Ferrara, Italy
 

Has anyone visited Ferrara and have anything to recommend in the town? Hotel, we found Suite Duomo with great rates, great location. Any thoughts on favorite restaurants, preferrably moderately priced and things to see and do that should not be missed?

In two separate stays in Ferrara, I had two excellent meals at La Romantica, Via Ripagrande 36 (it's closed Wednesdays).

When we made a last minute change and drove from Bari to Trieste, (by coming back from Dubrovnik to Italy with our car, rather than driving up the Croatian Coast in the middle of August tourist season), we chose Ferrara as an overnight stop. We arrived quite early in the day surprisingly, and enjoyed our visit -- nothing real specific, just lots of walking and visiting buildings that looked interesting. There are a number of nice restaurants along a street that heads east from the cathedral, sorry, don't know the name. We chose one that looked particularly busy with locals and although we had to wait a while for a table, it was really excellent and cheap. Get ready, the place was called Woodpecker.

We were happy with our hotel, Hotel Ripagrande. We had a most interesting three level room. They allowed us to park our car in the garage a few doors down the street, and we had a lovely breakfast in a pretty and large breakfast room. It was quite reasonable.

Hi Traveler863. I was fortunate to have 2 days with one night in Ferrara with a friend who was born and raised there. Ferrara is worthwhile to visit IMO.

Some points of interest is the medieval Castello Estense. It has moats and towers and quite a gruesome history. Believe it was consructed if memory serves me around 1350. It rather dominates the city.


The duomo is the catherdral of Ferrara and quite lovely. There is a museum also.

Also you should see the "Diamond Palace". It is named so because the the diamond shaped motifs on its exterior. Quite interesting and unusual. When I was there a few years ago this palace was an art gallery, I am sure it still is.

I found Ferrara to be a beautiful city and easy to walk in.

BTW, we had dinner in the piazza across the street from the duomo, this restaurant was chosen by my friend. I am sorry I do not remember the name of it but if you stand with your back to the duomo it is across the way on the left side of the piazza. They have outside dining which if the weather is conducive was fun. Enjoyed watching all the young people "hang around" and enjoy life. I am sure there are many other sights I did not see.

A large US type shopping mall on the outskirts of town was fun. Beautiful shops etc. Nice to get an idea of the modern version of life.

If you decide to visit Ferrara have a wonderful relaxing time!

Eloise,
Thanks for the tip on La Romantica, we may give that a try.

Patrick,
We'll check out the Woodpecker. For Ripagrande we looked at staying there, I saw the tri-level units in pictures...very nice place. Suite Duomo had better rates. For a suite which really is a good sized one bedroom apt with kitchen, separate sleeping room, bath w/jacuzzi and directly looking at the duomo for 65 euro a night single, 90 for a double. Hard to pass up.

Loveitaly,
Thanks for the great input. As I stated above Suite Duomo has bullseye view of duomo, same piazza. The castle very close, I'm very interested in the history of the castle and plan to visit. From what I read it seems like a great town, perhaps a cross between Florence and Venice? Medieval town with some canals?

I'm sure we can find that restaurant, most likely see it from hotel window.

Sorry no interest in large US type shopping malls, not even in the US!

Thanks again and happy travels.

I can recommend a wonderful restaurant in Ferrara: Il Bagattino Trattoria, Via Correggiani 6 in the center of the town.

HowardR
Thanks for the input, your response was a very firm "wonderful"...we'll check it out.

Here's another vote for La Romantica (http://www.trattorialaromantica.com/entra.htm). It was one of the best restaurants during our trip to Italy last year. We also stayed at the Ripagrande, but it sounds like you found something that works better for you.

I found Ferrara, as I had hoped it would be, to be similar to Lucca in its feel. Not touristy, pretty little city, very walkable. Several portico'd streets (similar to Bologna). Tons of people riding bikes. The wall around the city has a walking/jogging path around the top of the wall, as well as paved paths on the ground around the outside.

Al Brindisi is a very pleasant wine bar on the tiny street just north of the Duomo, via degli Adelari, 11 (http://www.albrindisi.com/). I enjoyed the complimentary antipasti as much as the wine. Based on the website, it looks like you could have a meal at al Brindisi too. (Another wine bar, Enotria, didn't have as big a selection of wine by the glass.)

The people-watching on the following streets (all running off the piazza del Duomo) was fun: via Mazzini, via Saracena (one of these streets is the street that Patrick also liked), via San Romano (that’s what my map calls it; I think the signs said “San Ramo”) and via della Volte. Via della Volte also had several good-looking restaurants. There's also a nice gelateria on that street that makes its own gelato; sorry I didn't get its name.

On our departure from Ferrara, we made an easy 50-minute drive to Ravenna. The mosaics in the buildings there are fantastic, and they're on my top-10 list of sights I've seen in my life. Definitely worth the trip.

Have a great visit to Ferrara!

Lexma,
Wow great rundown on Ferrara. Sounds like la Romantica is a place to definitely try, among others. We gathered that it wasn't too much of a touristy town, especially from hotel prices. From what I gather people just generally pass through during the day enroute to Venice. My kind of place, lower tourism. There's so many great places in Italy, one doesn't need to follow the masses to be fulfilled. Many many trips to Italy I've made. Looking forward to Ferrara.

Many Thanks and happy travels.

We used Ferrara as a base about three years ago, and stayed for a week -- probably a bit too long. It was very pleasant -- the Castello and the Diamond Museum were definitely worth as visit.

As well as Il Baggatino and La Romantica (both very good), we also enjoyed l'Oca Gulliva -- I can't remember the street name, but it's a long street parallel to the main street in front of the cathedral.

One final warning -- beward the killer bicycles... The bicycle density is like Amsterdam, but without the Dutch discipline -- think, "Yippee, no rules!"

Hello..
This is my first post.....
I will be going thru ferrara for a day and a half and would like to find some information concerning my grandfather, who was born in Ferrara. His name was Antonio Lamborghini. I have what I believe is his birth certificate. Where do you find info about relatives? Churches? I've never been to Italy. Is this going to be a pain in the rear?(finding relative's info).

Hello mikeylambo, you might want to start your own thread regarding your question. You could title it something along the lines of "How to find ancestor info in Ferrara, Italy"
That way if there are others here on Fodor's that have knowledge as to how you should proceed you will have a better chance that they will see your question.

I am sure Ferrara, has a city municipal office/hall. I have been in Ferrara but of course was not looking for that. Italians are very detailed regarding records. So personally I would start there. Do you speak any Italian? Ferrara is not a big tourist attraction as say Rome for example so the average resident from my memory really doesn't speak English. And of course government works really don't have conversations with tourist as say hotel and restaurant workers. However most younger people in Italy have learned English in school and a lot of them like to have the chance to speak it.

Do post your own thread. Best wishes to you with this quest. I hope you find the information regarding your grandfather. And enjoy Ferrara, I really like that city!

we also had a very good meal at "il mandolino". great atmosphere and the food was also good.

For Ferrara, its an ok town with some stuff to do, interesting walls and other historic sites, other than that I'm not sure I recommend too much of a stop there....though thats just me. Great restaurant, and damn can't remember name in old old section with the arches. Nice town.