Situated on the great plain of Emilia, Ferrara stands a few kilometres south of the Po River, and about 50km from the sea.

Ferrara is a splendid city of art, to be enjoyed by walking its streets, its character – this magnificent Renaissance capital – revealed on every corner. Through its glorious past you can understand the roots of its present. A heavyweight Renaissance art city peppered with colossal palaces and still ringed by its intact medieval walls, Ferrara jumps out at you like an absconded Casanova (he once stayed here) on the route between Bologna and Venice.

Historically, Ferrara was the domain of the powerful Este clan, rivals to Florence’s Medici in power and prestige, who endowed the city with its signature building – a huge castle complete with moat positioned slap-bang in the city centre. The Este family governed here for three centuries and gave the city the appearance it has today: a uniquely planned city, harmoniously fusing Mediaeval and Renaissance, Europe’s first modern city.