Thoughts on Ferrara

We spent 2 nights in Ferrara last year and really enjoyed our time there. Number one on my list of things to see would be the very interesting frescoes at Palazzo Schifanoia:

https://www.ferraraterraeacqua.it/en/ferrara/discover-the-area/art-and-culture/museums-and-galleries/museum-of-palazzo-schifanoia

Download the free guide at the entrance and use that to explore the frescoes one by one. They are a remarkable mix of religious themes, history, and mythology. We spent an hour there, with only one other person in the room.

Other sights are the main piazza and cathedral (which we did not visit as it was covered up for restoration), Castello Estense (which we had a view of from our hotel Annunziata across the little square, and the city walls—-you can walk on top of the for a section or the whole loop.

Thank you so much! This information is extremely helpful and will help me planning my eating and sightseeing. I love to ride my bike and the walk around the city walls is definitely appealing. I am hoping the weather is still reasonably mild in early November (16-18 degrees celsius). My favorite activities are touring ancient and medieval sites, including frescos in situ, cafes and people watching, strolling the old town, and trying my best to connect with locals in my very broken tourist Italian. While I love Rick Steves' Europe travel suggestions, itineraries and guidebooks, I am trying to see places in Europe that are lesser known to Americans. It sounds like Ferrara will fit the bill. Any other tips on food, festivals, transit (I am traveling entirely by rail while in Italy) or anything else is welcome. Thanks so much Rick Steves Travel Forum folks!!

I stayed two nights in Ferrara a few years ago. The castle was hosting some kind of festival, with reenactments, period costumes. music, dancing etc. A lot of fun to watch. We were not aware of it ahead of time, just came across it as we went there for a visit. See if anything is scheduled for your visit dates.

We spent 4 nights in Ferrara in early December last year and did not get to the end of everything we wanted to see and do and eat there. We'd love to return some time.

One thing we did that hasn't been mentioned yet is a visit to the Monastero di Sant’Antonio in Polesine. Three 14th century chapels with school of Giotto frescoes that have several interesting oddities in them. To see the chapels, ring the monastery bell & ask to visit the frescoes. A little nun will give you a tour. After the chapels, I wonder if she shows everybody where the nuns collect holy water from. I won't describe it so that it's a surprise! No photos allowed. No charge, but at the end of the tour, donate a bit or buy a couple of postcards. The monastery is closed for a few hours in the middle of the day. My husband is thoroughly tired of two decades of keeping me company to see art like this, but he LOVED this whole experience.

We enjoyed eating at I Tri Scalin — it was recommended by my husband's Ferrarese cooking class for its traditional food. Also Trattoria da Noemi.

More ideas: https://notaboutthemiles.com/things-to-do-in-ferrara/

Our theory about spending days in a town like Ferrara vs days in a city like Milan is that it is easy to fly into and out of Milan, Rome, and a few other places in Italy, so if you return to Italy you can easily see additional things in these transportation hubs, but it's more trouble to get back to Ferrara.

Also, you could fly into Verona and out of Milan instead of being in Milan twice.

As others have already said, there are wonderful sights, food/restaurants, bicycling, etc., in Ferrara. We visited twice, once on a day trip and another time for three nights. Check a good guidebook and you'll find plenty to see and do. For a very light approach to history, you can check wikipedia to learn about the Este family and line:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Este

For an added perspective, if you haven't seen the film Il giardino dei Finzi Contini (based on the novel by Giorgio Bassani), it is well worth watching. Classic 70s cinema, heavy subject matter, very interesting in my opinion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Garden_of_the_Finzi-Continis_(film)

We spent 3 nights in Ferrara in March of this year. We stayed at Hotel Annunziata and highly recommend it. Wonderful staff and owners, great breakfast buffet and the location cannot be beat. Located centrally in a large square and right across from Castello Estense. The main tourist info center is located in Castello Estense and I would recommend a stop there to pick up a "Visit Ferrara in Brief" guide and a small pamphlet titled "Ferrara Museums and Monuments" which has a comprehensive list of sites and opening days/hours of same. Visitor Center staff were very helpful. We visited most places recommended by others above and enjoyed them all. The Monastero di Sant’Antonio in Polesine mentioned above was a very memorable experience. We had a nice lunch at Trattoria da Noemi. There are many gelato shops in Ferrara but we really liked Gelateria Baluardi, which is a little out of the way but really excellent gelato (we went there multiple times!). Good advice from all others above which will help with your own research.

Forgot to add that we bought the 3-day MyFE card at tourist office which covered most entry fees to sites we visited in Ferrara and also covered at least some of the small tourist tax (I think 2 or 3 Euro per night) that is charged on hotel room stays. I believe the 2-day card covers tourist tax for one night and the 3-day card covers tourist tax for 2 nights. You need to show the card at your hotel desk so they remove the tourist tax from your bill before you check out, ideally show them as soon as you have the card. Whether the card is worth buying will depend on how many covered sites you want to visit while there.

If you are interested in the frescoes at the Palazzo Schifanoia as Lola mentioned above, one of the books on the 100 best books of the 21st century listed in The NY Times this week is a wonderful and inventive novel by Ali Smith called How to be Both. The frescoes (both the painter who created them and a modern young person who viewed them) feature importantly in it. The book is told in two parts and weaves together all sorts of things - life and death, male and female, old and young.

Thank you all so much for the wonderful information! I am staying at Hotel Annunziata and am looking forward to exploring the city and its history now that I have so many great tips! Thanks a million Rick Steves' Travel Forum!!

Here’s what I wrote during a 2022 trip that included Ferrara. The museum was very interesting:

Ferrara – 2 nights: I wanted her to experience at least one less touristy location in northern Italy, so we went to Ferrara. We had a large room in the very nice Maxxim Hotel, near the Jewish ghetto. Their breakfast area has an indoor and garden area.
After a local piadina lunch at Farina del Mio Sacco, we walked out to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Ferrara which contains many interesting artifacts from the Etruscan city of Spina – 3rd Century BC. Since we also went to Ravenna, we ran out of time to rent bikes in Ferrara, but we enjoyed going through Castelle Estense – especially the dungeon, and we had our best meal of our trip in Ferrara! I just looked up the name of the restaurant – Trattoria da Noemi, and now my mouth is watering – wow!

Day-trip to Ravenna: We took the 8:27am train to arrive before 10am and be one of the first in the timed reservations for the gorgeous mosaics. Imagine gazing up at the spectacular mosaics in San Vitale, and this time it’s almost empty, quiet & peaceful! The rest were the normal level of activity. Even with a little sporadic rain, we thoroughly enjoyed our morning & early afternoon in Ravenna.

When staying at Hotel Annunziata, check out their bitters spritz bar, which is located right by reception desk. Nice spot to have a spritz before dinner and they have 30 or 40 choices of Italian bitters, most of which are not available in the US.

Penny, thank you for mentioning that book by Ali Smith. We found those frescoes fascinating, as I explained above, and the book sounds interesting so I just ordered it. My husband reads to me while I cook dinner, and we enjoy sharing what we learn about Italy that way. So this sounds perfect.

And Eric.reiss, I hope you enjoy Hotel Annunziata as much as we did. The family-run hotel is a little gem. I would go back to Ferrara just to stay there again.

please check out the international greeters association. when we were in ferrara last may we met Massimo, a local, and he gave us a tour of his lovely ferrara. we happily invited him for lunch and thoroughtly enjoyed our day