Private Ferrari Museum and Maranello Day Trip from Bologna

Ferrari Museum Maranello

Opened in 1990 a short walk from the factory gates, the Ferrari Museum Maranello tells the story of the Prancing Horse from the first car of 1947 to today's hybrid supercars. The halls change their themes regularly, yet there is always a line of classic grand tourers, Formula 1 single-seaters from different eras, engines cut open to show their mechanics, and a hall of trophies that celebrates decades of racing.

Plan about one and a half hours inside. Ferrari Museum Maranello opening hours are usually 09:30 to 19:00 from April to October and 09:30 to 18:00 in winter, and the museum closes on 25 December and 1 January. On this private tour we time the visit to avoid the busiest late-morning moments when we can. Is it worth visiting? For anyone who loves cars, design or racing, it is the reference stop of the whole Motor Valley.

The Ferrari factory district and the Fiorano test track

Around the museum lies the Ferrari factory district, a small city of modern production halls, a wind tunnel and the historic factory gate on Via Abetone Inferiore that fans photograph every day. Just south of it is the Fiorano circuit, opened in 1972 and used ever since to test new road cars and racing cars before they leave Maranello.

Your ticket includes a guided shuttle tour that drives slowly through the factory streets and alongside the Fiorano track, with live commentary on how the cars are built and tested. It lasts around 45 minutes. The shuttle depends on factory activity, so on some days it may not run; then our guide gives you more time in the museums. The guide explains the photography rules, which are set by the factory.

Maranello, the town of the Prancing Horse

Maranello is a quiet town at the foot of the Apennine hills, about 18 km south of Modena, that changed for ever when the carmaker moved its workshops here in 1943. Today red flags hang from balconies, shops sell team caps and scale models, and the streets near the museum are full of supercars on test drives.

How to get to Maranello from Bologna? The town has no railway station, and by road it is about an hour away, which is why a private Ferrari day trip from Bologna with your own driver is the easiest way to see it. Lunch is usually taken here at a typical local restaurant with two courses and water; halal food is limited in small towns like Maranello, but vegetarian and fish dishes are easy to find.

Ferrari Museum Modena at the founder's birthplace

In the afternoon we drive about 25 minutes to Modena for the second Ferrari museum, opened in 2012. It joins the restored brick house where the founder was born in 1898, and his father's metal workshop, with a bright yellow gallery whose aluminium roof is shaped like a car bonnet. Yellow is Modena's colour and the background of the famous badge.

Inside the gallery, rare cars stand on white platforms while films are projected on the walls around them, and the old workshop now displays historic engines. Allow about an hour. The visit adds the human side of the story to the technical one you saw in Maranello, and together the two museums make the most complete Ferrari museum tour you can do in one day.

Modena and the drive back to Bologna

Modena is an elegant city of arcades and red-brick palaces whose cathedral, bell tower and Piazza Grande form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The museum stands close to the railway station and only a few minutes from the historic centre, so if time allows you can ask our driver for a short stop to see the square before heading back.

The return drive to Bologna takes about 45 minutes, and we drop you at your hotel in the late afternoon. Because the vehicle is only for your party, families can travel with strollers and shopping bags, and the day can slow down or speed up to suit children, older travellers or keen photographers. A Modena and Maranello day trip from Bologna rarely feels this relaxed on public transport.