Parco del Delta del Po — Comacchio Valleys
Forty kilometres east of Ferrara, the Po Delta opens into a vast mosaic of lagoons, reed beds and salt flats that is one of Europe's most important wetland habitats. The Valli di Comacchio — a shallow brackish lagoon system — is the most accessible entry point, and between March and October it hosts thousands of greater flamingos.
Wildlife and landscape
The flamingos arrived in the 1990s and have never left — today the Valli di Comacchio holds one of Italy's largest breeding colonies, sometimes exceeding 5,000 birds. They feed in the shallow evaporation pans alongside avocets, black-winged stilts and spoonbills, making this a genuinely world-class birdwatching destination that most non-Italian visitors have never heard of.
The landscape itself is extraordinary: almost entirely flat, with water and sky dominating every view, broken only by the occasional fishing casone hut on stilts and the ancient eel-trap weirs called lavorieri. It looks like the Netherlands dropped into Emilia-Romagna.
How to experience it
The easiest approach is by car from Ferrara (45 minutes via the SS309 Romea road), stopping at the Manifattura dei Marinati in Comacchio town to see the historic eel-smoking factory, still in operation and open to visitors. From there, take the SP7 road along the lagoon edge for unobstructed views across the water.
For a more immersive experience, book a guided boat tour through the Parco del Delta del Po visitor centre in Comacchio. Tours run from April to October, last about two hours and take you into the reed channels where herons and egrets nest at close range. Binoculars are essential; a 300mm camera lens will make you very happy.
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