Ferrara Trip report

Ferrara Trip Report

We visited Ferrara in October 2023 and stayed 4 nights. We are slow travellers and this was the right amount of time for us. We were feeling fit and rested because we were on the way back from our holiday in Puglia but we find there’s only so much one can absorb in one day when visiting a città d’arte. The fact we were returning from Puglia, with a car full of wine, fruit, cheese and conserves also impacted where we could stay. I opted for accommodation in a village about ten minutes from the city because I was able to find a ground-floor apartment where I could unload the car right outside the door. If it hadn’t been for that, I would have found accommodation in the city. There are lots of reasonably priced car parks.

The day we arrived we stopped at Abbazia di Pomposa, which we loved. If we hadn’t already visited it a few years ago, Comacchio would definitely have been worth a stop/a day trip. 

Ferrara has an excellent website useful for planning your stay.  

https://www.ferraraterraeacqua.it/it/ 

Our first full day in Ferrara was a Sunday and the historical centre was busy with local people, day trippers, tourists. There was a farmers’ market and a crafts market and a food fair. I get the impression there is something happening most Sundays.

We bought the Ferrara card MyFe https://www.ferraraterraeacqua.it/en/myfecard/what-is-myfe-card?  The same page of the website has a link with updated opening times to all the main attractions and churches. We chose the 3-day card for 22 euros. We bought the card at the Cathedral Museum but it is also available at the Castle and Palazzo Schifanoia. The cathedral itself was closed for restoration (October 2023) and is likely to remain that way for a long time. That day we also visited the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Palazzo Diamanti. 

Note that Palazzo Diamanti is a separate entity from the Pinacoteca Nazionale even though the Pinactoteca is on its first floor. If there are no temporary exhibitions at Palazzo Diamanti, Google says it is closed and sites like ticketone don’t offer you tickets – this does not mean the Pinacoteca is closed! Check on the Ferrara website or here http://www.ferrarainfo.com/en/discover-the-area/art-and-culture/hours-of-museum-and-monuments 

On Monday we visited Casa Romei, Biblioteca Ariosto, the Castello and Monastero di Sant’Antonio in Polesine.

On Tuesday we visited Certosa di Ferrara, the Orto Botanico, Palazzo Schifanoia and Museo Archeologico.

The highlights of our visit for me (for what it’s worth – you may not have the same interests as me!) were

1. Strolling around the historical centre – Via delle Volte ecc and along the walls

2. Palazzo Castibili for the Sala del Tesoro and Museo Archeologico

3. Castello

4. The nun’s part of the church in Monastero di Sant’Antonio in Polesine

5. Pinacoteca Nazionale in Palazzo Diamanti

Parking in Ferrara is easy. All public car parks are free on Sundays. The rest of the week the Centre Storico and Palazzo Diamanti are both convenient for the centre. Mife is further from the centre but free every day. Some people park at the IperSpar supermarket and walk in from there. The historical centre of Ferrara is not enormous.

Ferrara centre is clean, loads of people walking and by bike, plenty of restaurants but also places for a snack. It has similarities with Mantova, also historically. You could combine a visit to Ferrara with Delta del Po and a boat trip, the Comacchio area and Abbazia di Pomposa. 

If I had to choose between Ferrara and Mantova I would choose Mantova. But we enjoyed our stay in Ferrara and can recommend it.