30 hours in... Maranello & Faenza

Let’s say you are in Modena, wandering around, sick and tired of all the amazing cultural heritage and sated of all the best food in the world… what are you going to do to turn your day around? Embark in an extraordinary experience that will change your…day at least.

In the next 30 hours you will discover two of the main Emilia-Romagna excellences, travel 127 km (ca) and, if you feel brave enough, ride some of the fastest cars in the world.

That’s right, we’re going to Maranello and Faenza, to discover the products and the history of Formula 1 Scuderia Ferrari and Scuderia Alphatauri.

Let’s start!

h 9:30

Our tour of excellence can only start from the Museo Enzo Ferrari, a few steps away from Modena train  station. The Museum opens at 9:30am and the visit lasts about an hour, so you better keep up because you are on a schedule!

If you have arrived by train from Bologna, you have certainly already noticed one of the peculiarities of this museum: its strange shape and its bright color. Well, the building is made in the shape of a bonnet, it's yellow to recall the color that Enzo Ferrari chose as the background for the famous “Prancing Horse” brand and it's also the institutional color of the Municipality of Modena.

The museum is dedicated to the life and work of Enzo Ferrari, the founder of the Ferrari car manufacturer.

h 10.45

Having learnt  about the great Enzo Ferrari and the historical car models, you are ready to move to where all of this is still produced nowaday and to where the atmosphere of the Cavallino is perceived exponentially.

Let’s jump on the shuttle bus that will bring us to Maranello, where the Museo Ferrari awaits.

The Ferrari Museum in Maranello, originally "Galleria Ferrari", opened in 1990 on Enzo Ferrari's birthday, passed away two years earlier while the project was taking shape.

Here in Maranello it is possible to visit the museum and combine the visit with a panoramic tour of the factory and track: this way you can see the interior of the Ferrari factory, the company facilities and the racing track of Fiorano. 

Moreover if you happen to have your own car, showing the museum ticket you can also access the Modena Autodromo track with your vehicle and drive around for 15 minutes with a discounted rate of 35 Euros.

At the racetrack there will be a hostess available to welcome customers, a professional driver to illustrate the characteristics of the track and the necessary safety measures to be adopted.

h 13:15

Since we are surrounded by automotive excellence, why not pamper ourselves with a lunch of excellent taste: the Ristorante Cavallino interprets the spirit and values ​​of Ferrari within the original walls of the first company canteen established by Enzo Ferrari in 1950. Inspired by the combination of technology and craftsmanship, quality and performance, it has the signature of the great chef Massimo Bottura.

…dont’ worry, if you prefer a quicker and cheaper lunch, you can find many options of pizzerias and trattorias around the museum, or if you don’t want to walk around you can stop at the Ferrari Museum Cafè.

h 14.45

If you don’t have your own car, remember to take the shuttle bus back to Modena, otherwise you will get stuck in Maranello until 18.00.

h 15.25

Now that you are back in Modena you can have a coffee…and get ready to jump on a train (or back in the car) and go to Faenza! 

15.58 - 17.15 

Travel to Faenza

h 17.15

Why Faenza? We suggested a trip to Faenza because some important Emilia-Romagna excellences are based here and one of these, to stay on topic, is Alpha Tauri, one of the most important Italian Formula 1 racing teams.

Unfortunately, at the moment it is not possible to visit the factory, but we have other advice for your freetime in Faenza.

h 17:30

Since it's aperitif time, why don’t you leave the city for a bit? You can move to the Faenza hills, where you can find many small wineries or agritourisms that produce high quality wines and local products.

On the website Strada della Romagna you can choose where to go to enjoy a tasting of typical products and spend a quiet evening among the hills while planning your visit to Faenza for the day after.

NEXT DAY 

h 10:00

On your second day you will focus on Faenza, capital of ceramics known throughout the world and located on the Via Emilia, halfway between Bologna and Rimini and located at the intersection with the road that connects Ravenna with Florence.

Faenza reached its splendor in the Renaissance period becoming an international synonym of ceramics: faiance is in fact still today the name of majolica in many European languages

Your first stop today can only be the International Ceramics Museum, which hosts the largest collection of ceramic art in the world. The exhibition rooms contain the works of Italian ceramic workshops from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century; of the Ancient Near East; of the Mediterranean area in the Hellenistic period; pre-Columbian and Islamic.

As you can imagine, to visit these very rich collections with the right attention you need to take some time, so our advice is to stay at least for the whole morning.

h 13.30

After the visit it's time for a nice tour around the historic center of Faenza!

Choosing where to eat lunch won't be difficult, given the passion for food of the Emilia-Romagna people. In the streets of the city center it is possible to find trattorias, taverns and restaurants where it will be possible to taste the typical products of the area, such as hand-rolled pasta and passatelli in broth.

h 15.00

Now, to aid digestion, we recommend a nice walk around the city center. 

Faenza, having been a political and cultural meeting point since 1300 thanks to the good relations with the Florence (Medici family), has been over the centuries embellished with monuments which still retain their charm unaltered today.

We therefore recommend a nice walk in the imposing Piazza del Popolo, bordered by two porticoed wings overlooked by the Palazzo del Podestà and the Palazzo Municipale.

Piazza della Libertà is also very beautiful with the late fifteenth century Cathedral, which hosts numerous works of art from the Renaissance period and the monumental fountain, whose bronzes date back to the seventeenth century.

h 17.00 

To end your tour, we recommend a visit to some of the many ceramic workshops to buy souvenirs and delve even further into the ancient art of ceramic manufacturing.

There are over sixty shops and if you are particularly interested you can also book a guided tour of some of them; just ask the Pro Loco I.A.T. office for scheduled visits (voltone della Molinella 2).

What else…see you next month for the next trip!