Hello all,
Finalizing my 9 day Florence / Tuscany trip and wondering if Cortona is worth visiting . Our hotel is in Florence and have no car so curious if anyone has visited Cortona and would recommend seeing . We already have plans to see Lucca, Fiesole, Bologna , Volterra and wine tour (along seeing all the major attractions in Florence)
The train is a 90 min ride , so looking for some advice
Thank you in advance
We stayed in Cortona for 3 worthwhile nights, after staying in Lucca for several nights. On a 9 day trip, it sounds like you’re thinking about making a daytrip visit, and not staying the night. If that’s the case, I probably wouldn’t go just for a quickie visit, especially as you’re already seeing Volterra, Rick Steves’ favorite Tuscan hilltown.
If you do want to stay at least one night, Cortona does have its distinctive features. There’s the old town, way, way, way above the separate, newer town way, way, way down below. There are also two train stations in the valley, and we unknowingly got off at the first one (farther from the old town), but still caught a bus to reach our B&B up high. It’s a really steep ride up there, and once inside the old Etruscan walls, it’s a really, really steep climb on foot. On the bus on the steep road back down to the right (closer) train station after our stay, my husband’s 4-wheel spinner suitcase got loose, and sped straight down the aisle of the bus on its wheels, crashing into the dashboard at the front. Nobody hurt, no damage to anything, but really surprising. Hold onto any luggage if you’ve got it with you!
Thanks Cyn for your quick reply. Yes, I was thinking of just visiting Cortona for the day (from Florence), so staying about 4 hours tp visit the town - so it sounds from your reply it may not be worth the time travel for just 4 hours?
Your 4 hours wouldn’t really be wasted if Cortona’s where you decided to stop by, but they might be better spent at the places you’ve already said you’re definitely going. Are these also daytrips, or are you staying in Lucca, as well as Bologna? If so, you’ve likely only got 2-3 nights there, max, so an extra 4 hours in either place would be beneficial. Enjoy Tuscany and Emilia Romagna!
We visited Cortona while on a Road Scholar Tour of Tuscany and Umbria. It was on a short day trip from Siena. Cortona is well worth a visit, as are other places in Tuscany like San Gimignano. Lucca and Volterra were great places.
"Worth it" is a difficult question to answer. Sure, Cortona is nice to visit as are the other hill-towns in the region such as Perugia, Assisi, and so on. But you're going to Volterra so you're already getting the hill-town experience. Cortona is not a clone, to be sure, but only you can decide if a 2nd hill-town is preferable to spending another day in a place like Lucca or Bologna to add on activities like a food tour.
Thanks everyone and appreciate the quick reply
