A Day Trip to Modena & Maranello

I hope you like red!

I’m still pinching myself over the fact that I actually got to visit Maranello.

I don’t talk about this a lot, but I love Formula One (F1). I went to a few races when I was in high school, and my team has always been (and will always be) Ferrari.

Maranello is a small town in northern Italy and the home for Ferrari and the Scuderia Ferrari team. And you’re aware of that fact from the moment you get there. There are prancing horses, bright red road cars, and nods to the manufacturer everywhere. It’s kinda like Disney Land but for F1 fans.

I took a day trip out to Maranello (and Modena) from Milano to visit both Ferrari museums, and it was the perfect short and sweet visit with hundreds of other F1 fans.

It’s kind of wild to be sharing about F1 here on the blog. When I was growing up, there weren’t a ton of people here in the US who were actually interested in it.

But now? I overhear people talking about it out in public all of the time. Names like Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are household names. Heck, there’s even an F1 fan club here in Pittsburgh that gets together to watch the races together!

It’s just a really exciting time to be an F1 fan. Hence my pilgrimage to the land of Ferrari!

To keep with the structure of my Milano recap, we’ll cover these topics in this Maranello deep dive:

• How I got there
• How I got around
• What I saw
• Where I ate

How I got there

I ended up booking an early-morning Frecceciarossa high-speed train from Milano to Modena. The trip took about an hour, and the Milano train station was busy, but beautiful.

I booked my train ticket a few days in advance, and as someone who is perpetually early, I had some time to kill once I got to the train station before my train was scheduled to leave. So I ended up finding a vegan croissant (filled with a red fruit jam!) and an American-sized cup of coffee to keep me busy.

An observation from someone who doesn’t travel by train very often: I was so surprised at how quickly a train enters and leaves the train station. You have to be ready when your train stops to get into the right car before it leaves again. I actually ended up having to run to my car at least once during this trip!

How I got around

Once in Modena, I walked ~10 minutes from the train station to the Museo Enzo Ferrari Modena.

Modena is a lovely little town, much of which is yellow. Once at the museum, I learned that the background of the famous “prancing horse” Ferrari logo is yellow for this reason!

I purchased both museum tickets a few weeks in advance online, but I didn’t have a plan in place for actually making it from Modena to Maranello and back (which is roughly a 30 minute drive both ways).

Luckily, there’s a Ferrari bus that transports visitors from one museum to the other. It was only 12 euros to book, and it was worth every penny. I ended up purchasing my bus ticket once I got to the Modena museum, but I’d probably do it in advance if I ever did this tour again. I can’t find the same link I was given at the museum to actually purchase that bus ticket, but it was such a helpful service, especially for someone touring these museums by themselves.

It did only have a few specific drop off and pick up times, so definitely be aware of that prior to planning your trip. I definitely lucked out and the timings worked perfectly with my pre-purchased train tickets to and from Modena.

After the Maranello museum tour, the bus took me back to the Modena train station (or you could ride it an extra stop back to the Modena museum), and I took the Frecceciarossa back to Milano! Easy peasy.

What I saw

I started my Ferrari day at the Museo Enzo Ferrari Modena.

This museum is more about the Ferrari brand and company. And while there were certainly plenty of beautiful cars to be seen, the museum was filled with so much history, from letters to posters to desk replicas.

After the Modena museum tour, I caught the bus to Maranello.

As we got closer to the town, I started seeing a lot of red. You could almost feel the excitement in the bus build as we drove, especially once we passed the Fiorano test track (which you can actually “tour” via a bus, along with the factory, with the Panoramic Factory and Track Tour ticket).

We actually followed a Ferrari road car to the museum; Maranello has loads of “drive a Ferrari!” businesses around the museum, and folks were test driving all day.

The museum in Maranello itself is all about the cars and racing. It’s an F1-lover’s dream. It’s the museum for Ferrari fans, filled with priceless cars, racing trophies, and unparalleled views into this historic racing team.

It was a fascinating, self-guided tour. I definitely walked around in a bit of a daze for a while because there was just so much to see, and I wanted to take my time and soak it in.

After my museum visit, I had around two hours to walk around the town and find a place to eat (more on that experience in a bit). So I snagged a map that highlighted some top touristy Ferrari spots in the town and explored.

I found the Scuderia Ferrari building, which is where all of the R&D happens for their racing teams. It was so cool to see actual Ferrari employees, decked out in their red and yellow, walking in and out of the building.

That said, the iconic view I was looking for was the “historical” factory entrance. The exact picture you see below is something I’ve dreamt about seeing in-person for a long time, and it’s one that I’ve always equated with this brand and team.

So much history has gone through that gate! I just stood there for a few minutes taking it all in, and I actually think seeing this (literally just standing across the street and staring at it) was my top experience of this entire day.

Where I ate

Since this was only a day trip, I only really needed lunch while I was in Maranello. After walking around and finding the old factory entrance, I still had some time before the bus left to go back to Modena, and I happened upon Ristorante Cavallino.

Ristorante Cavallino
Via Abetone Inferiore, 1, 41053 Maranello MO, Italy

Established by Enzo Ferrari in 1950, Ristorante Cavallino was reopened in 2021 by Modena-born chef, Massimo Bottura. The menu is made up of dishes that are seasonal, beautiful, and high-end (yet approachable!).

The building itself is a lovely deep red and “classily” Ferrari’d. There are prancing horses and racing photographs and memorabilia everywhere, but they’re a bit more subtle than the bright reds and yellows plastered all over the museums.

I was in a Ferrari t-shirt and jean shorts, and I felt very underdressed, but I walked in with confidence and asked if you needed a reservation to eat there.

Which…you do. But after checking the dining room, they made and exception and gave me a table! I was shocked. And just extremely thankful. And in response, I didn’t stop smiling once during my short and sweet meal.

In short, it was such an incredible lunch. It was more expensive than any other meal I had in Italy, but wow. I ordered some of the best bread I’ve ever had in my life (the focaccia especially––it was so crispy on the outside, but tender and chewy on the inside), ravioli verde (made with homemade pasta and stuffed with goat cheese, peas, green apple, mint and dandelion leaves), and a glass of white wine that was zippy and crisp and paired beautifully with my meal.

It was one of the best dining experiences of my life. Eating alone at a restaurant can be a little weird and awkward, but I felt so at ease and just really deliriously excited to have this experience. I just embraced being on my own and just enjoyed it. It was such a fun and unexpected way to end my visit to Maranello.

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This little solo day trip was such a dream, and now that I’ve been home for a few weeks, it actually almost feels like one. It was such a bucket list trip for me, and I’m so tickled that I actually got to do it.

If you’re a Ferrari or F1 fan and are planning some time in Italy, I couldn’t recommend a trip out to this historic, beautiful, and unabashedly red part of the country more.