Parco del Delta del Po & Valli di Comacchio
Drive 70 kilometres north of Rimini and the flat Adriatic coastline gives way to one of Europe's great wetland wildernesses: the Po Delta, a UNESCO-listed labyrinth of lagoons, reed beds and tidal valleys where pink flamingos, avocets and white spoonbills feed in water so shallow it mirrors the sky. It is a startling, beautiful world away from the beach umbrella.
The Valle di Comacchio experience
The Valle di Comacchio is the most accessible entry point for visitors from Rimini: a vast brackish lagoon fringed by fishing lodges on stilts called casoni, where eels have been farmed since Roman times. The spectacle of thousands of flamingos wading in rose-pink columns against the flat horizon is one of the great wildlife sights of northern Italy.
Hire a flat-bottomed boat from the visitor centre at Comacchio town for a guided lagoon tour, or drive the raised embankment roads that cross the valley for eye-level views of the birdlife without getting out of the car. Dawn and dusk are the magic hours.
Comacchio town and the eels
The town of Comacchio itself is a miniature Venice of canals, bridges and pastel-coloured houses built across 13 small islands — it is genuinely lovely and almost entirely unknown to international tourists. The famous Trepponti, a five-arched staircase bridge built in 1638, is the town's signature image.
Eat eel here: it is the local obsession and the local economy. Anguilla marinata — eel marinated in vinegar and bay leaf — is the traditional preparation, sold in jars at every deli and served grilled or stewed in the canal-side restaurants. It sounds challenging; it tastes extraordinary.
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