction

Italian cuisine is undoubtedly one of the most famous in the world! It is a very special cuisine, as it is essentially a fusion cuisine formed by the heritage of so many peoples who passed through the incredible Italian peninsula over the centuries. And why not make a theme park dedicated to Italian cuisine? Well, the Eataly group had this brilliant idea, took it off the paper, and today offers us a true gastronomic park in Bologna, FICO. Also read: what to do in Bologna in one day?

A unique park in the world

FICO is the first theme park dedicated to Italian cuisine in the world! Opened in 2017, the park is huge, full of attractions and offers us the highest level of Italian cuisine!

The park is spread over an impressive 100,000 square meters – no, you didn’t read that wrong: 100,000 square meters! – and offers us 45 restaurants, cooking classes, and even animals. The place is so big that, inside, you can rent a bike to get around. Trust me, the place is BEAUTIFUL! You will really fall in love!

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Why FICO?

FICO stands for Fabricca Italiana Contadina, in free translation: Italian Agriculture Factory. Its main idea was to gather, in a centralized way, all the stages of the preparation of a dish, that is: from the raw material to the finished dish on the table, in front of the customer. And so it was done!

FICO also houses producers and consortia, as well as gastronomic laboratories, street food kiosks, restaurants, pizzerias and bistros – inside and outside the covered space.

From the outside in

The tour starts outside the place. The outside of the FICO has nothing less than 20,000m² of fields and stables; yes! There are animals that are raised there! In addition, we can find vines, olive trees, citrus trees, among others.

FICO also houses producers and consortia, as well as gastronomic laboratories, street food kiosks, restaurants, pizzerias and bistros – inside and outside the covered space.

More than food

At FICO it is also possible to attend classes, lectures, and understand how Italian gastronomy has gained strength in the world over the centuries.

Italy values food like no other country in the world. It is a people very proud of its typical products; Italians are passionate about cooking, good food, good wines, and they enjoy cooking for each other even more! They love to have their cooking praised, and that’s not hard to come by!

CURIOSITY:

It is said that the first Italian cookbook was written by Celius Apicius, the oracle of the cooks of Imperial Rome. He would have been responsible for gathering recipes from the different peoples who passed through there such as Latins, Mongols, Scandinavians, among many others.

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How to visit FICO Park?

First of all: go with a lot of time available, and know that there are several types of tickets, we will see at the end of the post! I suggest you go without a time to leave there, as the place is indeed impressive and deserves special attention!

Cheeses and Sausages

The first part of FICO is dedicated to cheeses and sausages. It is worth mentioning the restaurant of the King of cheeses: Parmigiano Regiano. Needless to say, it’s delicious and one of the darlings of Italian cheese lovers, right? Also read: What are the 10 best Italian cheeses?

Pasta and Pizza

Moving on, we find the pasta and pizza part! The smell of firewood reminds us of where we are without any effort: and it intoxicates us! Here you will find pasta, risotto, pizza, bread and other wonderful products, and all really fresh! The classes on coffee and gelato are worth mentioning: they are very interesting, even if they don’t refer us so much to pasta. Also read: How is pizza in Italy?

Games and Toys

As we continue, we find the area dedicated to games and toys! Children’s favourite! There you will also find a very cute restaurant dedicated to seafood! For those who like it: it’s a full plate! Also read: Tourism in Italy with children.

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Italian wine

Ahead we come to the area of Italian wine! The place is beautiful, full of charm, and offers us an immersion in the world of grapes grown in Italy. The highlight around here? The Land of Balsamic Vinegar: not to be missed!

Olive Oil space

From there we continue to the penultimate area of the park, the olive oil space! With one of the best olive oils in the world, of course, the park needed a space entirely dedicated to it. There you will find a small museum with the history of Italian olive oil, and it is worth a stop.

The desserts

Last but not least, of course: the desserts! Yeah, baby! We have an area totally dedicated to Italian sweets and there you will find an infinity of incredible flavors, colors and aromas! Hard to pick the highlight of this area, however, I suggest you make sure to visit Luna Farm, especially if you are with kids! Find out here where to have a coffee in the main Italian cities.

In this link you can download the FICO HD map to locate yourself more easily.

Useful information for you to organize your visit

How to arrive to FICO Park?

The best way is with the transport provided by them. The service is free on holidays and weekends (Saturday and Sunday + October 4 – October 31 – November 1), and is included in the ticket.

Meeting point:

It departs from the center of Bologna, from Viale Pietramellara 18/3 – at the city’s central station, on the right hand side after the pharmacy, at the bus stop.

Schedules:

The departure and arrival times are 10:30 am; 11:30 am, and 5:30 pm – when the park closes after 6:00 pm. To take advantage of the service, simply present the ticket to those responsible.

By car

If you have a car, use the GPS to go to Via Paolo Canali 8, Bologna – parking is free.

How much is the ticket?

The cheapest ticket costs eight euros and includes: FICO admission, guided tour, multimedia tours, weekend shuttle or free parking.

The most complete ticket costs 30 euros and includes: FICO entrance with a fixed menu of pasta, meat or fish at the following restaurants: Di Martino, Hamburgeria Maremmana Bio and Peschereccio Italia; guided tour, multimedia tours, shuttle service on weekends or free parking.

ATTENTION!

If you want to take a course or specific tastings at FICO, remember to check prices and times before buying the ticket. To access information about courses, tastings, and buy your FICO tickets online, you can CLICK HERE!

FICO Park opening hours

The park is open from Thursday to Sunday, but some schedules may change depending on the dates due to events and the like. To check the official opening times, events, and other activities that the park offers, CLICK HERE!

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Conclusion

Visit the FICO Gastronomic Park in Bologna! FICO is perfect for lovers of Italian cuisine and is an excellent option for anyone visiting Bologna.

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