As the southern gateway to the Po Delta Park, Cervia is a nature reserve teeming with birdlife and can boast a Salt Pan and a Butterfly House.
Cervia is famous for its salt production
Situated on the Romagna coast, next to Milano Marittima, just 22 kilometres from Ravenna and 35 kilometres from Rimini, Cervia is a town famous for its salt production, and is an ecosystem of great natural and historical value. Covering 827 hectares, the Cervia salt pan is the smallest in northern Italy and welcomed 32,708 visitors in 2025. Access to the salt pan is permitted exclusively via guided tours, for which advance booking is recommended via the website www.amaparco.it/salinadicervia
Visits by electric boat, canoe, bicycle or a small train
At the Cervia Salt Pan Visitor Centre, there are numerous activities available throughout the year, varying by season, offering ways to discover the salt pan and the surrounding area. Guided tours, available on foot, by electric boat, canoe, bicycle or on board a small train, offer different perspectives on the salt pan; some are also enhanced by food and wine experiences linked to the local area From February to November, the salt pan can be visited by boat; spring, in particular, is the ideal season for birdwatching, as the area is a stopover for migratory birds. During the summer and autumn months, you can learn more about the production techniques of Cervia’s prized sweet salt and watch it being harvested by hand. In particular, during the “Special Salt Harvest” event, you can see the wagons loaded with salt speeding along the tracks, the salt workers at work and the vivid pink pans. And with a bit of luck, you can spot numerous flamingos in every season.
The Butterfly House is a museum of insects
Just a few minutes’ drive from the salt pans, the Butterfly House is a theme park and museum that introduces visitors to the world of insects, their ecosystems, and the protection of habitats and biodiversity. The large tropical greenhouse, on over 500 square metres, is home to butterflies from Asia, Africa and America that fly freely amongst the plants, whilst local butterflies flutter in a smaller greenhouse. The Insect House is the pavilion where you can observe beetles, leaf insects, mantises and other insects from all over the world up close. The Butterfly House attracts some 40,000 visitors a year and, as well as being a theme park, is recognized as a centre for scientific outreach of national importance. To book experiences in the parks of Romagna: Buy your ticket - AmaParco
