The World Watches Monza, but Ferrari's Heart Beats in Emilia-Romagna

On Sunday, September 6th, just outside Milan, the roar of twenty engines will fill the "Temple of Speed." Hundreds of thousands of people, red flags in the wind, all eyes on a single colour. That's what the Italian Grand Prix is: a day that seems to bring the whole country to a stop.

But that roar, in truth, is born somewhere else.

About a hundred kilometres from Monza, inside a quiet warehouse in Emilia-Romagna, that very same sound is designed, calculated and tested long before it ever reaches the track. That's where it all begins. And it's where, every year, more and more people choose to go looking for it.

 

Ferrari's real home isn't the racetrack

 

 

If Monza is the stage for one day, Ferrari's real home is somewhere else: Maranello, in the province of Modena. Since 1943, this is where every single-seater, every supercar, every page of the history of the world's most iconic automotive brand has been born.

It's no coincidence that, right during Grand Prix week, the flow of tourists to Maranello surges. The Ferrari Museum welcomes hundreds of thousands of visitors every year from all over the world: motorsport enthusiasts, of course, but also plain curious travellers won over by a myth that goes far beyond sport. Single-seaters that made Formula 1 history, legendary road cars, interactive areas dedicated to speed — it only takes a few steps to understand why this place has become an almost obligatory stop for anyone visiting Emilia-Romagna.

And the journey, usually, doesn't end here.

 

More than a museum: a world to experience

 

 

A few kilometres away stands the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena, dedicated to the founder and to the history that made such an empire possible. Around these two museums, over the years, an entire experience ecosystem has grown.

Picture a day like this: it starts in Modena, inside the yellow "bonnet" of the Enzo Ferrari Museum, among the earliest racing cars and the objects of an extraordinary life. Then Maranello, and with Maranello comes the adrenaline: a spin on the simulator to feel what it's like to drive an F1 car, or a real test drive, on the road or on the Fiorano track, where Ferrari still tests its cars today. Those who want to go deeper can tour the factory, to see up close how a Ferrari is actually made. And at some point, inevitably, lunchtime arrives: at Ristorante Il Cavallino, opened by Enzo Ferrari himself in 1950 and now led by one of Italy's most celebrated chefs, Massimo Bottura.

Simulator, test drive, factory, museum, table: our tours combine these experiences into different formats, from a half-day to a full VIP itinerary — all of them available on our website. And you don't need to start from Bologna to join us: our tours to the Ferrari museums also depart from Milan, Venice, Florence and other Italian cities, for anyone who wants to make this experience part of a wider journey across the country.

 

 

What you only discover by walking in

 

 

There's something no photograph ever truly captures, and it's the reason it's worth going in person.

The yellow that wraps the Maranello museum, for instance, isn't a colour chosen at random: it's the same yellow as the background of the Prancing Horse emblem, the colour of Modena, personally chosen by Enzo Ferrari. And that same prancing horse, now a symbol known the world over, wasn't even born in a workshop: it was the mother of Francesco Baracca, a First World War flying ace, who suggested that Enzo adopt the emblem that had belonged to her son, as a good-luck charm. At Maranello, you can still step, at least virtually, into Enzo Ferrari's very first office — the same one from which, on an ordinary day, a legend began. And in Modena, in the house where Enzo was born in 1898, you discover a detail that says everything about his character: to buy his first racing car, he sold his house and workshop. Long before becoming a legend, he was already a man willing to bet everything on himself.

These are stories that stay with you far longer than a photo ever could.

Whether you follow the Grand Prix from home or live at Monza, the best way to truly feel its spirit is to set off for the place where it all began.

Live Italy's motor world like never before.

Discover our tours near Maranello: balsamic vinegar, Parmigiano Reggiano, wine experiences on the hills and much more.