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Cortona vs. another countryside town - ? worth the drive from Venice?

Posted by on

Hello,
Hope everyone is well! I'm driving down to Tuscany from Venice with my boyfriend in three weeks. I'm wondering (granted it's a personal opinion) if Cortona is as lovely as it looks. We are staying at the Relais Villa Petrischio.

This is our first trip to Italy and I've grown a bit nervous about the 4 hour ride (which will be more like 5-6 if we get lost and of course stop along the way). That mentioned: we can enjoy the journey and perhaps stop and explore. However, does anyone have insight to Cortona? It is worth the long ride if our goals are: exploring small towns, the countryside, drinking wine, shopping, and relaxing? Or Perhaps there's towns along the way we should stop off in to help break the length of the car ride - or even stay in instread of Cortona?

Many thanks!
Cheers,
Paula

Posted by
3648 posts

I'm wondering where you got the 4 hour time for the drive. Viamichelin gives 4 hours 38 minutes; and the common wisdom is to add 25% to their estimates. I think the odds are very good that you'll get lost at some point, even with a gps (not necessarily a bad thing, unless you're trying to make time to a destination). I wasn't as taken with Cortona as some are, but I was there only for a day, more than 15 years ago. Maybe some others can regale you with its charms. Montepulciano is a close-by town, and one I liked better.

Posted by
16243 posts

You are driving from Venice just to see Cortona?
What is your overall itinerary and for how many days? Need more details to give an opinion.

Posted by
715 posts

I wil echo everyone else - Cortona is a nice town, but its fame comes from the books and the movie. There is so much more to see and do and would be worth the trip from Venice. Assisi and Perugia are not far away and worth the time IMO.

Posted by
67 posts

"It is worth the long ride if our goals are: exploring small towns, the countryside, drinking wine, shopping, and relaxing?"

In my opinion, YES!

My wife and I stopped there because it really wasn't out of our way. I had read the book, and we both saw the movie, but frankly neither of us had high expectations.

We thought it was just a delightful town. We would go back there in a heartbeat.

Posted by
8 posts

Hello,
Yes... My mail reason for picking Cortona was the movie :) I struggled to identify another quaint countryside with all the options out there.

I'd love to be closer to Venice (maybe 1.5 to 2.5 hrs vs the 4 that Goolge maps said it would be. If the 4 hrs is shorter or of course longer (I'd love to know).

I'll check out The towns you mentioned as well!
Thank you!

Posted by
1005 posts

I don't know which day of the week you will be driving, but we stopped there once on a Sunday afternoon while driving to our villa in Le Marche, and the whole town was quite lively -- not the norm for most Umbrian hill towns we passed.

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