Factory tours of Ferrari and Lamborghini

I would suggest you Google "Lamborghini factory tour" for tour details at their Sant’Agata Bologonese factory. It's northeast of Modena 10-12 miles--out in the country.

The Ferrari tour factory in Modena is only available to present Ferrari owners. But they have a fine Ferrari museum that can be visited without reservations.

You can go between Bologna and Modena by train in 20-30 minutes. Since Lamborghini is so far out of town, it would be best to do a one day car rental to hit both places.

This region is the tops in Italy for manufacturing technology. Aprilia motorcycles is also close by.

As the previous poster noted, the Ferrari factory is only open if you are an owner. If you are, contact your dealer and they will be able to assist you. If not, the museum is worth seeing. According to the museum's website (below), they have a shuttle that meets the train in Modena and takes you straight to the museum (back in 2011 when I went, this shuttle did not exist, and we took a bus between Modena and Maranello--you have to walk about 15 minutes between the train and bus stations, and you'll want Route 800 to Maranello. Takes 35 minutes. Link below for bus timetable.) If you do go to the museum, also make a short trip to their test track (Fiorano). Again, you won't be able to get inside, but can see whatever cars their testing that day through the perimeter fence. With your back to the museum, turn left on road in front of you and you'll run into the fencing in about 10 minutes. You also might want to have lunch at the Ristorante Montana, which is chock full of Ferrari and other racing memorabilia. It's also in Maranello, north of the factory and museum. As far as tickets to the museum, you can buy them online, but I think we just bought them when we arrived.

Sorry, can't offer any advice for the Lambo tour.

Here's the website for the Ferrari Museum... http://museo.ferrari.com/

And the timetable that includes bus route 800... http://www.setaweb.it/azienda/linee_mo/EXTRAURBANO07_01_2014.PDF

Another thought Ellen: Maybe you could rent a Ferrari and drive to the factory, and they might not check the registration too closely! Of course that might not help you at the Lamborghini plant. Or better yet, you could rent a Lamborghini, which would no doubt satisfy the Lamborghini people, and would probably sufficiently intimidate the Ferrari folks that they would not interfere with your entry. What do you think? Good luck!

Larry's idea is best! Thanks all for the information. I have googled both companies. My son is totally into cars, he works for VW in the parts department here in Colorado.

We visited the BMW factory in Munich about 8 years ago and really enjoy the factory tour. His idea was to see Ferrari and Lamborghini this time. Did notice that Lamborghini has a tour for 40E per adult...and saw the Ferrari museum info...so might have to settle for that.

Just being in Italy with my son for a vacation will be great.

Wish I had the money to rent one of these cars (not! - rather spend it on vacations)

Re: renting one of the cars. I have no idea what the cost is, but we saw several groups (especially just outside the museum) that offered people the chance to drive a Ferrari for a short time in Maranello.

Hi Ellen!

My husband is a huge car guy, and we toured the Lamborghini Factory in 2011.

1) Book tour tickets ahead of time. You need to make your reservation - so choose a day and work it into your schedule. You can always email them through the website to check on availability and times if you are trying to decide between different days.

2) There is not a train connection to the Lambo factory. You can take a bus from Bologna, as we did. However, (story time) because the signs were small to read and we weren't sure of where to get off, my husband and I got off the bus a town too early. We were walk/running down the side of a highway, hot in September, as trucks with bales of hay were passing us on the highway. It was a scene out of a movie. We finally stopped at a gas station we reached, I asked the owner to call up a taxi and it took us the rest of the way. We arrived a little late for the tour but they brought us in and met us up with the group. Moral of the story: you may want to hire a car service to take you from Bologna, or rent a car if you'd rather do that. You can take a bus, but it gets a little tricky - and I would hate if you were late to your tour like we were, haha.

3) Enjoy the tour! You go through the factory, get to touch some of the leather they use for the seats, learn all about the process... It was a treat. The museum and shop at the end were cool, but the tour itself was really great. My husband and I grabbed lunch in the town (just walked down the road from the factory) afterward. While sitting outside eating our sandwiches, some employees of the factory were test-driving a Gallardo, so that was fun to watch! It's a tiny town - not much to see, but sometimes you get lucky with a glimpse of them testing cars.

If your son likes cars, he will adore the tour. The 40€ per person isn't cheap, but I think it's way worth it. My husband's description of the tour was "I'm like a fat kid in an all you can eat buffet specializing in sweet treats at this point..." We were lucky enough to be there on the day that the President of Lamborghini was present, and he was showing off the yet-unreleased Aventador to some Audi execs who were in town, so that is a great memory!

Feel free to message me if you have any questions. I think the suggestion above to rent a car to do the Lamborghini Factory and the Ferrari Museum is a good idea if you want to do both. Just remember the usual advice - have your IDP and be careful of ZTLs.