Fuori GP: a guide to race week in Monza and Milan

Most Grands Prix happen at the track. Monza’s spills into the streets.

Fuori GP, literally outside the Grand Prix, is the festival that takes over Monza in the days before the race. Add Milan’s race-week energy and you get a four-day party with an F1 race in the middle. The 2027 Italian Grand Prix runs from 3 to 5 September. This is what happens off track, and how to make the most of it.

What is Fuori GP?

Fuori GP is Monza’s official city festival, which runs alongside the Grand Prix. The town centre fills with car displays, concerts, talks, DJs and aperitivo lounges in the piazzas. Free to wander. Very Italian. The best way to feel the local passion before a wheel has turned in anger.

The exact programme changes every year and is usually confirmed closer to the event. Past editions have included an official opening ceremony, parades of supercars and historic racing cars through the centre of town, and evening lounges running late into the night.

Thursday: arrive and dive in

Arrive Thursday. The circuit’s quiet, the town’s buzzing and the festival usually opens in the early evening. Take a walk through the centre, grab an Aperol Spritz in one of the piazzas and watch the cars roll in. Piazza Trento e Trieste has traditionally been the heart of the action.

Friday: Milan’s turn

Once Friday’s running is done, the energy shifts south to Milan. Sponsors take over rooftops and showrooms, bars fill with team staff and fans, and fashion, football and Formula 1 share the same few square miles for one week only.

Start with an aperitivo. Bar Basso, the birthplace of the Negroni Sbagliato, is a Milan institution and still one of the city’s great pre-dinner stops. Then head for dinner around the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II or in Brera. Book ahead. It’s one of the busiest weeks of the year for Milan’s best tables.

Saturday: the big night

Saturday is traditionally the biggest night of the week. With the Sprint and qualifying done, the mood is loud and confident, especially if Ferrari have had a good day. Expect headline DJs, rooftop bars, outdoor concerts, packed squares and sponsor activations across Monza and Milan. Pace yourself: Sunday is the main event, and you’ll want to be sharp for it.

Sunday: race day and the invasion

Race day belongs to the circuit. After the chequered flag, thousands of fans pour onto the track and gather beneath the famous overhanging podium on the main straight, turning the circuit into a sea of red flags. Never seen it? Stay for it.

Monza beyond the festival

Monza isn’t just the town with the racetrack. The Villa Reale, a vast neoclassical palace built for the Habsburgs, sits at the edge of the park, with gardens that are well worth a morning stroll. In the centre, Monza’s cathedral is home to the Iron Crown of Lombardy, one of the oldest royal insignia in Europe. The park itself, one of the largest walled parks on the continent, is best explored on the quiet days before the crowds arrive.

Eating in Monza

Race week is a good excuse to eat like a local. Look for risotto alla milanese, golden with saffron, and cotoletta, the region’s breaded veal cutlet. Finish with a gelato as you walk between piazzas. The best local trattorias fill up quickly during Grand Prix week, so book a table or go early. In true Italian style, dinner starts late.

Monza or Milan?

You don’t have to choose. Monza has the local passion, the festival and the tifosi. Milan has the glamour, the rooftop bars and the sponsor parties. The ideal race week gives you both: an evening in the piazzas of Monza, another in the bars of Brera or Porta Nuova, with the racing in between.

Making it work

The trick is getting around without spending your evenings in queues. Know this:

• Trains during race week are geared towards the circuit. Late-night services back from Milan thin out after around 10pm, so plan your return before you head out.
• Book restaurants early. Milan’s best dining rooms fill up weeks in advance for Grand Prix week.
• Pre-book a driver for big nights. In Italy, NCC is a pre-booked chauffeur service with the price agreed upfront.
• Dress for the evenings. Days are warm in early September, but it can be cooler after dark.

Your base for race week

The Pop-Up Hotel is a short walk from both Monza circuit and Biassono-Lesmo Parco station, which has direct trains into Milan. Close enough to walk to the racing. Connected enough to dive into Fuori GP and Milan whenever you like. Quiet aperitivo or the biggest party of the weekend, our team will point you the right way.

Quick answers

Be part of it. Book your stay for Monza 2027.