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Day Trips from Cortona - Restaurant suggestions

Hi all! I will be traveling to Cortona in December (staying 8 nights) and will have a car for 4 days. While I have a car, I want to visit some smaller towns in the area. I am looking for restaurant suggestions in any of the following towns:

Driving Day 1: Foiano, Lucignano, or Castiglion Fiorentino

Driving Day 2: Umbertide or Citta di Castello

Driving Day 3: Sansepolcro or Arezzo

I will likely be back in Cortona each evening for dinner because I don't want to drive in the dark when I'm not sure of the area.

Thank you - Sharon

Posted by
15041 posts

Day 1: Lucignano. Foiano is good only for shopping at the outlets Village.
Day 2: no Anghiari? Are you kidding me? How can you miss Anghiari? It's the most beautiful village in that area of Tuscany.
Day 3: Arezzo over Sansepolcro any day

Very Near Cortona also Castiglion Del Lago is a must.

North of Arezzo is also the Casentino Valley. Poppi and the Convent of Camaldoli are the highlights there, along with the Casentino Forest National park, the largest national forest in Italy.

I presume you have visited Assisi, Spello, Montepulciano areas already. Also not far from Cortona.

I guess too much for only three days uh?

Posted by
15041 posts

Good typical restaurants I know:

Arezzo (God there are so many)
Il Saraceno
Buca di San Francesco
Logge Del Vasari
La Tagliatella
L'Agania

Cortona:
La Loggetta

Anghiari:
Feudo Del Vicario.

My parents are from this part of Tuscany, so although I'm a Florentine my origins are here too.

Posted by
282 posts

Roberto,

What would we do without you on this forum? Thank you so much for the great suggestions! I will definitely add Anghiari to my stops. Luckily, I have some flexibility.

Posted by
13 posts

We love the retaurant La Buccaccia in Cortona. Great food and the owner is a character and makes it fun and memorable. We went to Assisi and loved it on a day trip. Perugia is also nearby.

Posted by
11613 posts

Sansepolcro has the Piero Della Francesca painting of the risen Christ, reason enough to go there. And excellent gelato.

Posted by
282 posts

Thanks for the additional suggestions! I'm here now and will put those places on my list!

Sharon

Posted by
15041 posts

If you want to visit Sansepolcro, you can go there when you go to Anghiari. They are 10 minutes from each other. It's a straight shot. I have a country home not too far, so I've driven there many times.
Anghiari is prettier and deserves more time, but you can easily fit both in the same day trip. Sansepolcro has only a Duomo and the Civic Museum to show. The painting of Christ is in the museum.