Romagna leads the green tourism way for Italy

Cervia’s International Kite Festival in April

Making the very most of a bounteous quality tourism offer is the key on the coast and the ancient hinterland in Romagna

Green Tourism is not just about saving the world – it’s about delivering a supremely high quality offer to guests too. That is precisely what awarded Green Tourism businesses in Romagna specialize in. That’s why they are awarded.

Superb family holidays, the very best in wonderful local, traditional food and drink, award-winning cuisine, international quality vegan and vegetarian fare, beachside woodland walks, spa holidays, golf, tennis, sensational and safe beaches, great pools, amazing animations for kids.

For visitors who want luxury accommodation in a country relais, surrounded by fabulous works of art and with the nth degree of personal service, Green Tourism Silver awarded Relais Villa Roncuzzi totally fits the bill. The owner manager, ex gallerist Patrizia Poggi has not only brought her wonderful art collection to grace the hotel’s walls but also, she’s brought her cultural tastes too.

Here, in this serene oasis (it was originally a convent) you can expect the very best in local food and wine, cultural and musical events, original arty accommodation and a hostess and her team that really care about your welfare and the depth and quality of your experience.

And when you pop into Ravenna to see the exquisite mosaics, make sure you tell Patrizia – she’ll double the effect of your visit. As the prime gallery owner in this Byzantine city, she knows exactly where and when to go and much more.

Just down the road, but by the sea, the Tagliavini family are just as concerned about your welfare. Starting off as market gardeners and vineyard owners in the nearby hills, they decided to bring their knowledge of great local food and wine to feast their guests in their family hotel by the sea in Lido di Savio. The three star Bahamas Hotel  offers everything that is necessary to enjoy a really green local experience including free bikes, a superb little spa with a sauna and Turkish bath and special rooms for kids with wall-to-wall glory in the natural world. But the big issue at the Hotel Bahamas is the extraordinarily good and very, very local food.

Young guests are particularly welcome and are offered a large range of activities – making the typical Romagnolo "Piadina", books for children, eco-animation, growing their own vegetables -, playing and learning: they will certainly not get bored.

Both local seafood and great meats get a turn on the menu, and so proud are the Tagliavini’s of their Romagnolo heritage of hospitality, that there is a special Romagnolo night once a week. That’s not to say that every night is not great local food night .. here at the Bahamas it is!

A little down the coast, nestling in a park by the sea, is the lovely little destination of Igea Marina. Here something unique and internationally important is happening – vegan and vegetarian cuisine as pioneered by the three star Hotel Luxor.

Of course, the Bianchi family do all the other things that make them very very green (awarded Silver by Green Tourism) – free bikes, perfect little beach, the chance to walk in the woods, local food and drink, energy-saving initiatives etc. But over and above this is the fact that the family, and their daughters have built an international reputation for vegan and vegetarian food and even host an international conference to this particular cuisine, with physician and dietician attendees. Just imagine the combination of the incredible local bounty of herbs, vegetables and fruits and a cuisine specialized in showing them off to their fullest.

And when you feel so healthy after all that good food, you can join in one of the enormous beach volleyball festivals here, or take advantage of a local shopping secret – many of the Italian designer brands (including Armani, Versace, Ferrè and Moschino) have their shoes created here in one of the over 200 workshops with a global reputation for quality. Certainly worth a visit.

One of the astonishing features about the Romagna Riviera is the fabulous pine forests that follow alongside the wide, flat beaches. Not only do these forests provide a welcome shade from the hot summer sun, but they are also a wonderful resource for enjoying walks, cycle trips and generally lots of fun.

The hotel Antares  is right in the middle of the pines. Although the beach is just metres away, it feels as though you are right in the woods.

This is another wonderful young family-run hotel. The Benaglia family are totally concerned about their guests’ happiness and comfort – and can speak English. So it’s wall-to-wall happiness from the comfort of your room to the fabulous local food. With a green ethos (and a Green Tourism Silver award) of course free bikes on which to explore the woods, of course O km food, of course green animations for kids – but can you imagine the health-giving plus of a stay in the evergreen woods by the water? Walks, cycle rides between lovely wide, safe seaside and glorious woods.

The chances are that you’ll concentrate on the food and the views. There are always four first and four second courses to choose from on a menu that each day offers traditional local dishes from Romagna, seafood dishes and zero mile food. Each week, there is a typical romagna style dinner with local products

Desserts at the Antares are easily on par with those of the finest pastry shops, all homemade and all simply delicious!  A lovely breakfast is served in a small downstairs dining room that opens onto the shaded garden.

Milano Marittima is Romagna’s hip fashionable resort, much beloved of the fashion-conscious Milanese, who created it just over a hundred years ago as a garden city by the sea – with lots of top shops!

Here you can find the ultimate in fashion – shoes, gowns, suits, clothes, sports fine dining and of course fine wine. The Baya Strand  and its family are right at the heart of the activities in this dynamic destination and staying here, you’ll miss out on nothing. The hotel has a couple of good tennis courts, a lovely 4,000 sq metre garden and swimming pool. It is a short walk to the smart golf club, and if you need some deep relaxation and healing after all this activity – a lovely walk through the pine woods brings you to the very special spa where you can get all the healing from a local salt cure.

Not only all this… the Baya Strand, together with other hotels in the area is offering special arrangements to take part in Milano Marittima’s glorious activities… including the fabulously colourful Kite Festival (22 April) the very new ‘EcoMarathon of Salt’ run (13-15 May); the oldest festival in Italy ‘Marriage of the Sea’ (8 May); they can even organize superb birdwatching tours to see the massive flocks of flamingoes amongst many other birds and wildlife in the nearby Po Valley National Park amongst many other special interest tours.

Just by the historic port of Cervia with its colourful yachts lies a four star jewel – the Hotel Roma , run by the Lucci family – not only is it a lovely, perfectly situated boutique 3 and 4 star hotel but also it has a reputation for providing some of the very best local food from its award-winning kitchen. From the early days when the family created a small B&B on the site, to now the lovely hotel is enlarged and modernized – the focus has been food and wine.

Even now, while young award-winning chef Lorenzo Alessio is in charge of the kitchen, no effort is spared to create the best and most delicious repasts. All pasta is made freshly every day, traditional recipes and ingredients are used and daily menus are works of art including such specialities as ‘Passatelli in Brodo’ (sublime pasta made with nutmeg, lemon and breadcrumbs in a light broth), ‘Cappeletti in Ragù (hand made little hats of pasta in a rich meat sauce) Strozzapreti (strangled priest pasta without egg but with local Sangiovese wine, mixed grill of local meats and typical sausages, a vast array of local fish from metres away, and the delicious fresh Squacquerone cheese (try to pronounce it) with local Piadina flatbreads and sweet grape-must pickle. Hopefully there is room for a glass or two of inexpensive and delicious local wine and a dessert like Zuppa Inglese (an extraordinarily delicious local trifle).

After (or before) a fantastic Romagnolo dinner, you might want to get rid of your last traces of stress in a fantastic spa, enjoying bubbles in a hydromassage tub, in a sauna or with a nice massage; also, if you feel the need to get fitter, you might use the fantastic fitness studio.

It’s no wonder that Hotel Roma guests tend to take the full board option!

See also: Italian Garden City by the Sea

Valere Tjolle @ValereTjolle [email protected]