the city of the Este inside nine kilometres of walls to ride round by bicycle, with the castle on its moat, the Diamanti, the Salone dei Mesi and the winter fog, and towards the sea Comacchio, Pomposa and the lagoons of the Po Delta
Ferrara stands on the plain, a few kilometres from the Po, and for more than three centuries it was the capital of the Este, who made it one of the courts of the Renaissance. The centre is enclosed by nine kilometres of walls, almost intact and lined with trees, which you go round on foot or by bicycle, along the top of the rampart or down on the grass of the ditch. In the middle stands the Castello Estense, the Este castle, with its four towers and its moat full of water; a stone's throw away is the Romanesque cathedral, reopened in 2024. North of the castle begins the Addizione Erculea, the new town that Ercole I had Biagio Rossetti design in 1492, with its straight streets, the Palazzo dei Diamanti and the great piazza Ariostea where the Palio is run in May; to the south lies the medieval city, with via delle Volte, the ghetto and Palazzo Schifanoia, where the Salone dei Mesi, the Hall of the Months, tells a year at the court of Borso. Ferrara is the city of bicycles, and people ride them everywhere, in winter too, in the fog. Towards the sea, fifty kilometres away, there are Comacchio with its canals, the lagoons with the flamingos, the abbey of Pomposa and the castle of Mesola: the Po Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site together with the city. With a motorhome there is one thing to know: an area with services, in Ferrara, does not exist today.
Sleeping
Stops and overnight stays
In Ferrara there is no motorhome area with services today: the Comune's one at the ex MOF has been closed since March 2024 for the works on the Darsena, and the municipal campsite has been closed for years. What remains are two car parks without services, below the walls, on roads that the anti-smog bans leave open. For water and emptying you go towards the sea, to Comacchio or to Bosco Mesola, which are also the base for the Delta.
Parcheggio camper di Rampari di San Rocco
Rampari di San Rocco, 44121 Ferrara (FE)
the car park along the road, below the walls on the east side, which Ferrara Tua, the Comune's parking company, opened to motorhomes on 23 April 2024, and which it describes itself as without services. You pay with the Ferrara Tua app. The castle is a quarter of an hour away on foot, Schifanoia about ten minutes. The places are in a row along the carriageway: travellers in 2025 and 2026 describe quiet nights, in January, at New Year and in February too, but heavy traffic during the day and in the evening, with buses that make the motorhome sway; at midday it is full, after 19:00 it empties
about fifteen
no services
2 euros for the day, Monday to Saturday from 7:30 to 20:00; free on public holidays and outside those hours · 0532 230110 · ferraratua.it/parcheggio-camper-in-rampari-di-san-rocco/
via Darsena, ingresso da Rampari di San Paolo, 44122 Ferrara (FE)
the large free park-and-ride car park west of the centre, five hundred places for cars and none reserved for motorhomes, next to the Comune's old motorhome area, closed since 4 March 2024. The castle is about ten minutes away on foot. In 2026, up to October, travellers slept there, but during the day it is almost always full of commuters' cars: it is best to arrive in the evening after 18:00, or at dawn. The bays are five metres long, and anyone over seven metres struggles. In 2025 and 2026 some people found it marked "cars only": we have not found an official ban. On Monday mornings the market, at the Acquedotto, three hundred metres away, fills the area
Parcheggio camper di via dello Squero, a Comacchio
via dello Squero 20, 44022 Comacchio (FE)
the car park for motorhomes, cars and coaches between via Fattibello and via dello Squero, which the provincial tourist office gives as free, 260 metres from the Trepponti. No water and no waste dump. In winter it works: quiet nights on 2 January and 13 February 2026, with lighting and a supermarket nearby, and the local police passing often. In the evening there are mopeds, at dawn the rubbish lorry. During the Sagra dell'anguilla, the eel festival, in autumn, you pay
six reserved bays, in a large car park
no services
Free; on days of festivals and food fairs, in 2025 and 2026, 15 euros a day
a private area with a barrier and an operator, inside the Comacchio salt pans, five kilometres from the Trepponti and two from the Lidi, the beach resorts, a kilometre from the flamingo oasis, with the cycle path to Comacchio. The pitches have electricity, there are sinks and a motorhome service point; no toilets or showers. That it is open all year is written by a portal of stopovers: phone first
ElectricityWaterGrey waterChemical toilet
The operator does not publish its rates; in 2021 travellers paid 15 euros with electricity, and in 2024 electricity was paid separately · 0533 330885
the only stopover in the area with all services and open all year: a fenced private area, with automatic entry, two kilometres from the Gran Bosco della Mesola, six from the castle and seven from the abbey of Pomposa. The operator lists electricity at every pitch, toilets, hot showers, a children's playground and bicycle hire. Travellers say the electricity is weak and trips with a heater, and the showers take one euro tokens
The operator does not publish its rates; in May 2025 people who stopped there paid 20 euros a night, in April 2026 25 euros, in cash · 393 078 3304 · oasi-park.it
a small area, shared with coaches and cars, 250 metres from the castle of Mesola and a few steps from the Romea. The 2025 accounts call it handy, with road noise in the morning. In April, for the asparagus festival, it is full
The centre lies entirely inside the walls and you get round it on foot or by bicycle; the motorhome stays outside, at Rampari di San Rocco or at the ex MOF. In winter the anti-smog bans of the plain apply.
You arrive by the A13 motorway Bologna-Padova, exits Ferrara Nord and Ferrara Sud. Towards the sea the link road to Porto Garibaldi leads to Comacchio and the Lidi, and the Romea state road goes up to Pomposa and Mesola
The anti-smog bans, from the Comune's ordinance of 30 September 2026: from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, Monday to Friday from 8:30 to 18:30, diesels up to Euro 4 may not circulate in the built-up area; on Sundays, almost all of them, from 8:30 to 18:30, and on days of emergency measures, from 8:00 to 19:00, Euro 5 diesels stop too. The emergency measures are announced by Arpae on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The fine ranges from 168 to 679 euros. The roads to the ex MOF, which you enter from Rampari di San Paolo, and to Rampari di San Rocco are excluded: a Euro 4 diesel motorhome can get there on weekdays too, but cannot drive around the city. The Highway Code treats a motorhome like other vehicles; anyone with an old motorhome registered for special use should check the registration document
The ZTL, the limited traffic zone, closes the centre with cameras, and above 3.5 tonnes any permit requires clearance from the local police. The Comune does not publish the hours and gates on a readable page: a motorhome has no reason to go in
The bicycle: inside the walls you go by bicycle, and the cycle path runs round the walls. Ferrara Tua has the Velostazione, a free, supervised bicycle park, open day and night, with the app. There are hire shops near the station and in the centre; we have not found the prices online
The Monday morning market, because of the building works in piazza Travaglio, from 9 February 2026 to 9 February 2027 is held at the Acquedotto, in piazza XXIV Maggio, three hundred metres from the ex MOF
Water and LPG: in Ferrara we have not found a public motorhome service point that works; the nearest are at Comacchio and Bosco Mesola. LPG is available at the Esso at via della Canapa 26, open day and night, and at the Enercoop at via Lanfranco Caretti 1
For the Delta: Comacchio is fifty kilometres away, three quarters of an hour; Pomposa and Mesola are further up, on the Romea. The abbey car park is for the visit, and there is no area for the night at Pomposa
Seeing
Sights
Ferrara takes two days: one for the castle, the cathedral, the medieval city with the Volte and Schifanoia; one for the Addizione, the Diamanti, piazza Ariostea, and a ride round the walls by bicycle. The ticket to buy, for those over 18, is the MyFE Card: 20 euros for two days, 22 for three, 25 for six, with the castle and the tower, the Museo della Cattedrale, Schifanoia, Marfisa, the Pinacoteca, the archaeological museum and the MEIS, and the reduced price for the exhibition at the Diamanti; young people under 18 get in free at many museums. The Delta needs a day of its own, or two. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
1
Castello Estense
Castle · paid entry · 44.83763, 11.61943
largo Castello, 44121 Ferrara (FE)
Bartolino da Novara began it on 29 September 1385 for Niccolò II d'Este, after a revolt: a fortress against the city, with the moat and four towers, starting from the Torre dei Leoni, which was already there. Then the court went to live in it, and the via Coperta, the covered way, joined it to the ducal palace, today the town hall. Inside are the kitchens, the prisons, the painted ceilings and the orange garden, and from the tower you see the whole city. Since September 2026 there has been a building site for restoration and earthquake-proofing, which the Provincia expects to finish in summer 2030; the museum route stays open until the end of 2026, and the via Coperta is already closed. What will be visible from January nobody writes: phone first. The castle also houses the tourist office, on 0532 419190
Opening hours according to the tourist office, in October 2026, from 10:00 to 18:00, with the ticket office until 17:15; closed on Tuesdays. The museum route stays open until 31 December 2026; from 2027 it is not known · 12 euros, reduced 10; from 11 to 17 years 5 euros, under 11 free; the climb up the Torre dei Leoni 2 euros extra. It is in the MyFE Card · 0532 419180 · castelloestense.it
begun in 1135, with the Romanesque facade below and the Gothic loggia above, and the bell tower in pink and white marble attributed to Leon Battista Alberti, never finished; the apse is by Biagio Rossetti. Along the side facing piazza Trento e Trieste runs the loggia dei Merciai, the merchants' loggia, with shops fitted under the arches since the fifteenth century. It was closed from 2019 to 2024 to strengthen the piers that hold up the domes, and reopened in March 2024, for Palm Sunday; there may still be some scaffolding on the facade
Opening hours according to the tourist office, in 2026, on weekdays from 7:30 to 12:00 and from 15:30 to 19:00, on public holidays from 8:00 to 13:00 and from 16:00 to 20:00 · 0532 207449
the Cathedral Museum, in the former church of San Romano, on the arcaded street that led to the river port on the Po, the treasures that came out of the cathedral: the panels of the Months by the Master of the Months, the organ shutters painted by Cosmè Tura in 1469, with Saint George saving the princess, the Madonna of the Pomegranate by Jacopo della Quercia and the sixteenth century tapestries
Opening hours according to the tourist office, in 2026, from 9:30 to 13:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00; closed on Mondays · 6 euros, reduced 3, free up to 18. It is in the MyFE Card · 0532 244949
Biagio Rossetti designed it for Sigismondo d'Este, between 1493 and 1503, at the crossing of the two main streets of the Addizione, and the name comes from the roughly 8,500 diamond-pointed ashlar blocks of white marble veined with pink, which catch the light differently at every hour. On the ground floor the big exhibitions: this winter "Da Monet a Van Gogh a Kandinsky", from Monet to Van Gogh to Kandinsky, from 19 September 2026 to 10 January 2027, with works from the Boijmans museum in Rotterdam; after that, no exhibition has been announced yet. On the piano nobile, the main floor, the Pinacoteca, the national picture gallery, with Cosmè Tura, Mantegna and Dosso Dossi
Opening hours according to the tourist office, in 2026, the exhibition every day from 9:30 to 19:30; the Pinacoteca from 10:00 to 18:00, closed on Mondays · the exhibition 16 euros, 14 from 6 to 18 and with the MyFE Card, free under 6; the Pinacoteca 8 euros, free up to 18 and on the first Sunday of the month, and it is in the MyFE Card · 0532 244949 · palazzodiamanti.it
one of the delizie, the country residences, of the Este, from 1385, whose name speaks of "schivar la noia", escaping boredom. The Salone dei Mesi, the Hall of the Months, was wanted by Borso d'Este around 1470, and was painted by Francesco del Cossa, Ercole de' Roberti and other court painters: each month has three bands, at the top the triumph of a god, in the middle the sign of the zodiac, at the bottom the life of Borso's court, with hunting, the palio, the peasants in the fields. Many walls are lost, but what remains is one of the great secular cycles of the fifteenth century. After the 2012 earthquake the hall reopened in 2020, the whole palazzo in 2021
Opening hours according to the tourist office, in 2026, from 10:00 to 19:00, with the ticket office until 18:00; closed on Mondays · 12 euros, reduced 9, free up to 18; with the Palazzina Marfisa 15 euros. It is in the MyFE Card · 0532 244949
the house of the merchant Giovanni Romei, from the middle of the fifteenth century, with its arcaded courtyard and painted rooms, among them the Sala delle Sibille, with the prophetesses against a green hedge. It belongs to the State, and is closed for restoration: the end of the works is not written
Opening hours according to the tourist office, in October 2026, the museum is closed for restoration, and until 9 January 2027 only the courtyard can be seen, on Saturdays from 10:00 to 13:00, free · 0532 234130
Palazzo Costabili and the Museo archeologico nazionale
Museum · paid entry · 44.82725, 11.62731
via XX Settembre 124, 44121 Ferrara (FE)
the unfinished palazzo of Antonio Costabili, known as Ludovico il Moro's palace, by Biagio Rossetti, with its courtyard of two loggias. The national archaeological museum tells the story of Spina, the Etruscan port city on the Delta, between the sixth and the third centuries BC: two dugout canoes carved from a tree trunk, and from the tombs Attic red-figure vases, bronzes and jewellery of amber and gold
Opening hours according to the tourist office, in 2026, from 9:30 to 17:00; closed on Mondays · 6 euros, 2 from 18 to 25, free up to 18 and on the first Sunday of the month; the garden only 1 euro. It is in the MyFE Card · 0532 66299
Porta Paola, piazza del Travaglio, 44121 Ferrara (FE)
about nine kilometres of almost intact walls around the centre, with trees along the top of the rampart and grass down in the ditch: you go round them on foot or by bicycle, and it is the thing you remember about Ferrara. To the north are the walls of the Addizione, with low towers and the Porta degli Angeli at the end of corso Ercole I; to the south the pointed bastions of Alfonso II. Porta Paola, from 1612, is a good starting point, and is ten minutes from the ex MOF. Between the Certosa and the Jewish cemetery, inside the walls, there are still cultivated fields
Opening hours always open; the documentation centre on the walls, at Porta Paola, according to the tourist office in 2026 opens Wednesday to Sunday in the morning, and Friday to Sunday in the afternoon too · 380 1468581
the narrow street of the medieval city, crossed by arches and by passages suspended between the houses, almost all from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It runs along the old bed of the Po, which flowed here until the twelfth century, and linked the merchants' warehouses to the river. In the evening, in the fog, it is the Ferrara of the postcards
via Mazzini, via Vignatagliata e via Vittoria, 44121 Ferrara (FE)
three streets a stone's throw from the cathedral, where the Jews of Ferrara were shut in by the papal government in the seventeenth century, until 1859. At via Mazzini 95 are the synagogues and the community museum, closed since the 2012 earthquake: the reopening was announced for 2025, and we have not found that it has happened. It is the Ferrara of The Garden of the Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani, who is buried in the Jewish cemetery in via delle Vigne
MEIS, National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah
Museum · paid entry · 44.83549, 11.61342
via Piangipane 81, 44121 Ferrara (FE)
the national museum of the history of the Jews in Italy, in the former prison in via Piangipane, near the walls and five minutes from the ex MOF. Two permanent exhibitions, "Ebrei, una storia italiana", Jews, an Italian story, and "1938, l'umanità negata", humanity denied, on the racial laws; this winter, from 23 October 2026 to 7 February 2027, the exhibition "Shabbat Shalom"
Opening hours according to the tourist office and the museum, in 2026, Tuesday to Sunday from 10:00 to 18:00, with the ticket office until 17:15; closed on Mondays · 10 euros, 8 from 6 to 18, free under 6 and with the MyFE Card · 0532 1912039 · meis.museum
the straight street that runs from the castle to the Porta degli Angeli, on the walls: the axis of the new town that Ercole I decided on in 1492 and entrusted to Biagio Rossetti. Halfway along, at the Quadrivio degli Angeli, three palazzi on three corners: the Diamanti, Prosperi-Sacrati and Turchi di Bagno. It is quiet, wide, with gardens behind the walls, and by bicycle you ride it all the way to the walls
the monastery of the Poor Clares, founded in 1406, where the Este are buried: in the nuns' choir are the tombstones of Ercole I with Eleonora of Aragon, of Alfonso I with Lucrezia Borgia, and of Alfonso II, the last duke. It is visited with the nuns, on afternoons from Monday to Friday
Opening hours according to the tourist office, in 2026, Monday to Friday from 15:30 to 17:30; closed on Saturdays and Sundays · by donation · 0532 207825
the charterhouse that Borso d'Este founded in 1452, which became the city's cemetery in 1813, with arcaded cloisters around the lawn and the church of San Cristoforo. Borso and Michelangelo Antonioni are buried here. It is at the far end of the Addizione, near the walls, and is a place of silence
Opening hours according to the tourist office, in 2026, the church from 8:45 to 16:45; on Sundays from 10:00 to 11:00 you can go in only for mass · 0532 232933
the house where Ariosto spent his last years, working on the 1532 edition of the Orlando Furioso. On the facade is written "Parva, sed apta mihi": small, but suited to me. Inside a small museum, with the garden
Opening hours according to the tourist office, in 2026, from 10:00 to 12:30 and from 16:00 to 18:00, closed on Mondays, with booking on the Comune's website · 0532 244949
the small house of 1559 of Marfisa d'Este, who lived there even after the court had left. The grotesque ceilings, the period furniture and the garden with the loggia degli Aranci, the orange loggia. It is five minutes from Schifanoia, and shares a single ticket with Schifanoia
Opening hours according to the tourist office, in 2026, from 9:30 to 13:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00; closed on Mondays · 6 euros, reduced 3, free up to 18; with Schifanoia 15 euros. It is in the MyFE Card · 0532 244949
the new square of the Addizione, designed by Rossetti, about two hundred metres by one hundred, with the sunken ring of grass in the middle and the column with Ariosto on top. It is the ground of the Palio, at the end of May. On the square stands Palazzo Massari, with the Boldini museum, closed since 2012
the Benedictine abbey in the middle of the Delta plain, with the bell tower of 1063, about 48 metres tall, which can be seen from kilometres away. Guido d'Arezzo was a monk here, who invented the staff for writing notes and gave them their names. Inside, the fourteenth century frescoes in the church, in the refectory and in the chapter house, and in front the Palazzo della Ragione where the abbots administered justice. It is about fifty kilometres from Ferrara, on the Romea; the Oasi Park at Bosco Mesola is seven away
Opening hours according to the Ministry, in August 2026, Tuesday to Sunday from 8:30 to 19:30, with the ticket office until 18:45; on Mondays the church is open only for worship, and on Sundays from 11:00 to 12:00 only worshippers go in. Closed on 25 December. The winter hours are not written · 5 euros, 2 from 18 to 25, free under 18 and on the first Sunday of the month · 0533 719119
the small town on the water of the lagoons, with its canals, low colourful houses and bridges. Its symbol is the Trepponti, from 1638: five brick stairways rising to a landing above five arches, where the canal divides. The motorhome stays at the via dello Squero car park, 260 metres away
the factory where the lagoon's marinated eel is still made as the 1818 regulations require: in the Sala dei Fuochi, the Hall of Fires, twelve great fireplaces, the eel cooked on the grills and put into the marinade of vinegar and salt. The marinated eel is sold in the shop from October to January, just when you arrive in winter. The price of the ticket on its own is not published
Opening hours according to the operator, in 2026, from November to February Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 to 13:00 and from 14:30 to 18:00, Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 17:00
the Ancient Delta Museum, more than two thousand finds on the history of the Delta, from the Etruscans of Spina to the Romans to medieval Comacchio, and the hall with the cargo of a Roman ship wrecked two thousand years ago along the coast of the time. The combined ticket for the Comacchio museums, in 2026, is valid only from 1 March to 1 November: in winter you pay museum by museum
Opening hours according to the museum, from November to February Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 to 13:00 and from 14:30 to 18:00, Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 18:00; closed on Mondays and on 25 December · 7 euros, 4 from 11 to 18, free under 11, year not stated · 0533 311316 · museodeltaantico.com
the brackish lagoons south of Comacchio, inside the Po Delta Park, where eels are still caught with the lavoriero, the trap of reeds and grilles that catches them as they head for the sea. From the Stazione Foce a two-hour boat trip leaves among the fishermen's huts, with a stop on land, and the large colony of flamingos. From Comacchio you follow the brown signs, and you check in at the landing twenty minutes before departure
Opening hours the boat trip, according to the operator and without the year, from 3 November leaves on Saturdays and the days before public holidays at 14:30, on Sundays and public holidays at 11:30; whether it also runs between December and February the page does not say · 18 euros, free up to 6 · 0533 81302 · podeltatourism.it
the last of the Este delizie, built between 1578 and 1583 for Alfonso II, with four crenellated towers, as a residence for hunting in the forest. Inside is the museum of the Gran Bosco della Mesola and of its deer, which still lives in the Gran Bosco, a few kilometres towards the sea; the Oasi Park is two kilometres from the forest. The village motorhome area is 250 metres away
Opening hours no official source publishes them; phone
Ferrara's year is in its squares: in winter Christmas, New Year's Eve with the burning of the castle and the carnival of the Este, in May the Palio with the whole city in costume, at the end of August the street musicians of the Buskers, in October the journalists of Internazionale. Around about, Cento has one of the biggest carnivals in Italy, and Comacchio celebrates on the water and with the eel.
Next: Ferrara Food Festival · 30 Oct - 1 Nov
30 Oct › 1Nov
Ferrara Food Festival
the All Saints' weekend
three days of markets in the squares of the centre, Ferrara produce in piazza Trento e Trieste and that of the rest of Italy in piazza Castello and in piazza Savonarola, and in piazza Municipale the chefs, tastings and cookery lessons, free. In 2026 it is the sixth edition, from 30 October to 1 November, from 9:00 to 20:00
6-8Nov
Sant'Agostino Truffle Festival
the weekends of November
at Sant'Agostino, about twenty kilometres towards Cento, the festival of the white truffle of the Panfilia wood, in the restaurant under a heated marquee at the sports ground: Friday and Saturday evenings and Sunday lunch. In 2026 it is the twentieth, on 6-8, 13-15 and 20-22 November
6-8 Nov · 13-15 Nov · 20-22 Nov
31Dec
New Year's Eve in Comacchio
the night of 31 December
the free party in the centre of Comacchio, with music on the cathedral forecourt and at the Trepponti, and at midnight fireworks over the Fattibello lagoon. The tourist office has already published the 2026 programme, with music from 21:30
31Jan
Carnival of Cento
five Sundays between the end of January and February
the allegorical papier-mâché floats parading in Cento, about thirty kilometres away, on a closed route with a ticket, twinned with Rio de Janeiro. In 2027 the Sundays are 31 January and 7, 14, 21 and 28 February, at 19 euros, and under 1.20 metres in height you do not pay. For motorhomes the car parks in piazzale 7 Fratelli Govoni and in via Burgatti are free, without booking
31 Jan · 7 Feb · 14 Feb · 21 Feb · 28 Feb
25-29Aug
Ferrara Buskers Festival
the last days of August
street musicians, jugglers and acrobats from half the world in the streets of the centre, with a market and street food; you get in with a day ticket, and the artists live on what is left in the hat. In 2027 from 25 to 29 August, with a preview in Comacchio on the 22nd; in 2026 the ticket was 12 euros, free up to 13 with an adult
This year's dates are not out yet
Christmas in Ferrara
from late November to Epiphany
the Christmas markets in piazza Trento e Trieste, Father Christmas's house in piazza Municipale, the ice rink, the tree lit in the square on 8 December and, on Christmas Eve, the divers' torchlight procession in the castle moat. In 2025 the markets ran from 22 November to 6 January; the Comune publishes the 2026 programme in November
New Year's Eve and the burning of the Castle
the night of 31 December
at midnight the fireworks on the Castello Estense, which for a quarter of an hour seems to be on fire, in front of thousands of people in the square: on the night of 31 December 2025 it was the twenty-sixth time. In 2026 the castle is a building site, and whether the burning will take place the Comune has not yet written. You go on foot, the motorhome stays outside the walls
Carnival of the Este
the weekend before Shrove Tuesday
the Renaissance carnival, with the Palio districts in costume in the squares of the centre and every year a figure from the house of Este. It opens in January with the mask of Begosso hung on the clock tower. In 2026 it was on 14 and 15 February; the 2027 dates come out in January
Carnival on the water in Comacchio
two Sundays in February
the allegorical boats parading on the canals from the Trepponti, throwing confetti and sweets, free. In 2026 it was on 8 and 15 February
The Palio of Ferrara
the Sundays of spring and all of May, with the races at the end of May
the palio of the eight contrade, the city districts, said to have been established in 1279, the oldest in Italy: from late March the homages to the duke in piazza Castello and the flag games, in May the blessing of the palii and the offering of the candles in the cathedral, the Magnifico Corteo, the grand procession, in the evening to the castle, and finally the races in piazza Ariostea, of the boys, of the girls, of the donkeys and of the horses. In 2026 the races were on the evening of Saturday 30 May; the 2027 programme comes out in March
Ferrara Sotto le Stelle
the evenings of July
Ferrara under the Stars, the summer concerts in the castle courtyard, which in 2026 had its thirtieth edition. With the building site at the castle the venue for 2027 may change
Internazionale a Ferrara
a weekend between the end of September and the beginning of October
the journalism festival of the weekly magazine Internazionale, with talks, documentaries and exhibitions, free, and a section for children. In 2026 it was from 2 to 4 October
Comacchio Eel Festival
three weekends between the end of September and the middle of October
the festival in the centre of Comacchio, with eel and lagoon fish at the stands, the museums open and boat trips in the lagoons. In 2026 motorhomes paid 15 euros a day in three car parks, among them via dello Squero, without booking, and had to leave by 8:00 on Monday
Remember
Useful tips
See the castle by 31 December 2026: from January the building site may close the route, and nobody has written what will stay open. Phone the ticket office first, on 0532 419180
The MyFE Card pays off with the castle and Schifanoia alone, and it is meant for adults: under 18 you get in free at many museums, but not at the MEIS, at the Diamanti exhibition and, from 11, at the castle
Ride round the walls by bicycle, nine kilometres all on the flat; if you have bikes on the motorhome bring them, and lock them well at night
The anti-smog bans apply Monday to Friday to diesels up to Euro 4, and on almost all Sundays to Euro 5 too: drive to the two stopovers below the walls, which are outside the bans, and leave the motorhome there
For water and emptying there is nothing in Ferrara: do them before arriving, or at Comacchio or at the Oasi Park at Bosco Mesola, which is also the place with showers
In winter fog is frequent, morning and evening: on the Romea and on the link road to the sea drive slowly, and see the Delta on clear days
The boat trip in the lagoons, in winter, leaves only at weekends, and between December and February it is not known: ask first on 0533 81302
In the recipe the source does not say how long and at what temperature to bake the pumpkin, nor how big to cut the squares of pasta; it does not explain the ragù, the other dressing
Ferrara · part two
and then?
What to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
Taste
The cooking of Ferrara is that of a court, sweet and savoury together. Cappellacci di zucca, large filled pasta stuffed with violina pumpkin, are eaten with butter and sage or with ragù; salama da sugo, a pork sausage with wine and spices, is boiled for hours and eaten with a spoon with mashed potato. Pasticcio di maccheroni encloses pasta with ragù in a dome of sweet shortcrust pastry, the coppia is the bread with four horns, and at Christmas there is pampepato, covered in chocolate, said to have been invented by the nuns of Corpus Domini. Towards the sea there is Comacchio eel, grilled or marinated. In a motorhome cappellacci are made on a table: a rolling pin is enough.
the Castello Estense with its four towers reflected in the water of the moat, in 2023Photo: Vanni Lazzari, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the well and the portico in the courtyard of the Castello EstensePhoto: Gianni Careddu, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the painted ceiling of the ducal chapel in the Castello Estense, in 2014Photo: Mike Peel, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the facade of the cathedral of San Giorgio and the marble bell tower on the square, in 2013Photo: Vanni Lazzari, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the unfinished bell tower of the cathedral of San Giorgio, with the loggia dei Merciai along its sidePhoto: Jean-Christophe BENOIST, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0piazza Trento e Trieste, with the loggia dei Merciai along the side of the cathedral and the tower of the Palazzo Municipale at the endPhoto: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Palazzo Municipale with its battlements, the tower and the Volto del Cavallo archway on the cathedral squarePhoto: Andrea.Montibeller, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0via delle Volte, the medieval street crossed by arches and suspended passages along the old course of the PoPhoto: Carlo Pelagalli, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0via delle Volte in the evening, with the street lamps lit under the archesPhoto: Paulacastelli, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the long brick facade of Palazzo Schifanoia, with the marble doorway through which you enter the museumPhoto: Dino Marsan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Salone dei Mesi in Palazzo Schifanoia, with the months painted in three bands between the painted columnsPhoto: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the month of April in the Salone dei Mesi, with the triumph of Venus at the top and the sign of Taurus in the blue bandPhoto: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the main courtyard of Casa Romei with the fifteenth century loggia and the wellPhoto: Diego Baglieri, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the main courtyard of Palazzo Costabili, known as Ludovico il Moro's palace, home of the Museo archeologico nazionalePhoto: Andrea Comisi, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the loggia degli Aranci of the Palazzina di Marfisa d'Este, with its vault painted as a pergolaPhoto: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0Palazzo dei Diamanti at the crossing of corso Ercole I d'Este, with its corner and balconyPhoto: Vanni Lazzari, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0close up, the diamond-pointed marble blocks that give the palazzo its namePhoto: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0corso Ercole I d'Este, the straight street of the Addizione Erculea between palazzi and brick wallsPhoto: Nicola Quirico, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0piazza Ariostea in December, with the column and the statue of Ludovico Ariosto in the middle of the grassPhoto: ho visto nina volare, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the long arcade of the Certosa cloister, today the city's monumental cemeteryPhoto: Gianni Careddu, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the walls of Ferrara near Porta San Giovanni, with the path in the ditch and the bare treesPhoto: Nicola Quirico, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the tree-lined avenue on top of the walls between the San Giovanni tower and the Porta degli Angeli, in the snowPhoto: Nicola Quirico, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0Porta Paola, the seventeenth century gate in the walls on the south side, where the ride beginsPhoto: Zairon, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Romanesque bell tower and the church of the abbey of Pomposa in the middle of the meadowsPhoto: Vanni Lazzari, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the nave of the church at Pomposa with the frescoes on the walls and the mosaic floorPhoto: Sailko, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Trepponti bridge in Comacchio, with its stairways and its two little guard towersPhoto: Vanni Lazzari, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Trepponti of Comacchio on a foggy November eveningPhoto: Vanni Lazzari, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0a winter sunset over the Valli di Comacchio, with the reeds against the lightPhoto: Maddy16869, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Goro lighthouse beyond the lagoons and the reed beds between the Po di Goro and the Po di GnoccaPhoto: Carlo Pelagalli, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the Castle of Mesola, the Este delizia with its four crenellated towersPhoto: Terragio67, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
