Parma

Parma is the town that taught the world what Italian food tastes like, and then went right back to being one of the most civilized places to live in the country. The name is on the cheese and the ham for a reason. This is the home of Parmigiano-Reggiano and prosciutto di Parma, a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, and it carries that abundance with an easy, prosperous grace. But there is more here than the table. Parma is also a city of opera and art, refined, handsome, and lived-in, the kind of place Italians themselves rank among the best in the country for quality of life.