Train arrival in Cortona

It's at the bottom of the hill below the city. If I remember correctly, it's about 2 miles or so up the hill. The best way to get up there is to catch the local bus (or take a taxi).

Michael,

There are two train stops listed for Cortona: Camucia-Cortona and Terontola-Cortona. You will want to get off at the Camucia-Cortona station which is in the small town of Camucia; Camucia is at the bottom of the hill which Cortona sits atop. Ron is correct in that Cortona is a couple of miles uphill from the station. It's not impossible to walk, but the best way to get up (especially with luggage) is to catch the local bus.

As soon as you exit the station, there is a round-about in front. On the left side of it is the bus stop with the schedule showing times to Cortona. It arrives fairly frequently, with a few gaps of a couple of hours open here and there, but overall it averages arriving every 45 min. - 1 hr. Keep in mind, I think the latest bus comes around 8:30-9 PM, so I would definitely recommend arriving before then. Also, it doesn't run quite as frequently on the weekends, especially Sunday (where it is pretty infrequent, so I'd be careful if arriving Sunday).

But, in all, catching the bus up to town usually isn't a problem. As you exit the train station (facing the round-about) you can buy bus tickets at the small shop/bar immediately to your right (almost connected to the station). If they happen to be closed (for siesta or if it's late/weekend/etc.), you can check at the other bars down the street in front of you, some of which also sell them (if one doesn't sell them, just ask and they'll let you know where they are sold). If you have multiple people in your group or are planning to take the bus up to town and back down a few times, ask for the "Quattro Corsi" ticket which is good for four trips (or 4 people for 1 trip, 2 people for 2 trips, etc.). It's cheaper than buying 4 separate tickets, so it's just a way to save a little money.

Anyway, I hope this helps and I hope you have fun in Cortona. If you have any other questions about the town/area, just let me know.

Maybe I'm getting old and lazy, but I sure wouldn't want to walk up from the train station to Cortona with luggage! It's a pretty strenuous walk, with hundreds of feet of altitude gain.

Too long, really, and too steep to walk. And taxis are awfully hard to come by at the train station. However, there's a shuttle bus that is cheap (a Euro or two) but that you'll have to wait for. Only about 15 minutes up to the town. Hill towns, almost by definition, are not easy to reach by trains. We did it, and did grow a bit frustrated, but if you left Florence early (is that where you'll be coming from?) it's certainly workable.