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Voykit pocket guide · Italy
Cortona
Give Cortona 2 nights as a hill-town base, not a day trip: the climb from Camucia station eats 30 min each way and the evenings are the point.
Cortona is an Etruscan hill town at about 600 m in the Val di Chiana, 29 km from Arezzo and roughly 100 km from Florence. The walled centre is small enough to walk in an afternoon, but the two train stations sit on the plain below, so the town works best as a 2-night base with a car or bus for the valley. Spring and autumn are the seasons to go; high summer is hot and crowded.
- Country
- Italy
- Best months
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (heat and crowds), late Dec–Feb (many places shut)
- Stay
- 2 nights
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- EUR
- Money
- Currency is the euro (EUR, €). Cards and contactless are widely accepted in cities; small cafés, markets and rural places may prefer cash.
- Daily spend
- Budget €60–90 excl. bed · Mid €90–150 excl. bed · High €150+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- TIM, Vodafone, WindTre and Iliad sell prepaid SIMs in shops and at airports; a passport and an Italian tax code (codice fiscale, issued in-store) are needed.
- Emergency
- Europe-wide emergency 112 · Police 113 · Fire 115 · Ambulance 118
- Plugs
- Types C, F, L · 230 V · 50 Hz · Italian type L plugs have three pins in a row; most sockets also take two-pin Europlugs (C), and bivalent sockets take Schuko (F).
- Tipping
- Bar: Leave €0.10–0.20 of change on the counter if you like.; Restaurant: Coperto or service may already be on the bill; leave €1–2 a person or round up for good service.; Taxi: Round up to the next euro.; Hotel porter or housekeeping: €1–2 per bag or per night.; Tour guide: €5–10 per person for a half day.
- Water
- Tap water is safe unless signed otherwise; Rome's nasoni fountains run all day. Restaurants serve bottled water (naturale or frizzante) unless you ask for tap (acqua del rubinetto).
- Toilets
- Few public toilets; use bars (buy a coffee), museums and stations, where some charge €1.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Coffee at the bar | €1.20–1.80 |
| Pizza or pasta at a trattoria | €9–16 |
| Glass of local wine | €4–8 |
| MAEC museum entry | €10 |
| Museo Diocesano entry | €5 |
| Bus Camucia-Cortona, one way | €1.10–2 |
| eSIM or data SIM, about a week | €15–25 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- FLR · Florence Amerigo Vespucci
- Fly-by-Bus shuttle to Florence Santa Maria Novella station, about 20 min, then train south
- PSA · Pisa Galileo Galilei
- Train from the airport station to Florence or Terontola, then change
Typical fares
- Camucia-Cortona → Cortona centre, bus
- €1.10–2, about 15 min
- Florence SMN → Camucia-Cortona, train
- about €15, 1 h 30 min
- Taxi Camucia station → Cortona centre
- €15–25
Get around
On foot inside the walls: the centre is small but steep, with lanes and stairways. Driving in the old town is impractical and parking inside is almost impossible; use the lots outside the walls, some free. Bus 1 links Camucia-Cortona station with Piazza Garibaldi roughly every 30 min.
See and do
Known for
- Etruscan walls and the MAEC museum
- Piazza della Repubblica and Palazzo Casali
- Signorelli and Fra Angelico paintings
- Fortezza del Girifalco views
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Chiusi | Train from Camucia-Cortona or Terontola-Cortona, about 20–30 min | About 1 h |
| Castiglion Fiorentino | Train to Castiglion Fiorentino, about 10 min, then a steep walk up | About 45 min |
| Lucignano | Car or bus via the Val di Chiana, about 30 min | About 45 min |
| Monte San Savino | Car on the Siena–Perugia speedway, about 35 min | About 50 min |
Sleep
- Centro storico (Piazza della Repubblica and Via Nazionale)
- Everything walkable; expect stairs and no car access. Best for a short stay without luggage.
- Camucia
- On the plain by the station, 5 km below town; cheaper rooms and easy parking, but you bus or drive up.On the plain by the station, 3.1 mi below town; cheaper rooms and easy parking, but you bus or drive up.
- Val di Chiana countryside
- Agriturismi and villas between Cortona, Castiglion Fiorentino and Monte San Savino; car needed.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Good morning | Buongiornobwon-JOR-no |
| Please | Per favoreper fa-VO-re |
| Thank you | GrazieGRAH-tsyeh |
| How much is it? | Quanto costa?KWAN-to KOS-ta |
| The bill, please | Il conto, per favoreeel KON-to per fa-VO-re |
| Where is the bus stop? | Dov'è la fermata dell'autobus?do-VEH la fer-MA-ta del-LOW-to-boos |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Say buongiorno (until mid-afternoon) or buonasera on entering shops and bars; avoid: Walking in and pointing without a greeting
- Cheek kisses: Two kisses, right cheek first, among friends; follow their lead; avoid: Kissing strangers or in business settings
- Dress: Smart-casual in cities; covered shoulders and knees in churches; avoid: Beachwear, bare chests and flip-flops away from the beach
- Queues: At delis and pharmacies take a number (numerino); avoid: Assuming the crowd at a bar counter is chaos — pay at the till first where asked
- Restaurants: Wait to be seated and ask for the bill; avoid: Splitting a bill item by item with a large group
- Conversation: Food, football and family are safe openers; avoid: Mafia jokes and north–south stereotypes
- Dinner at a home: Bring pastries, wine or flowers (not chrysanthemums, which are for funerals); avoid: Refusing seconds too firmly
Scams and watch-outs
- Camucia-Cortona station has no staffed ticket office; use the machines or buy before you travel.
- Bus tickets from the driver cost more than from a tabacchi and drivers may not give change.
- Few taxis serve the stations: book one through your hotel.
- ZTL camera zones and steep lanes: park outside the walls and walk.
Cortona is a low-crime small town; the real risks are steep lanes after rain, summer heat on the climb, and pickpockets in the crowded piazzas in high season.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Cortona yet. Suggested stay: 2 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Etruscan walls and the MAEC museum
- Piazza della Repubblica and Palazzo Casali
- Signorelli and Fra Angelico paintings
- Fortezza del Girifalco views
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- MAEC — Museum of the Etruscan Academy and the City of Cortona: www.cortonamaec.org
- Museo Diocesano Cortona: www.cortonatuseibellezza.it/
- Wikivoyage: Cortona, revision 5260390 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5260390
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Cortona
A questo indirizzo, per favore
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
No embassies in Cortona; the US consulate general is in Florence and embassies are in Rome.
112 works from any phone in Italy, including mobiles with no local SIM.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/cortona). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.