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Day trips by car / Ravenna, Faenza and Cervia

Half day Art UNESCO Archaeology

Ravenna beyond the centre: Theodoric and Classe

The Mausoleum of Theodoric, the Classis museum and Sant'Apollinare in Classe, driving from one stop to the next.

The Ravenna you can only reach by car: three places far from the centre, with convenient parking right outside, making them ideal for families and those who prefer not to walk far. The story of Ravenna unfolds from its origins through the Roman port of Classe to King Theodoric.

Basilica di Sant'Apollinare in Classe
Photo: Vanni Lazzari, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
  • Length from Lido degli Estensi4 h 20 Half day
  • Driving1 h 35 · 73 km there and back
  • Visits and stops2 h 45
  • When to goAll year round

The plan from Lido degli Estensi

  1. Leave Lido degli Estensi for Mausoleum of Theodoric35 min driving, 30 km
  2. Mausoleum of Theodoric45 min of visits: Mausoleum of Theodoric
  3. Drive on to Classe, Classis museum15 min driving, 6 km
  4. Classe, Classis museum1 h 10 of visits: Classis Ravenna, Museum of the City and Territory
  5. Drive on to Sant'Apollinare in Classe5 min driving, 1 km
  6. Sant'Apollinare in Classe50 min of visits: Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe
  7. Drive back to Lido degli Estensi40 min driving, 36 km
  8. Back in Lido degli Estensi

Times are a guide: driving times are worked out without traffic, then come the visits and ten minutes at every stop to park. In summer towards the coast and at rush hour allow extra time.

What you will see

1Mausoleum of Theodoric

Mausoleum of Theodoric 35 min

The tomb that Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths and ruler of Italy, had built for himself around 520. It's made of large blocks of Istrian stone placed one on top of the other without mortar, on two levels. The roof is the piece that leaves you speechless: a single block of stone about 10 metres in diameter and over 200 tonnes, brought from Istria by sea and lifted by methods still not fully understood; the twelve 'handles' around the edge were perhaps used for ropes. On the upper floor there's a red porphyry basin used as a sarcophagus.

State museum, separate ticket (not included in the centre's combined ticket).

2Classe, Classis museum

Classis Ravenna, Museum of the City and Territory 60 min

Opened in 2018 in the former sugar factory of Classe, it tells the story of Ravenna in a simple, modern way: from the Etruscans and Umbrians to the great Roman military port of Classe commissioned by Augustus, through to the Goths, Byzantines and the Middle Ages. Models, reconstructions, original mosaics and everyday objects: this is the right place to understand why Ravenna was a capital three times over.

RavennAntica Foundation: check opening days on the website before you set off. The same ticket can include the Antico Porto di Classe (archaeological area a few minutes away, open mainly in the warmer months).

3Sant'Apollinare in Classe

Basilica of Sant'Apollinare in Classe 40 min

Consecrated in 549, it stands above the burial place of Sant'Apollinare, first bishop of Ravenna. The nave is large and luminous, with columns of Greek marble and the sarcophagi of archbishops along the sides. Your gaze is drawn entirely to the apse basin: a green meadow full of trees, flowers and birds, at the centre a great jewelled cross in a starry sky and below the saint in prayer among twelve white sheep, representing the faithful. Outside, the round tenth-century bell tower, typical of Ravenna.

State museum, separate ticket.

Tips

  • If you're coming from Cervia or Milano Marittima, it's better to do the route in reverse (Classe first, Theodoric last): you'll save on driving.
  • Behind the basilica of Classe there's a pine forest: if you have time, a ten-minute walk in the shade.

The same trip from other towns

How long it takes from each town, the drive back included. Tap a town to see the plan from there.

Ravenna, Faenza and Cervia

Rimini and the Riviera

Forlì and Cesena

Bologna and its province

Comacchio and its beaches

Pesaro and Fano

With your own car

Almost every old town has a limited traffic zone (ZTL) with cameras: park outside and walk in. The fine reaches your home, abroad too. ZTL and car parks town by town

This trip with a driver

Romagna Transfer picks you up at your hotel, drops you in front of every stop and brings you back: no parking, no ZTL, and the wine is yours to enjoy.

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More trips in the Ravenna, Faenza and Cervia area

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Trips written by our editors from the facts of our monument pages and the official sites. Opening days and hours change: the note under every place tells you what to check before you leave. No prices: you find them on the museums' sites.

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