Florence to Ferrari & Pagani Tour with Balsamic Tasting

5.00

(5 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

It was still dark when our driver pulled up outside our apartment in Florence—he was early, actually, which gave us time to grab a quick espresso before hitting the road. The highway out of the city was quiet at that hour, and by the time we reached Modena, the sun had started to peek through low clouds. Our guide chatted about Enzo Ferrari’s early days as we rolled into Maranello. You could almost feel the history in the air—there’s this faint scent of engine oil and leather that hits you right outside the Ferrari Museum. Inside, it’s all polished metal and stories of racing legends. I never realized how much detail goes into each car until our guide pointed out tiny design quirks on a 1960s model—stuff you’d miss if you weren’t looking close.

Next up was a drive through winding country roads lined with rows of grapevines—this is Lambrusco country. We stopped at a family-run estate in Levizzano Rangone. The old stable-turned-vinegar loft smelled sweet and sharp at the same time. Their sommelier poured us a glass of Lambrusco Grasparossa while explaining how their grandfather Renzo started with just five hectares here. We dipped bread into thick balsamic aged for years; honestly, nothing like what you get back home. Lunch was simple but spot-on: local salumi, Parmigiano Reggiano chunks, and fresh pasta with a drizzle of that vinegar.

The afternoon took us to Pagani’s headquarters—a totally different vibe from Ferrari but just as intense. The story of Horacio Pagani is wild; our guide told us how he built his first car by hand as a teenager in Argentina before moving to Italy to chase his dream. Walking past engineers hunched over carbon fiber panels, you get why these cars are so rare (and pricey). There’s this quiet hum in the workshop—machines working, people focused—and every so often someone laughs or calls out in Modenese dialect. By late afternoon we were back on the road to Florence, tired but buzzing from everything we’d seen (and tasted). Our guide dropped us off right where we started—couldn’t have planned it better.