Rome has its mopeds and Venice its boats, but Ferrara (feh-RA-ra; pop. 130,000) has its biciclette. In a city with more bicycles than people, girls in stilettos, businessmen with cell phones, and elderly ladies cycle through low arches and narrow streets of the area outside the centro. On the city’s outskirts, biking aficionados can spend an afternoon cycling a 9km bike path that skirts crumbling medieval walls, while rambling medieval streets, art museums, and an ominous castello offer eye-candy and adventure to the exercise-phobic crowd.
Trains: Ticket office open daily 6:15am-8:30pm. (☎ 0532 89 20 21. AmEx/MC/V.) To: Bologna (30min., 43 per day 1:41am-10:10pm, €3.10); Padua (1hr., 31 per day 4am-11:50pm, €4.60); Ravenna (1hr ...more
To get to the centro storico, turn left from the train station on Viale Costituzione, which becomes Viale Cavour and runs to the Castello Estense. Alternatively, take bus #2 to the Castello stop or #1 ...more
Student’s Hostel Estense, C. Biagio Rossetti 24 (☎0532 20 11 58; www.ostelloferrara.it). From the train station, turn left on Vle. IV Novembre. Continue onto C. Pta. Po. until it becomes C. Biagio ...more
Aside from fresh seafood, Ferrara’s specialties include cappellacci di zucca (pasta stuffed with pumpkin and parmesan), salama da sugo (pork, spices, and wine), and pasticcio alla ferrarese (sweet ...more
Leonello d’Este, ruler and patron of the arts, molded Ferrara into an important artistic center with its own school of painting, the Officina Ferrarese. Works by Pisanello, Piero della Francesca ...more
As in Padova and Bologna, its college town neighbors to the north and south, nightlife in Ferrara peaks during the school year when university students fill the city’s cobblestone side streets ...more
On the last Sunday of May, Ferrara revives the ancient Palio di San Giorgio (☎ 0532 75 12 63; www.paliodiferrara.it.). Dating from the 13th century, this event begins with a lively procession of delegates ...more
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For 52 years, we have published the world’s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.
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