Parco Ferrari & the Novi Sad District
Away from the tourist circuit, Parco Ferrari is Modena's largest urban park — 42 hectares of tree-lined avenues, a lake and cycling paths where the city's families, students and runners spend their weekends. The adjacent Novi Sad neighbourhood gives you an honest slice of everyday Modena.
The Park Itself
Laid out in the 1960s on the southern edge of the city centre, Parco Ferrari centres on a large artificial lake with pedal boats available in summer. The park's avenues are wide enough to feel genuinely rural, and the tree canopy makes it a cool refuge during Modena's hot July and August afternoons.
A small open-air arena hosts free concerts and film screenings in summer as part of the city's Estate Modenese programme — check the Comune di Modena events calendar for dates.
Novi Sad Neighbourhood
The streets between the park and the railway station make up the Novi Sad district, named after Modena's Serbian twin city. This is where you find independent coffee shops, vinyl record stores, vintage clothing and the kind of aperitivo bars that fill with university students at 18:00 rather than tourists.
Via Giardini and the streets around it have a cluster of small restaurants serving everything from Emilian classics to Senegalese and Bangladeshi food, reflecting the city's working-class immigrant history. It is the most genuinely multicultural corner of Modena.
Cycling the City
Modena is one of Italy's most cycle-friendly cities — flat, compact and laced with dedicated lanes. Renting a bike from one of the city's BiciMo stations (a docked public scheme) and cycling through Parco Ferrari and out along the Canale Naviglio towards the countryside is one of the most pleasant two hours you can spend here.
The route from Piazza Grande to the park takes about 15 minutes by bike and passes the covered market, the old city walls and the stadium, giving a genuine cross-section of Modena's urban layers.
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