There are two ways to spend a day in Cortona. The first way is efficient. You arrive mid-morning, walk Via Nazionale, visit the MAEC museum, take photographs from the main viewpoints, eat lunch at a restaurant near the piazza, browse a few shops, and leave in the late afternoon. You have seen Cortona. You have…
Most visitors to Cortona look up. They climb to the historic center, walk the Etruscan walls on the upper ridge, look out over the Val di Chiana from the height of the hill. The view is extraordinary. The history is visible in every direction. What almost nobody does is look down. Just below the hill…
One day in Cortona is not enough. I want to say that clearly before giving you an itinerary for one day, because the honest version of this guide begins with an acknowledgment that the town rewards more time than most visitors give it. That said — one day, done properly, is enough to understand why…
This is a bold claim. Tuscany is full of extraordinary sunsets — the region has been producing them for millennia and has become justifiably famous for the quality of its evening light. The cypress-lined roads of the Val d’Orcia at golden hour are practically a religion. The view from Fiesole over Florence as the city…
Rome was founded, according to tradition, in 753 BC. The Etruscan walls of Cortona are older than that. This is not a minor historical footnote. It is one of the most remarkable facts about a town that is full of remarkable facts — and it is physically, tangibly available to anyone who walks to the…
Every town in Italy has two versions of itself. The first version is the one most visitors see — the main street, the central piazza, the famous viewpoint, the restaurants with menus in multiple languages and prices that reflect their location on the tourist circuit. This version is real. It is often genuinely beautiful. It…
Most travel guides to Cortona were written by someone who visited for a day, walked the main street, photographed the view, and left. This guide was written by someone who lives here. The difference matters. Not because the obvious things are wrong — the views are genuinely extraordinary, the food is genuinely excellent, and the…
Most people’s knowledge of ancient Italy begins with Rome. The Colosseum. The Forum. Caesar. The legions. It is a compelling story — but it starts in the middle. Before Rome was an empire, before Rome was a republic, before Rome was even a small city on seven hills, there was a civilization that stretched across…
Every year, millions of pilgrims visit Assisi. They walk the Basilica of San Francesco, they admire the frescoes, they follow the path of one of the most important spiritual figures in history. Almost none of them know about Le Celle. Located just a few kilometers outside Cortona, in the hills of Tuscany, Le Celle is…