Are you traveling to Italy soon with your car-obsessed kids (or partner)?
Are you having trouble deciding which car museum in Italy you should visit with your family? Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, oh my – there are so many to choose from!
Maybe you’re about to buy tickets and can’t decide if you should bring your toddler too.
Read on for our tips on visiting car museums in Italy with kids, plus our family’s favorite Italian car museums!
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Map of Car Museums in Italy
If you want an overview, here’s our list of the top 10 car museums in Italy (overall, not just for families).
- Ferrari Museum Maranello (Museo Ferrari Maranello)
- Lamborghini Museum – MUDETEC (Museo Lamborghini)
- Enzo Ferrari Museum (Museo Enzo Ferrari)
- Pagani Museum (Museo Horacio Pagani)
- Alfa Romeo Museum (Museo Alfa Romeo)
- Umberto Panini Collection – Maserati Museum
- Ferruccio Lamborghini Museum (Museo Lamborghini Ferruccio)
- Mille Miglia Museum (Museo Mille Miglia)
- National Automobile Museum – NAUTO (Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile)
- State Police Car Museum – (Museo delle Auto della Polizia di Stato)
Best Car Museums in Italy to Visit with Kids
In our experience, both the Lamborghini MUDETEC Museum and the Ferrari Museum in Maranello are excellent stops for kids. And, they’re both located in Italy’s Motor Valley in Emilia-Romagna, so you can even visit both!
The Lamborghini Museum – MUDETEC (Sant’Agata Bolognese) is a great museum for kids because:
- It’s compact and not overwhelming.
- It’s colorful and has interactive digital displays.
- It’s got a life-size LEGO Lamborghini!
- It’s kid-friendly (strollers can enter, and there are toilets and changing tables).
- You can take free photos with a Lamborghini (of your choice) backdrop
- Lamborghinis are being test-driven on the road in front of the museum, and sometimes they drive into the parking lot of the factory/offices next door.
- Older kids will love the Lamborghini Factory tour (currently suspended).
- Kids (18 years old and under) enter for €6.
The Ferrari Museum in Maranello is a great museum for kids because:
- There’s a variety of displays and types of Ferraris in the museum (supercars, F1 cars, vintage cars).
- It’s got a wall display of toy models from each year.
- It has an excellent F1 room with race cars on display, as well as trophies and driver info, and memorabilia (like helmets).
- Kids can pick out their own Ferrari materials (wheels, interior colors and materials, paint color, etc).
- It has a cool POV video of the Ferrari Fiorano race track.
- You can see Ferraris being driven around town (being test-driven, and those driven by owners visiting the museum and town).
- It’s kid-friendly (strollers can enter, there are toilets and changing tables, and there’s a café with sandwiches and snacks attached to the museum).
- You can sit inside a Ferrari and have your photo taken (for a fee).
- There’s a small playground next to the parking lot.
- Families can purchase a discounted entry family pass.
Read more about
Visiting the Lamborghini Museum (MUDETEC)
Ferrari Museums in Italy – Modena or Maranello, Which Should You Visit?
Good To Know: If you have kids who want to visit a factory, we recommend the Lamborghini factory tour (when it starts back up) or the Maserati factory tour. We thought the Ferrari factory tour was disappointing (as you don’t actually go into the factory).
12 Helpful Tips for Visiting Car Museums in Italy with Kids
No matter which Italy car museum you choose to visit with your family, here are some tips to keep in mind that will make the experience smooth, fun, and memorable for kids and adults:
Think twice about bringing toddlers inside
If you’ve got an early walker or a little kid who loves to touch things (or doesn’t listen well), you may want to have one parent stay outside with him/her. Italian car museums allow visitors to get up close to the vehicles, which means there are no barriers. But, there are strict ‘no touching’ rules.
On one visit with a toddler, we had to have one adult to miss most of the museum because we needed to keep him from touching the cars and trying to climb on top of displays!
Bring your stroller with you
There are elevators in museums with multiple stories, and most Italy car museums are spacious enough for wheeling a stroller around. You can use your stroller for naps or to keep little ones contained. You could also use a carrier.
Allow enough time for your visit
Don’t try to squeeze a visit in before lunch or before you need to head to another activity. In our experience, kids want to see every room, every car, and try every activity. Children love Italian car museums, even kids who aren’t typically car enthusiasts!
Time your visit well
Don’t visit during a mealtime or during a nap (unless you have a small baby that won’t get distracted by the colorful cars and displays).
Look for a nearby playground
If your kids are like ours (full of energy), it’s a good idea to let them play a little bit before heading into the museum – otherwise, they’ll be bouncing off the walls! Do a quick Google search for ‘parco giochi’ near the museum.
Set expectations for driving simulators
Many museums have amazing driving simulators – the screens surround you and sometimes you’re sitting in a racecar frame! They’re fun to watch, but your kids will definitely want to try them out!
Unfortunately, there are restrictions on the simulators which usually revolve around height and/or age. Check the museum’s website for up-to-date info on the restrictions.
Even if your child can physically use the driving simulator, you may not want to pay for it (usually around €20/session).
If your child won’t be able to try the simulator (due to restrictions or your choice), talk about it before you enter the museum and before you even see it.
We found the best way to curb disappointment was to manage expectations.
Build in extra time for seeing and hearing cars outside the museum
This is one of our favorite parts of a car museum visit in Italy! Our boys love waving to Ferrari and Lamborghini drivers and seeing the new vehicles being test-driven (you can tell they’re new because the front of the car is covered and protected).
Skip the factory tour if your kids are small
Little ones won’t appreciate it, and you’ll need to keep them contained. Some factories don’t allow small children, and others recommend they don’t enter.
You should also make sure you know exactly what the factory tour includes. Our family was disappointed in the Ferrari factory tour – we drove around the campus on a bus but didn’t actually get to see the inside of the factory.
Find other aspects to make the visit fun if one of your kids isn’t a car enthusiast
You can talk about engineering, different destinations for F1 races, the nationalities & languages of the team’s drivers, or the history of the brand. Have your kids choose their favorite car in the museum and tell you why – it may be because of the color, the speed, or who raced it last.
Let one adult take a break and stay outside
You don’t have to have the entire family enter the museum. It can get expensive and visiting an automobile museum is not everyone’s cup of tea. This tip is especially important if you’re planning on visiting multiple car museums.
Skip the museum souvenir shops and find something in town
For example, head to Giorgio Giochi toy shop in Maranello for Ferrari-themed gifts, toys, and souvenirs. If you don’t want to pay €20 for a fridge magnet, treat the Italy car museum gift shops as an extra part of the museum – enjoy looking at the displays, but don’t take out your wallet.
Keep the joy of the visit going
Read books about supercars and race cars or watch YouTube videos and movies about Italian car brands and F1 racing. Little kids can also color our race car coloring page!
Books to Read:
100 Cars That Changed the World: The Designs, Engines, and Technologies that Drive Our Imaginations
Build Your Own Supercars Sticker Book
Car Science: An Under-the-Hood, Behind-the-Dash Look at How Cars Work
Road & Track Crew’s Big & Fast Cars: 701 Totally Amazing Facts
National Geographic: Race Day*
DK Cars, Trains, Ships and Planes: A Visual Encyclopedia of Every Vehicle*
*Great for all ages, always popular in our house
Italy Car Museums with Kids – FAQ
Which Ferrari Museum is better for kids, the Enzo Ferrari Museum in Modena, or the Ferrari Museum in Maranello?
While the Enzo Ferrari Museum building has a beautiful, striking design (like the hood of a car) and the inside is spacious and full of Ferraris, our kids loved the Ferrari Museum in Maranello more. It’s got more Scuderia Ferrari memorabilia (trophies, driver helmets, F1 cars), it’s the best place to see supercars and recent models, and our kids loved ‘designing their own Ferrari’ and watching the video displays.
