Things to Do in Modena, Italy – Sights, Hours, Prices

Modena packs a UNESCO cathedral complex, the birthplace museum of Enzo Ferrari and the source of the world’s balsamic vinegar into one walkable old town in Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region. This guide covers 15 things to do in Modena, Italy, with current opening hours and ticket prices, plus the mix-up that catches out almost every first-time visitor: the Enzo Ferrari Museum sits inside Modena itself, while the separate Ferrari Museum sits 18 km (11.2 mi) away in the town of Maranello.

Modena lies a short train ride from Bologna, and its historic centre is small enough to cover on foot in a day or a relaxed weekend. The city is the hometown of tenor Luciano Pavarotti and car manufacturer Enzo Ferrari, and it built its reputation on three exports: opera, engines and Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena. Here are the 15 things to do in Modena that cover its cathedral, its market, its museums and its motor valley.

1. Visit the Modena Cathedral. The Romanesque Duomo and its bell tower anchor the city’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, and entry to the cathedral is free.
2. Climb the Torre Ghirlandina. The bell tower’s viewing platform sits 200 steps up, and entry runs on timed slots.
3. Shop at the Mercato Albinelli. The covered market has traded fresh produce, meat and cheese from the same building since 1931.
4. Go on a guided tour of the Palazzo Ducale. The former ducal palace now houses Italy’s Military Academy, and you can only see the frescoed state rooms on a weekend guided tour.
5. Check out the Palazzo dei Musei. The complex holds Modena’s main museums and libraries under one roof, including the Estense picture gallery.
6. Head out to the Enzo Ferrari Museum. The Modena museum tells Enzo Ferrari’s own story, and it’s a different building in a different town from the Ferrari factory museum in Maranello.
7. Learn about the production of balsamico. A guided acetaia tour shows you how grape must becomes Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena over years in wooden barrels.
8. Visit the home of Luciano Pavarotti. Casa Museo Luciano Pavarotti opens the tenor’s own countryside villa, with an audioguide included in the ticket.
9. Book a tour at a Parmigiano Reggiano dairy. A morning caseificio visit lets you watch raw milk become wheels of Parmigiano Reggiano before the day’s curd is even formed.
10. Get your art on at the Galleria Estense. The gallery holds the House of Este’s own collection, including a marble bust by Bernini and a portrait by Velázquez.
11. People watch on the UNESCO World Heritage Piazza Grande. Modena’s main square has been the city’s civic heart since the Middle Ages, and it costs nothing to sit and take it in.
12. Visit the Palazzo Comunale. The 17th-century town hall’s frescoed rooms are free to see on weekdays if you book ahead.
13. Go for a stroll in the Giardini Ducali. Modena’s own public garden, still commonly called the Giardini Pubblici, opened to citizens in 1739 and became fully public in 1870.
14. Get spiritual at the Chiesa di San Francesco. The church holds a life-size terracotta sculpture group by Antonio Begarelli and is free to enter.
15. Have more motor fun at the Umberto Panini Motor Museum. The collection now lives in a former aircraft hangar and focuses entirely on Maserati’s own racing history.

Modena sightseeing costs at a glance

The table below lists current hours and adult ticket prices for the sights above, so you can plan a route before you land. Prices are quoted in euros first, with rounded US dollar and pound sterling equivalents in brackets, and they change with the season at several sights, so treat this as a starting point rather than a final figure.

Modena’s own information pages list two different prices for Torre Ghirlandina and for the Sunday Palazzo Comunale tour, so confirm the current figure on VisitModena’s official site before you book.

1. Visit the Modena Cathedral

The Modena Cathedral is free to enter, and it forms the centrepiece of the city’s UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Modena Cathedral, known locally as the Duomo, is a Romanesque building begun in 1099 under the architect Lanfranco and the sculptor Wiligelmo, and consecrated in 1184. Along with the Torre Ghirlandina and Piazza Grande it has carried UNESCO status since 1997, under the official listing name “Modena Cathedral, Torre Civica and Piazza Grande,” and it opens Tuesday to Sunday from 7am to 7pm, and Monday from 7am to 12:30pm and again from 3:30pm to 7pm, with no charge for general admission.

Walk through the main portal and you pass between two stone lion sculptures that flank the doorway. The facade carries relief sculptures of biblical scenes, including the creation of Adam and the story of Noah, carved by Wiligelmo. Visits pause during religious celebrations, so check the schedule if you’re planning around a specific time.

The cathedral complex also includes the Musei del Duomo, a separate paid museum in its own building. It houses sculpture fragments from the cathedral and earlier Roman-era buildings on the site, alongside two Flemish tapestries depicting scenes from Genesis. The museum opens Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 2pm and 3pm to 6pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 2pm and 3pm to 7pm, closed on Mondays. A full ticket costs €6 ($7, £5) and includes access to the presbytery and sacristy, while the €4 ($5, £3) reduced ticket does not.

2. Climb the Torre Ghirlandina

The Torre Ghirlandina is the cathedral’s bell tower, and its viewing platform rewards the climb with a panoramic view over Modena’s rooftops. The Torre Ghirlandina stands just over 86 metres (282 ft) tall, making it the tallest structure in the historic centre, and reaching the top means climbing 200 steps. It shares UNESCO World Heritage status with the Duomo and Piazza Grande, and its name comes from the double ring of small decorative parapets near its summit, said to look like garlands.

You can only go up on a timed entry slot, in groups of up to 25 people, so book ahead rather than turning up and hoping for space. From April to September the tower opens daily from 9:30am to 7pm, and from October to March from 9:30am to 6pm. It stays open every day except Christmas Day and New Year’s morning, and it opens specially on 31 January for the feast of Modena’s patron saint, San Geminiano.

3. Shop at the Mercato Albinelli

The Mercato Albinelli is Modena’s covered food market, and it has traded from the same building on Via Albinelli since it opened on 28 October 1931. The Mercato Albinelli replaced an open-air market that had run in Piazza Grande for centuries, and today it holds around 50 fixed stalls selling vegetables, cured meats, cheese and fresh pasta under one roof. Several stallholders are the second or third generation of the same family to run their pitch.

Stalls open Monday to Saturday from 7am to 3pm, extending to 7pm on Saturdays between mid-September and the end of May, while the market’s restaurants keep longer hours into the evening. It’s worth timing a visit for the morning, when the produce is freshest and the market is at its most lively. You can book a tour of the market that pairs a guided walk through the stalls with a home-cooked lunch or dinner afterwards.

4. Go on a Guided Tour of the Palazzo Ducale

The Palazzo Ducale is not open to casual visitors, because it now serves as Italy’s Military Academy and hosts ceremonies and cadet training. The Palazzo Ducale was built for the House of Este in the 17th century, and its long facade, lined with windows and centred on marble columns, still stands over the piazza in front of it. It can only be visited on a booked guided tour, held on Saturdays and Sundays.

The tour takes you through the state apartment, including the Sala del Trono, the Camera Verde and the Galleria dei Bronzi, while the frescoed Salone d’Onore and the gilded Salottino d’Oro are viewed from their doorways rather than entered. A full ticket costs €10 ($12, £9), a reduced ticket for under-12s costs €8 ($9, £7), and children under 5 go free. Reservation is compulsory, so book through VisitModena before you plan the rest of your day around it.

5. Check Out the Palazzo dei Musei

The Palazzo dei Musei is a single 18th-century building in Modena’s historic centre that now holds several of the city’s museums and libraries together. The Palazzo dei Musei was built between 1764 and 1771 under Duke Francesco III d’Este to house charitable institutions, and it took on its current cultural role after Italian unification in the late 19th century. It stands on Largo Porta Sant’Agostino, a short walk from Piazza Grande. Inside, you’ll find the Galleria Estense picture gallery, the Museo Civico with its archaeological and ethnographic collections, the Gipsoteca Graziosi plaster-cast gallery and the Estense University Library, alongside Modena’s municipal archives, among the oldest state archives in Italy.

A single integrated ticket, introduced in December 2025, now covers the Museo Civico, the Galleria Estense, the Gipsoteca Graziosi and the immersive Avia Pervia room together for €10 ($12, £9) full price or €5 ($6, £4) reduced for visitors aged 18 to 25, with free entry for anyone under 18. The Museo Civico keeps its own hours, Tuesday to Friday from 9am to noon and 3pm to 6pm, and Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 10am to 7pm, closed Monday.

6. Head Out to the Enzo Ferrari Museum

The Enzo Ferrari Museum sits inside the town of Modena itself, not in Maranello. The Enzo Ferrari Museum, officially the Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari, combines the restored house where Enzo Ferrari was born with a curved yellow gallery built to resemble an engine bonnet, at Via Paolo Ferrari 85, a five-minute walk from Modena’s train station. It opened to the public on 10 March 2012, grew out of a foundation established in 2003, and it focuses on Enzo Ferrari’s own life and on the racing history that grew out of it, rather than on today’s factory or test track.

The separate Ferrari Museum sits about 18 km (11.2 mi) south of Modena, in the town of Maranello, next to Ferrari’s working factory and test circuit. This second museum concentrates on the cars themselves, current and historic, and it is not connected to Enzo Ferrari’s biography in the way the Modena site is. Mixing up the two is the single most common planning mistake visitors make, so check the museum name on any ticket or address before you book. “Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari” and “Enzo Ferrari Museum” both mean Modena, while “Museo Ferrari” or “Ferrari Museum” without “Enzo” or “Casa” in the name means Maranello.

Opening hours at both museums change with the season. They open at 9:30am and close at 7pm in April, May, September and October, at 9am and close at 7pm in June, July and August, and at 9:30am and close at 6pm from November to March. A single-museum ticket costs €27 ($31, £23) from October to April and €32 ($37, £28) from May to September, with reduced rates for young visitors and free entry for people with disabilities and children up to 5. The Ferrari Museums Pass lets you visit both museums within 48 hours of each other for €38 ($44, £33) in low season or €42 ($49, £36) in high season, and Trenitalia Tper runs a combined train-and-bus ticket from Modena’s station straight to the Maranello museum. Check Ferrari’s own ticket page before you go, since prices and hours are reviewed each season, and read Wonderful Wanderings’ dedicated Enzo Ferrari Museum guide for the full visit breakdown of the Modena location.

7. Learn About the Production of Balsamico

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena starts as cooked grape must, and a guided acetaia tour shows you exactly how it becomes the syrupy vinegar the city is known for. Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena carries a Protected Designation of Origin, so it can only be made from grapes grown around Modena and aged for a minimum of 12 years in a series of progressively smaller wooden barrels, or 25 years or more for a bottling labelled “extravecchio.” It differs from the cheaper “balsamic vinegar of Modena” sold in supermarkets, an unregulated product made faster and without the same aging requirements.

The city’s own Acetaia Comunale, tucked into the roof of the Palazzo Comunale, runs guided tours and tastings on Fridays at 3:30pm and 4:30pm, and on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays at 10:30am, 11:30am, 3:30pm and 4:30pm, for €5 ($6, £4) per person. Several private acetaie around the city, such as Acetaia Giusti and Acetaia Leonardi, also run tours and tastings on their own schedules. Book ahead at any of them, since slots fill up quickly in peak season.

8. Visit the Home of Luciano Pavarotti

Casa Museo Luciano Pavarotti is the villa in the Modena countryside where the tenor Luciano Pavarotti lived out his final years, now open to the public as a museum. Casa Museo Luciano Pavarotti covers his whole life, from his early career to his global fame, and it includes paintings he made himself alongside stage costumes, awards and personal photographs. An audioguide, included in the ticket price and available in nine languages, plays recordings of his voice as you move through the rooms.

The museum opens daily from 10am to 6pm, with last admission at 5pm, and closes on 1 January, 24 December and 25 December. A visit takes roughly 50 to 60 minutes, and tickets cost €12 ($14, £10) for adults and €10 ($12, £9) reduced for visitors aged 12 to 18 and over 65, with free entry for children under 12.

9. Book a Tour at a Parmigiano Reggiano Dairy

A Parmigiano Reggiano dairy, or caseificio, turns raw cow’s milk into wheels of cheese every single morning, and a guided tour lets you watch the whole process from curd to cellar. A Parmigiano Reggiano dairy works to a strict method set by the cheese’s own consortium, so the tour you book near Modena follows largely the same steps as one near Parma, from heating milk in copper vats to shaping and salting the young wheels. Arrive for a morning slot if you want to see production rather than just the aging rooms, since the cheese-making itself happens early.

Dairies around Modena and the wider Parmigiano Reggiano zone offer guided tours and tastings, typically lasting around an hour and costing somewhere in the €15 to €25 ($17-29, £13-21) range depending on the dairy and whether tasting is included. Book directly through the dairy, since availability depends on the production schedule rather than a fixed slot pattern.

10. Get Your Art on at the Galleria Estense

The Galleria Estense holds the House of Este’s own art collection, built up by the ruling family of Modena and Ferrara over centuries. The Galleria Estense occupies the top floor of the Palazzo dei Musei, and its most famous works include Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s marble bust of Francesco I d’Este, a portrait of the same duke by Velázquez, and a painting by El Greco. It also holds Correggio’s Madonna and Child, Cima da Conegliano’s Pietà and a crucifixion by Guido Reni.

Beyond the paintings and sculpture, the gallery’s collection runs to Roman inscriptions, decorated weapons, musical instruments and porcelain acquired by the Este family. It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 8:30am to 7:15pm and Sunday and public holidays from 10am to 6pm, closed 1 January and 25 December. A single ticket, shared with the Museo Civico since December 2025, covers entry for €10 ($12, £9) full price.

11. People Watch on the UNESCO World Heritage Piazza Grande

Piazza Grande is Modena’s main square, and its cafe tables make it an easy place to sit and watch the city go by. Piazza Grande has stood at the heart of civic life since the Middle Ages, once serving as the town’s only marketplace and the site of festivals, trials and religious processions. It sits directly beside the Duomo and the Torre Ghirlandina, and together the three form the UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 1997.

There’s no ticket for the piazza itself, so it costs nothing beyond whatever you order at a cafe table. Come in the early evening for the passeggiata, when locals turn out to walk, talk and be seen, or in the morning if you’d rather have the square closer to yourself before the market crowds arrive.

12. Visit the Palazzo Comunale

The Palazzo Comunale is Modena’s 17th-century town hall, and its historic rooms are free to see on weekdays if you book a slot in advance. The Palazzo Comunale complex is made up of several linked buildings behind a marble-columned facade, and its Camerino dei Confirmati displays the bucket that gives the “Secchia Rapita” legend its name, from Alessandro Tassoni’s mock-heroic poem about Modena’s 1325 victory over Bologna at the Battle of Zappolino.

Beyond that room, the Sala del Fuoco holds a large 16th-century fireplace and paintings by Nicolò dell’Abate, and the Sala dei Matrimoni carries the city’s coat of arms and work by painter Adeodato Malatesta. Entry is free Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, and Saturday 1pm to 3pm, both by reservation, while Sunday and holiday visits run as guided tours at set times for a small fee. Some slots combine the visit with a stop at the Acetaia Comunale in the same building, so check the current schedule when you book.

13. Go for a Stroll in the Giardini Ducali

The Giardini Ducali are Modena’s historic public garden, still commonly known around town as the Giardini Pubblici. The Giardini Ducali began as a private Este family garden around 1598, and Duke Francesco III opened them to Modena’s citizens in 1739, before they became fully public in 1870. They sit right in the historic centre, at Corso Cavour 2, next to the Palazzo Ducale.

The garden’s gates stay open from early morning into the evening, with longer hours in summer than in winter, and entry is free. It’s a shaded, quiet spot for a break between museum visits, with tree-lined paths that make it popular with both visitors and Modena residents out for a walk.

14. Get Spiritual at the Chiesa di San Francesco

The Chiesa di San Francesco is a working parish church in central Modena, free to enter, that holds one of the city’s most striking Renaissance sculptures. The Chiesa di San Francesco was reopened for worship after a period of military use, and its facade, divided into three sections by pilasters, gives little hint of what’s inside. Step through the door and the main draw is a life-size terracotta group of 13 figures by the Modenese sculptor Antonio Begarelli, made around 1530 and 1531, depicting the Deposition of Christ from the cross.

The church opens daily from 7am to noon and again from 5pm to 7pm. Outside, in the piazza beside the church, the Fountain of St Francis shows the saint preaching to the fish, a bronze made by the sculptor Giuseppe Graziosi in 1938.

15. Have More Motor Fun at the Umberto Panini Motor Museum

The Umberto Panini Motor Museum is now dedicated entirely to Maserati, after moving into a former aircraft hangar at Via dell’Aeroporto 140 in Modena’s Marzaglia district, roughly 10 km (6.2 mi) southwest of the centre. The Umberto Panini Motor Museum reopened at this new site in November 2025, having previously been based at the Hombre farm outside the city. It’s a better fit for fans of that specific marque than for general motoring history now, because the collection is Maserati-only.

Inside, the display spans more than a century of Maserati production, from pre-war single-seaters like the 6C/34 and 6CM to the 250F, the car that won Maserati its only Formula 1 constructors’ title with Juan Manuel Fangio driving in 1957. The museum opens daily from 9:30am to 1pm and 2:30pm to 6pm, with last entry 30 minutes before closing, and it closes for the day on 15 August. A full ticket costs €15 ($17, £13), and a reduced ticket for under-18s and over-65s costs €12 ($14, £10).

How to Get to Modena, Italy?

The easiest way to reach Modena is by train, since the old city centre lies within walking distance of Modena’s railway station. Check Omio for an overview of train connections from wherever you’re starting your trip, including from Bologna, the closest major hub and a straightforward way to combine both cities in one trip.

Where to Stay in Modena, Italy?

Modena’s hotels and B&Bs cluster around the historic centre, putting most of the sights above within walking distance. Listed below are five places to stay that cover a range of budgets, from hostel dorms to five-star rooms.

• Boutique: B&B Il Corte dei Sogni. We spent the night at B&B Il Corte dei Sogni in Modena before visiting the Ferrari Museum and the Lamborghini Museum the next day. View on Booking.com / Read reviews on TripAdvisor.
• Ostello San Filippo Neri. This hostel offers free bike hire and a central location, just round the corner from the Enzo Ferrari Museum, with basic dorm rooms, free WiFi, a bar and a shared kitchen. View on Booking.com / Read reviews on TripAdvisor.
• Best Western Plus Hotel Modena Resort. This hotel sits about five miles (8 km) outside the city centre and offers two swimming pools, a gym, a hot tub and free parking, WiFi and bike hire. View on Booking.com / Read reviews on TripAdvisor.
• Hotel Rua Frati 48 in San Francesco. This five-star hotel occupies a converted 16th-century palazzo within walking distance of Modena’s main sights, with air-conditioned rooms, a spa and a restaurant. View on Booking.com / Read reviews on TripAdvisor.
• Stella21 Bed and Breakfast. This attic apartment sits right in front of Osteria Francescana, with timber ceiling beams, a well-stocked bookshelf and daily breakfast. View on Booking.com / Read reviews on TripAdvisor.

When Is the Best Time to Visit Modena?

Spring and autumn, roughly April to October, are the calmest times to visit Modena, when average highs sit between 18-28°C (65-82°F) and crowds are thinner than in high summer. Spring and autumn also bring moderate rainfall, and both seasons cost less for accommodation than the summer peak. July and August are the hottest, most humid months, while winter turns cold, with average highs of 6-12°C (43-53°F) and occasional snow between December and February. Aim for April, May, September or October for a balance of good weather and manageable crowds, and if you’re in town in September, check whether the Festivalfilosofia philosophy festival is running, since it draws its own crowd to the city’s squares.

What Is the Most Popular Food to Eat in Modena?

The most popular food to eat in Modena is Traditional Balsamic Vinegar, tasted at its source rather than from a supermarket shelf. Modena is also known for its own Prosciutto, for Parmigiano-Reggiano and for Lambrusco wine, all of which turn up on the stalls at the Mercato Albinelli. Osteria Francescana, chef Massimo Bottura’s restaurant in the historic centre, holds three Michelin stars and has previously topped the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, a good option if you want a special-occasion meal and can book a table well ahead.

Is Italy Worth Visiting?

Italy is worth visiting for its combination of art, architecture, food and history in one country. Cities like Rome, Florence and Venice draw millions of visitors each year to sites such as the Colosseum, the Uffizi Gallery and Venice’s canals, while Italy also holds 20 distinct regions beyond the obvious names, from the Alps in the north to Sicily in the south. Modena itself sits in one of the less-visited of those regions, Emilia-Romagna, which makes it a good way to see a different, food-focused side of the country away from the busiest circuits. For more on what to expect before you land, see Wonderful Wanderings’ separate guide to facts about Italy.

About the author. This guide is written and maintained by the Wonderful Wanderings editorial team. Wonderful Wanderings was founded in 2012 by Sofie Couwenbergh. The team covers Italy for independent travellers, including the sights, food and museums worth booking in cities like Modena, and updates this page when prices, dates and rules change.