Ferrara

Ferrara is a city in Italy. Together with the nearby delta of the Po river, Ferrara has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Understand


Although it certainly has a thriving tourism industry, Ferrara is not on the typical foreign tourist's itinerary, which makes it perfect for those tourists who want to get off the beaten path of Venice-Florence-Rome and soak in some authentic northern Italian culture. It's characterized by twisting medieval cobblestoned streets, a Duomo (cathedral) with a looming Gothic façade, and—best of all—a castle straight out of storybooks, complete with towers, moat, and drawbridges (that you can cross during the day).

Thanks to the d'Este family of astute art patrons, Ferrara contains many beautiful objects de arte, but the genuine masterpiece is the city itself. Half medieval, half Renaissance, the dual cityscape was the vision of oligarch Ercole d'Este, who hired architect Biagio Rossetti to seamlessly meld the newer section to the old. This careful planning earned Ferrara the title of Italy's first "modern city." Today, its captivating, anachronistic ambience is best explored on foot or by bicycle.

Touring the sites will occupy a day, but after that the best way to experience Ferrara is to relax at one (or several) of its cafes and enjoy la vita italiana going on around you.



By train
The easiest option. Ferrara is on the line that runs from Florence to Bologna to Venice, and thus makes an easy day trip on your travels to the more heavily touristy sites.

By car

 * Autostrada A13 Italia.svg A13 motorway Bologna-Padova, exit Ferrara Nord or Ferrara Sud.
 * Strada Statale 16 Italia.svg highway strada statale 16 Adriatica
 * Strada Statale 64 Italia.svg highway strada statale 64 Porrettana

By coach

 * Flixbus.

Get around
Take your cue from the locals and rent a bike (at the train station, near the Duomo or interurban companies). Everyone bikes in Ferrara—old ladies in fur coats, mothers and fathers each with a babyseat on the back, studentessas in skirts and stillettos, even the police officers themselves. It's really the most convenient way to get around this city made up of a twisting maze of cobblestone streets.

Mi Muovo is an integrated public transport pass for the region. Short-stay visitors might use "Mi Muovo Multibus", a 12-trip bus ticket, see Emilia Romagna.

See
Ferrara is one of a few provincial centres in Italy (along with Lucca, Bergamo and Grosseto) where city walls were remained mostly intact. The most of the attractions of the city are inside its almost 9 km city walls.



Do
Take a stroll or a bike ride around the walls, either on the path that runs on top, or on the sidewalks in the park that runs around nearly the entire circumference. Good access at the end of Corso Ercole d'Este or of Via Quartieri.

Buy

 * Ferrara is a fairly well-to-do northern Italian city and predictably has a good number of clothing shops, ranging from budget-fashion Zara to small, expensive boutiques. The main shopping districts are Via Mazzini (the street leading from Piazza Trento-Trieste where the campanile and Mel Books is) and Via Garibaldi (the street leading from inside the Palazzo Municipio), as well as the whole center of the city around the Castello.
 * Every Saturday morning there is an open-air market set up in Piazza Trento-Trieste with a changing weekly theme—ranging from furniture to antiques to clothes to food and produce. One night a week the same piazza is devoted to an open-air candy market.
 * Stop by Ferrara Frutta (the best one is on the very end of Via Garibaldi), a co-op that sells fresh local produce of excellent quality for very low prices.

Eat
In Italian, a "piadina" is the type of pressed, flatbread sandwich that is known in the United States as the "panini." Actual "panini" (singular "panino") are merely normal sandwiches.
 * Panini and Piadine

In Italy it is customary for each person to order a whole pizza for him or herself. The crusts are thin, so one pizza is almost exactly enough for a filling dinner for one person. Generally cheaper than a full-course meal, perfect for students.
 * Pizza

Do not leave Ferrara without trying its trademark cappellacci di zucca (round pasta stuffed with squash/pumpkin), either "al burro e salvia" (with butter and sage) or "al ragu" (with meat sauce).
 * Pasta

Chinese restaurants are mediocre, but
 * International fare
 * Indian restaurant on Via Garibaldi is in fact quite good, even by non-Italy standards.

Drink

 * The Piazza - If you're in Ferrara on a fair Wednesday night, do yourself a favor and go out to the main piazza. There you will find every young person in the city (and some older ones too) out socializing at the piazza in front of the looming Duomo façade with beer in hand (acquired at Settimo or Bar del Duomo for €2-4). An experience not to be missed.

Sleep

 * Casa degli Artisti - Respectable pensione located at Via Della Vittoria 66, a cobblestoned side street just off Via Mazzini. Clean, serviceable rooms at economic rates (€25-30 per night), but beware of the curfew.  No guests allowed upstairs.
 * Hotel San Girolamo dei Gesuiti - A renovated monastery at Via Madama 40/a, around the corner from the main section of the university, a pleasant 5-10 minute walk from the central piazza. Friendly and available service, complimentary breakfast as well as an attached restaurant, and the rooms are simple but lovely and clean.  Well worth the price at €42/night for a single, €78/night for a double.
 * Hotel San Girolamo dei Gesuiti - A renovated monastery at Via Madama 40/a, around the corner from the main section of the university, a pleasant 5-10 minute walk from the central piazza. Friendly and available service, complimentary breakfast as well as an attached restaurant, and the rooms are simple but lovely and clean.  Well worth the price at €42/night for a single, €78/night for a double.