My friend introduced me to Formula One racing a decade ago, long before Netflix starting filming their behind-the-scenes smash hit, Drive to Survive.  While many US fans are new, the name Ferrari has a storied history in racing and powerful sports cars.  If I were to say “Ferrari Red” most folks would know the color from the iconic brand.  If I showed you the jumping horse with a yellow background logo, I’m sure you’d say Ferrari. For all the stats I knew about the Ferrari racing team, I didn’t know the history of Ferrari and decided to explore Moto Valley on my visit to Bologna.  Bologna is about an hour away from Moto Valley, the name given to the area of Modena and surrounding areas home to Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and Ducati to name a few of the iconic automotive brands in the area.

There are two Ferrari museums that tourists tend to visit so make sure you know which one you want to visit when planning your trip.  Museo Enzo Ferrari in Modena honors the history of founder, Enzo Ferrari and offers unique exhibits. The Ferrari Museum located near the Ferrari Factory in Maranello focuses on the racing history, including Formula One, and the iconic Italian sports car.  While train travel in Italy is easy to do, getting to and from the train station to the Ferrari museums isn’t very easy (there are limited shuttles between the museums which sell out in advance) so I chose to hire a private driver in Bologna for the day (a luxury splurge for my solo adventures) with Limo Way in Bologna.  I had a packed itinerary for the day which started at Lamborghini then visited both Ferrari museums before ending at a local winery for a Lambrusco wine tour and tasting.

I purchased my museum tickets online in advance.  For Ferrari, I bought a Musei Ferrari Pass to visit both museums (Maranello and Modena) for €38. The shuttle between museums was sold out online so it was good that I had my own transportation sorted.

Museo Enzo Ferrari in Modena

Arriving in the small parking lot, I was met with two building – one modern curved building housing the private collection of cars and the other an older brick building which contained the chassis (engines) and a few cars.   As I entered the main building, the Ferrari shop was on my right with the café on the left and in front the ticket desk, F1 simulator room and the main gallery.

Exhibit: Ferrari One of a Kind.  The World of Ferrari Personalization

I was lucky to visit during the new exhibit Ferrari One of a Kind, The World of Ferrari Personalization.  It had just opened and is on display through 2025.  As I entered the exhibition space, I saw the main gallery spread across two levels in a U shape with a larger screen which showcases a film about Enzo Ferrari, the founder of Ferrari.  The room quickly darkened and a black and white film started playing behind me with the story of Enzo Ferrari and the evolution of Ferrari as a car and race car maker.  The film blended nicely into the open sloped space filled with the history of Ferrari as told by the evolution of the cars on display.

When the film ended, I turned around to begin my visit and I was in car heaven with the first two cars from the stylish 1960’s. Unlike the Ferrari red sports cars that I grew up with seeing in movies and the occasional driver on the roads, these cars were in swoon worthy colors and designs. As I grew up driving a manual stick shift, I wanted to jump into these cars and take them for a spin. The cars were divine.

 

While you can’t touch the cars you can learn over and look through the window inside to see sparse interiors and a stick shift.  You are allowed to take photos and videos as many men were doing (hard not to notice very few women in the room).

 

As I made my way down the ramp, I encountered the wall of custom design.  Again, with lottery dreams in mind, I envisioned the bespoke leathers and threads used to craft the seats. The luxury of picking the colored thread to sew the leather seats was so indulgent and the attention to detail fascinating.  I mentally picked out all the custom colors, fabric and threads to design my dream Ferrari. I toyed with changing the iconic red color for something a bit more bespoke.  Would you do the same if you had “design my own Ferrari money”?

I then left the dream behind and walked through the Ferrari sports cars I grew up with to see all the differences over the years and models.  Up close its easy to see the model changes over the years. While there is an interactive room for visitors to design their dream car online, I was satisfied with the vision in my mind.  The last Ferrari to visit would allow me to sit in the driver’s seat for a fee and while I considered this, I didn’t need a photo of me in a Ferrari.  I skipped this option and walked up the ramp to exit through the gift shop.  I hoped to buy a cool souvenir, maybe a toy or model Ferrari car for my desk or something small I could afford and quickly realized I couldn’t afford the souvenirs I wanted so opted for a ride in the simulator (cost €25).

It felt a bit weird for a fleeting moment that the other sims were full of children and I was the middle-aged lady trying my hand at the race track.  I chose to race at Spa because I always enjoy watching that race each season not realizing that Spa was a more difficult option. Given a few instructions by staff, I set off for my seven minutes of racing.  My times were slow and I crashed once. I somehow pushed the wrong buttons and ended up in manual mode which threw the rest of my race off.  I managed two laps in my ride and it was fun for the price. My video gaming Gen X inner child was loving my race car driving experience although to be honest, I’d love to be able to afford driving on a track with a live Ferrari (someday…)

Note: The Maranello simulator costs €30 (slightly more than in Modena) and was a bit more restrictive to climb into so I’m glad I did the less crowded and more spacious sim in Modena.

I exited the main building to the smaller building to continue the visit.  This building is one large room with partitioned walls to move you through by sections and topics.  With two cars and a plethora of engines, this is a building those who love car chassis (engines) will really enjoy. I was fascinated by the engine size and how intricate all the parts are to provide the horsepower to the cars.

I spent 1.5 hours at the Enzo Ferrari Museum which was longer than I anticipated as I was fascinated by all the details.  I read all the information plagues, looked inside all of the cars, and examined all parts of the engine that I could see.  When I exited into the parking lot, my driver was waiting for me to take me to Modena city center market so I could enjoy lunch and a stroll in the city.

Modena Lunch Stop – Mercato Albinelli

The market was nearly empty as I strolled around the inside perimeter to size up the offerings for lunch, souvenirs and take away.  It was similar to a farmers’ market with small spaces filled with fresh fruits, veg, pasta, meats and fishes.  Many kiosks also had tables associated with them to serve food.  I found space at the L’Antica Bottega counter with a view of the tiny kitchen space.  An employee came by for my order – Pasta Ragu (Bolognese) with a glass of wine. This was Italy and of course I needed wine at lunch. She delivered fresh focaccia with a plate of freshly shredded parmesan along with my pasts. Every single bite was heavenly.  Seriously, fresh pasta in Italy is like no other – it’s a food joy!

Full of bread, pasta and wine, it was time to walk around the city center.  It had a vibrancy like Bologna had and was easy to navigate.  Modena deserves a proper visit not the drive by that I did.  I’ll be adding it to my itinerary for my next visit to Italy.

Ferrari Museum Maranello

Finding my driver, we were off to the main Ferrari Museum in Maranello that seems more popular with visitors and tours.  As we got close, I saw folks driving Ferraris on the roads (there are multiple shops to rent a Ferrari to drive or ride along) and the infamous logo on flags.  My driver took a slight detour from the museum entrance and drove past the Ferrari Factory which provided a glimpse at the Florano track in the background along with the ongoing construction to build a new factory.  As it was Saturday, the factory was closed and the employee parking garage was empty.

The larger Ferrari Museum transports visitors through multiple phases and periods of Ferrari. The racing does take center stage as evidenced by this entrance display.

I started my visit watching a video of the factory, which is a few blocks away. You can add “factory tour” to your admission ticket for €25 but after reading many reviews, the group bus only does a drive by on the factory grounds and track.  You don’t get to go inside or see any “behind the scenes”. The video would suffice to peek inside the factory to see how the cars are made.

The museum isn’t interactive so you’ll need to read the boards on the wall or on the bottom platform with the car.  On a Saturday afternoon in April the museum did have a good amount of people visiting but wasn’t crowded. I rarely waited to take photos with the cars or read the descriptions. Again, it was noticeable how few women were in the museum.

 

I, like many others, was geeking out on all the details – peeking inside the windows, kneeling on the floor to get a better look at the exhaust and floor details of the cars.

 

 

Walking though the rooms and the millions of dollars of cars and years of engineering ingenuity, I ended the visit in the famous Formula One (F1) room.  The room displays winning trophies from Formula One races over the years, showcases the drivers of years past and present and has a few F1 cars in a semi-circle on display. This room was the most crowded during my afternoon visit and it was hard to get clear photos without people in them but if you hold your arm above the fray you’ll do well.  My visit was about an hour and that included time to read the boards and displays.

If you wanted to do a drive by of the cars only without reading the information boards, you can do that in under ½ hour making this an easy museum to visit.

 

This exit through the gift shop was even more impressive with all things Ferrari.  Again, I thought maybe there’s something I can afford and again I was shocked at the cost of the souvenirs. Thankfully photos and video are allowed during your visit so I have those as my memories and souvenirs.

Bologna Day Tour to Ferrari Museums

My full itinerary for my Saturday day tour from Bologna started at the Lamborghini museum before traveling to the Enzo Ferrari Museum followed by lunch in Modena.  In the afternoon, I visited the Ferrari Museum in Maranello and ended the day at Cleto Chiarli Winery for a lambrusco (sparkling) wine tasting. Hiring a private driver allowed me to customize my itinerary – the folks at Limo Way were easy to work with over email as I was planning the day while on my transatlantic cruise. I booked a few days before arrival.  The hotel concierge at Hotel Corona d’Ora was fabulous to share her experiences visiting all the car museums in the area which helped me narrow down my list.

If you are a Ferrari fan, then visiting both Ferrari museums in one day is a must for a day tour from Bologna.  Even the casual car fan will enjoy the tours through the history of Ferrari. For the best stress-free experience and use of time, you will need a car to visit both the museums (free parking) or hire a private driver. If a passionate car fan, I suggest adding another car museum or two to your itinerary.

If limited on time or budget, I’d suggest spending the day in Modena (you can get there by train and use local buses) to visit the Enzo Ferrari Museum, Modena city center and market.

So, while I watch F1 races and cheer Charles and Carlos on this year (and Lewis next year), I can only dream of owning a Ferrari.  If I ever hit the lottery, I won’t tell anyone but there will be signs….with custom stitching.