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Borgo Val di Taro, Emilia-Romagna
Coat of arms of Borgo Val di Taro

Emilia-Romagna · Parma

Borgo Val di Taro

The Cittaslow capital of the upper Taro valley, where the Fungo di Borgotaro IGP porcini has been protected since 1996.

Picked by Peter Benei

Letter to come

Why Borgo Val di Taro is on our list

It holds Cittaslow.

The nearest town with a letter is Brugnato, No. 57, 28 km away.

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About the letter

Visiting

Best time
Apr–Oct
By car
1 h 7 min from Parma
By train
Station in the comune
Population
6,732

When to visit

Best · Apr–Oct

  • J9°
  • F12°
  • M13°
  • A16°
  • M19°
  • J24°
  • J28°
  • A28°
  • S23°
  • O19°
  • N13°
  • D9°
  • Best
  • Hot or crowded
  • Quiet
  • Mostly closed

Daytime air temperature, averages for 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.

Why come

Borgo Val di Taro sits in the upper Taro valley, sixty-three kilometers southwest of Parma, where the province borders Tuscany and the Ligurian ridge is a few valleys away. The town was a Roman waystation, then a possession of the Bobbio abbey, then of the Landi and Doria-Landi families through the medieval centuries. Modern Borgotaro built itself around the porcini trade: the Boletus mushrooms gathered in the surrounding chestnut woods were already famous in the nineteenth century, exported by emigrants to the Americas, and in 1996 the European Union granted the Fungo di Borgotaro Protected Geographical Indication status, locally described as the first such recognition for a wild mushroom.

The Consorzio per la Tutela dell'IGP Fungo di Borgotaro, set up in 1995, now guards the name. The Cittaslow movement admitted the town in the 2000s. The September Fiera del Fungo di Borgotaro is the calendar event; population has dropped under seven thousand but the porcini trade still anchors the local economy.

How to get there

From Bologna (BLQ), about 1 h 58 min by car.

Pisa (PSA) is about 2 h 1 min away.

By car from the center of Parma 1 h 7 min, Pisa 1 h 52 min or Genoa 1 h 57 min.

There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive without a car.

Coming from Pisa, Genoa or Bologna?

Coming by train into Parma? Borgo Val di Taro is about 1 h 5 min away by road.

Every town within reach of Bologna airport.

First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.

Borgo Val di Taro, Emilia-Romagna
Borgo Val di Taro, Emilia-Romagna

What to see

  • Centro storico

    Medieval town center along the Taro, with the Palazzo Tardiani, the Piazza Manara, and the porticos lining the old market street.

  • Chiesa di Sant'Antonino

    Baroque parish church built in 1667 with a 1925 neoclassical facade, holding a fifteenth-century wooden crucifix and a chapel of the Madonna del Carmine.

  • Palazzo Tardiani

    Late-sixteenth-century palace near Sant'Antonino, once the town hospital, now the offices of the Valli del Taro e del Ceno mountain union.

  • Fiera del Fungo di Borgotaro

    Annual porcini fair held since 1975 on two weekends in the second half of September, one of the main mushroom markets of the northern Apennines.

  • Faggeta di Boschetto

    Beech forest of the Comunalia di Boschetto in neighbouring Albareto, the first managed mushroom reserve of the IGP area, with marked trails for mushroom and chestnut season.

Fairs and festivals

We give the month rather than the date, because the date moves and the month rarely does. Check with the organizer before you plan a journey around one.

  • Fiera del Fungo di Borgotaro

    Usually held in September

    The porcini from the woods around town carry the EU-protected name Fungo di Borgotaro, which covers four species of the mushroom. For two weekends the historic center fills with a food fair, a farmers' market and craft stalls, and the town has its own Porcini Mushroom Museum.

    The official page

Living here

Could you live here?

Borgo Val di Taro meets 2 of our 3 rules for a small town.

  • 6,732 people, inside our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: a real town, still one community.
  • Parma, a city of 198,693, is 1 h 7 min by car. Further than our 30 to 60 minutes, a long way for the hospital visit or the monthly shopping.
  • A station of its own. Trains are the overlooked way to get around Italy: no parking, straight into the center.

The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.

How we choose a town, and every town by these rules.

  • Population 6,732, down 4.6% since 2015
  • Nearest city Parma, 1 h 7 min drive
  • Train station in the comune
  • A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
  • Homes in the center: €550 to €800 per m² to buy, €2.00 to €2.70 per m² a month to rent

Weighing a move here? See the moving year.

All the numbers Common questions, designations, lists and sources.

More about living here

  • Remote
  • Pharmacy in town
  • High school within a 30-minute drive
  • Full fibre reaches 4% of homes
  • Primary school in the comune
  • Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
  • Parma airport (PMF), 1 h 8 min drive, the nearest with scheduled flights
  • Regional capital Bologna, 2 h 3 min drive

If you are moving here

Borgo Val di Taro

Who lives here

11% of residents are foreign citizens, most often from Romania, Pakistan and Moldova, against 9% across Italy. 31 of them come from English-speaking countries or western and northern Europe, mostly the United Kingdom and France. There are 299 people over 65 for every 100 children under 15, against 216 across Italy. 44% of homes have no resident, holiday homes and empty ones counted together, against 27% across Italy. Parma province ranks 10th of 107 in Il Sole 24 Ore's quality of life ranking for 2025.

Health and schools

The nearest emergency room is in Pontremoli, 12 km as the crow flies. The nearest major one is in Parma, 56 km away. The nearest children's emergency room is in La Spezia, 42 km away. The nearest IB school is The International School in Genoa, 62 km as the crow flies.

Information, not medical advice. Confirm with a professional.

Taxes

A home that is not your main one pays 1.06% a year in property tax at the 2025 rate, charged on the cadastral value rather than the price. A main home pays none unless it is in a luxury category. The town adds 0.8% to your income tax. 7% pensioner tax: this town is not in a qualifying area.

Information, not tax advice. Confirm with a professional.

What it costs

The average household in Emilia-Romagna spends about €2,500 a month, €560 of it on food, against about €2,170 across Italy. A family of three pays about €604 a year for water, on the Emilia-Romagna average. In Parma, the provincial capital, in September 2026, an espresso cost €1.41, a meal in a pizzeria €10.41 and a man's haircut €25.65.

What it costs to live in Italy.

Climate and risk

It is in climate zone E, on a scale from A, the warmest, to F, the coldest, and heating may run from October 15 to April 15, up to 14 hours a day, unless the mayor changes it. 18% of residents live in a zone the national maps rate high for floods, 19% in a high or medium one. 24% live in a zone rated high or very high for landslides.

These shares cover the whole comune, not any one street. Check an address on IdroGEO.

Moving from abroad? Which visa you need. Sources: ISTAT, the Ministry of Health, ISPRA, the Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Enterprise, Poste Italiane, the comuni, the IB, International Schools Database, Il Sole 24 Ore, Cittadinanzattiva.

Known for

  • FUNGO DI BORGOTARO IGP

    European Protected Geographical Indication granted in 1996 to porcini from Borgotaro, Albareto and Pontremoli, said locally to be the first PGI for a wild mushroom.

  • CITTASLOW

    Member of the Cittaslow network of slow cities, recognized for the porcini trade and the working centro storico under seven thousand residents.

  • THREE REGIONS

    Upper Taro valley sits where Emilia-Romagna meets Tuscany and Liguria, with the Apennine ridge defining all three borders.

Common questions

What is Borgo Val di Taro known for?
Borgo Val di Taro is the Cittaslow capital of the upper Taro valley at 411 meters, where the Fungo di Borgotaro IGP porcini has been protected since 1996.
Where is Borgo Val di Taro?
Borgo Val di Taro is a comune in the province of Parma, in Emilia-Romagna.
What is the nearest airport to Borgo Val di Taro?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Parma (PMF), about 1 h 8 min by car.
Can you get to Borgo Val di Taro without a car?
Yes. There is a railway station in the comune, so you can arrive by train.
How long is the drive from Parma to Borgo Val di Taro?
About 1 h 7 min by car.
When is the best time to visit Borgo Val di Taro?
Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 28 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 17 rain days.
Which other towns are like Borgo Val di Taro?
Canossa, Vico del Gargano and Minervino Murge.
How many people live in Borgo Val di Taro?
6,732 residents, by ISTAT's count on 1 January 2025.
Is Borgo Val di Taro a good place to live?
By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Borgo Val di Taro is a small town that meets 2 of our 3 rules. The nearest city, Parma, is 1 h 7 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 4% of homes.
Tags & data designations · numbers · sources

The numbers

  • Elevation: 411 m
  • Population: 6,732
  • Surface area: 151.49 km²

These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.

The ranked lists

Lists Borgo Val di Taro appears in

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What all six share with Borgo Val di Taro: inland, away from the coast · between 3,000 and 10,000 people · hill towns

Our guide

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Our nearest guide, 47 km away

Riviera di Levante: the towns, when to go, how to get there

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About the letter

Read the guide: The coast in the shadow of five villages. 19 towns, the drive and train times, the months, where to eat and sleep.

Paid plans, the moving year and the books are on the membership page.