I found this lovely apartment in Certaldo (which is just north of Volterra and San Gimignano), but I've never heard of it and wondered if it is worth staying in. My family of four is looking for a small hilltown to rent an apartment for a week and take some daytrips to other towns. The apartment is called "Borgo Certaldo". We've also considered Cortona and Volterra, but was curious about this town. Any thoughts?
Posted by
Yorkshire, UK
264 posts
Perhaps someone with more knowledge of Tuscany can help on this. However with that said I can say we stayed just east of Certaldo. We actually drove through and stopped at what was Certaldo on the map and did not find much of anything to tell the truth. This was right off the main road. I forget if there was a part of the town that was up on a hill or not. If so it could be different up there. That distinction might be worth checking out.
Posted by
Boston, MA, United States
83 posts
I am staying there in May 09, at Fattoria Bassetto which has a hostel and also private villas for rent. It looks really nice, it is on a good train line with may places within 1 h (Florence, Siena, (Pisa 1.5 hrs), (Civita 2 hrs)). I dont think the town itself has anything to write home about but it is a good home base for exploring in every directions. The walk from Certaldo to San Gim. is popular and listed in Lonely Planet's walking guide to italy, I think.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, U.S.A.
251 posts
Certaldo is a small but rather striking hill town consisting of mainly red brick buildings. The Old Town (Certaldo Alto) is way up on the hill; you can take a funicular up to get there (though I think you can drive up if you're staying in town).
The Old town is mainly "themed" around Boccaccio (the writer, poet) who was born there. It doesn't have too much in terms of sights: a couple of churches, Boccaccio's house, a small art museum, a palazzo, and that's about it. But it is very unique, and it has great views in all directions, including looking off to the south at San Gimignano on the horizon. I haven't stayed there overnight before, so I'm not sure what you would have in terms of restaurants; I think there are a couple of hotel restaurants up in the Old Town, but you would probably have a few more options in the lower town.
Overall, I think a stay could very well be worth it. It's a great location as a base for daytripping, it's away from most of the tourist crowds, and even though it doesn't have too much on its own, you'll mainly be relaxing when you're back in town after daytripping anyway: a great place to have a glass of wine while looking across the valley toward the other towns in the evening.
Cortona is an excellent base as well. If you have any q's on it, let me know. Volterra is also another nice hilltown, a little bigger than Certaldo, which could also be worth it. So, there are excellent options either way! Sounds like a fun trip!
Posted by
Carbondale, IL, USA
1201 posts
I say go for it. We stumbled on to Certaldo Alto a couple a years ago and much enjoyed the diversion. We were staying a bit south of Florence and noticed the old walled village as we were on the way to San G.
We got there around ten in the morning. There is parking outside the walls. The weather was great and probavly because tit was March, the town was deserted. We wandered around for a while and really enjoyed the views and the old brickwork.
there isn't a lot to do, which can be a blessing. The new town of Certaldo is down the hill and seemed fairly typical of a modern Italian town.