Ferrari and Lamborghini tours

We did the Ferrari museum and factory tour when we visited Italy about 3 years ago. We stopped on our way from Venice (Padua) to Florence. We did it in a day.

We took the first high speed train out of Padua to Bologna. If I remember it took about an hour. At Bologna, we rented a car and drove North. We went to the Museo Enzo Ferrari first in Modena and then drove 25 minutes south to the Ferrari Museum in Maranello. We took the factory tour when we arrived (pre-booked) and then visited the museum. We then drove back to Bologna and took the 5:00pm train south to Florence (45 minutes).

Our sole purpose was to take the kids to the museums and the factory tour. For us, an hour at each museum and the factory tour (which took about an hour) was plenty. Because we were so rushed, we didn't have time to spend in Modena or Maranello but from what I drove through, Modena appeared to be the better town to stay. It was larger and more vibrant and looked like it had more to see and do.

As for the Museums, both were interesting in their own right. The Enzo museum is located in the original factory location. It was modernistic in that is was a stark white open space on the inside with the cars scattered around. It really made the cars stand out. All were the vintage cars. It really was an experience. I wish I could upload a few photos as my description doesn't do it justice. Suffice to say that it's worth a stop. It also has a small cafe you can have lunch at.

The Ferrari Museum was more centered on the race cars. When we arrived, there was a Ferrari owners club from Germany who just arrived with about 30 Ferrari of various vintage. Be warned as you approach the museum, the entrance is lined with young, scantily clad, attractive women (dressed in Ferrari garb of course) trying to get you to rent a Ferrari for the afternoon. They are part of rental agencies located next to the museum and not associated with the museum. Again I wish I could upload photos (ha ha).

For us, the Factory Tour wasn't quite what we hoped. They load you into a 30 person bus and put tape over the camera on everyone's smart phones so you can't take photos. They make it seem like you are about to see some top secret information. Instead, the bus drives to the paddock of the test track, across the street to the factory and up to a few buildings. You are not allowed to get out of the bus and you can't really see inside many of the buildings. There were a lot of cars and we did see the test drivers take new cars off the line for their street test. Otherwise, it didn't quite live up to the hype.

The museum on the other hand was small and interesting. It had vintage cars, a race boat, stories, memorabilia. It also had a room where all the modern F1 championship cars were lined up around a half circle along with the various trophies. That was impressive and for me the most memorable .

The visit in a single day was quite rushed and I don't recommend it. It did work for us though. For anyone who knows Ferrari or who is into cars, I think it is well worth a visit. For those that don't, it may not be that interesting.

We did not go to the Lamborghini side so I can't comment on that.

Enjoy!

My family spent a pretty full day to visit both of the Ferrari museums at Maranello, plus the "factory/track" tour (reserve ahead). You do stay on the bus during the whole tour and cannot take photos; our bus drove on the test track (during staff lunch hour). We traveled a bit further (from Bologna, in that case) but did not consider trying for Lamborghini in the same day. I believe that www.viamichelin.com and Lonely Planet both have some Modena tourist info online (my internet just decided to stop working) or Lonely Planet sells the relevant chapter of their book online for $5.

Thank you for the insights. We may just see the museums and skip the factory tour since it's a bus ride around and you can't see anything. A few years ago we went to the Ducati Factory in Bologna and that was great, and the BMW Motorcycle Factory in Berlin and that was okay. The BMW car museum in Munich was much better. So, I think we'll stick the with museums.

Thank you!