The walled city of Ferrara is in Emilia Romagna and is roughly midway between Bologna and Venice. The city has a medieval center, museums, restaurants and shops and is well known for it’s bicycles!
Despite it’s modest size, Ferrara has a generous 107km of cycle routes for it’s residents and visitors to explore! This has had an amazing impact on it’s inhabitants because, incredibly, 90% of them actually own a bicycle.
Having heard these sustainability credentials, we leaped at the opportunity to visit this curious city.
My friend and I first met in the Piazza below our appartments during the restrictions of the pandemic. Our toddlers were exploring their tiny world while we followed behind. Slowly we got to know each other and a few years after our friendship was cemented.
We left our responsibilities behind for a weekend away in cultural riches of Veneto.
We took the train from Rome to Venice because it is only 4 hours on the high speed network and much quicker than by car. On our journey home we decided to stop off along the way in Ferrara.
To liberate ourselves from our luggage we checked our suitcase into a secure luggage storage right next to the station for €5, and now we were free to wander. To find out how we booked in our luggage last minute, read my article here. Getting to the town center was straight forward and the trees kept us shaded from the sun. The main path through the town was a mix of pedestrians and bikes.
A wide piazza that lies in front of the Cathedral an to the right is a thin clock tower. Through the medieval arch you will find our bike rental, down an alleyway on the right.
Visiting the Italian city of bicycles we On our classic bikes we instantly felt like we merged into the locals. Our train would pick us up at 14.00 and so with speed on our side, were able to really get to a good look at the curious city.
We first headed out of the centre to join the cycle path that travels along the city walls. The path was once the fortification of the city, now you can walk or ride along its sturdy sholders, the path is surrounded by trees and paddocks of long grass.
Returning back into the city we rumbled over round cobbles that lead to the Palazzo dei Diamanti.
We nipped into the Parco Massari, in the entrance is a lebanease cedar. I have never seen such an enormous tree. This tree is an old friend of Ferrara and has grown with the city for centuries. It thick branches reach up to the sky and have been supported by metal stilts to help and support the breathtaking landmark.
Using Todisco Bikes was really easy! You can book your bike rental through their website.
We rented our bikes for 2 hours at €5 each, this was perfect for the time that we had available and we got a good ride around the city and part of the city walls.
For longer rentals, 4 hours cost €8 and for a full day you will pay €12. Included in the rental are helmets, bike locks and children seats.
