Specialized Travel Resources
Italy certainly doesn't win any medals for being overly accessible, though a few of the top museums and churches are beginning at least to install ramps at the entrances, and a few hotels are converting first-floor rooms into accessible units by widening the doors and baths. Other than that, don't expect to find much of Tuscany and Umbria easy to tackle. Builders in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance didn't have wheelchairs or mobility impairments in mind when they built narrow doorways and...
Fashion Clothing
Although Italian fashion reached its pinnacle in the 1950s and 1960s, the country has remained at the forefront of both high Armani, Gucci, Pucci, Ferrag-amo, just to name a few and popular as evidenced by the spectacular success of Benetton in the 1980s fashion. Florence plays second fiddle to Milan in today's Italian fashion scene, but the city has its own cadre of highly respected names, plus, of course, outlet shops of all the hot designers. Also see Leather, Accessories amp Shoes, below....
ESSENTIALS Nwy
GETTING AROUND The only way to explore the Chianti effectively is to drive. But know that many of the roads off the major SS222 aka the Chianti-giana are unpaved and sometimes heavily potholed. Biking through the Chianti can be one of Tuscany's most rewarding and scenic strenuous workouts. See Special-Interest Vacations in chapter 2 for tour companies or go on your own by renting a bike in Greve at Ramuzzi Marco, Viale Falsettacci 6 amp 055-853-037 turn right at tourist office it's down on the...
ESSENTIALS Lgm
GETTING THERE By Train Use the Chiusi Chianciano Terme station, whether you're on one of the 30 daily trains on the main Rome-Florence line 1 hr. 45 min.-2 hr. 45 min. from Florence or the 16 trains on the secondary Siena line 1 hr. 15 min. . On the Siena line, don't get off at the stop called Montepulciano Staz. It's about as far from Montepulciano as the Chiusi stop, but local LFI buses to Montepulciano are coordinated with the trains only at the Chiusi station. By Car From Siena, the...
Spoleto Southern Umbria
Umbria's southerly reaches border on Lazio, the province of Rome. The flat plains of the Tiber and other rivers are interrupted only by the green swath of long-sacred mountains national parkland today to the east and outcrop-pings of volcanic tufa to the west, atop which are perched towns that were already ancient when Rome was founded. Within an hour's drive of Rome's outskirts, southern Umbria boasts a heritage deeper, more complex, and more jumbled than its Latin neighbor, having served for...
When to Go
The best times to visit Tuscany and Umbria are in the spring and fall. Starting in late May, the summer tourist rush really picks up, and from July to mid-September the country is teeming with visitors. August is the worst month to visit. Not only does it get uncomfortably hot, muggy, and crowded the lines for the Uffizi and the Accademia can stretch for blocks , but the entire country goes on vacation at least from August 15 until the end of the month, and many Italians take off the entire...
Perugias Medieval Pompeii
To cow the insurgent Perugini into submission after he put down their rebellion against his salt tax, Pope Paul III demolished more than one quarter of the city in 1530, pointedly including the palaces of the fractious former leaders, the Baglioni family. He then ordered Antonio da Sangallo the Younger to build him a fortress, the Rocca Paolina fjp, in the gaping empty space. By 1543, the massive bastion was complete, and it helped uphold papal domination over Perugia for more than 300 years....
Volterra
Albergo Nazionale 11 Hotel Etruria 15 Hotel San Lino 4 Villa Nencini 2 Albergo Nazionale 11 Hotel Etruria 15 Hotel San Lino 4 Villa Nencini 2 Palazzo dei Priori The Palazzo dei Priori 1208-57 is the oldest building of its kind in Tuscany, the Gothic town hall on which Florence's Palazzo Vecchio and most other civic buildings in the region were modeled. Walk up to the first floor to see the town council chamber, which aside from getting a new vaulted ceiling in 1516 has pretty much looked the...
WHERE TO DINE Jjb
Cortona specializes in no food outside of the standard Tuscan realm, but the city's restaurants do home-cooked meals rather well, especially at any one of the trattorie on Via Dardano. Besides Trattoria Dardano, reviewed below, you can also try Trattoria Toscana, no. 12, near Piazza Signorelli amp 0575-604-192 , or Trattoria Etrusca, no. 37, near Porta Colonia amp 0575-630-556 . The local white wine, Vergine di Valdichiana, is highly recommended, but most local red table rotgut is overly sweet...
Where to Stay in Florence
Albergo Azzi 2 Albergo Merlini 2 Burchianti 8 Campeggio Michelangelo 43 Grand Hotel Cavour 21 Hotel Abaco 10 Hotel Alessandra 15 Hotel Aprile 6 Hotel Bellettini 9 Hotel Brunelleschi 24 Hotel California 37 Hotel Calzaiuoli 23 Hotel Casci 36 Hotel Chiari Bigallo 26 Hotel de' Lanzi 25 Hotel Firenze 22 Hotel Helvetia amp Bristol 12 Hotel Hermitage 39 Hotel La Scaletta 16 Hotel Le Due Fontane 34 Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti 33 Hotel Mario's 3 Hotel Medici 27 Hotel Monna Lisa 38 Hotel Nuova Italia 4...
Leather Accessories Shoes
It has always been a buyers' market for leather in Florence, but these days it's tough to sort out the jackets mass-produced for tourists from the high-quality artisan work. The most fun you'll have leather shopping is without a doubt at the outdoor stalls of the San Lorenzo market, even if the market is rife with mediocre goods see Markets, below . Never accept the first price they throw at you sometimes you can bargain them down to almost half the original asking price. The shops below should...
The Best Hill Towns
San Gimignano The Medieval Manhattan bristles with more the world's worst posture. Afterward, saunter down to the patch of green surrounding the baptistery and take a nap on the grass with the sun warming your face. And, oh yeah You can climb the tower, too. See Pisa amp Its Tipsy Tower in chapter 7. Taking an Evening Stroll in Perugia Perugia's wide Corso Vannucci is perfect for the early-evening stroll Italians everywhere turn out for the passeggiata. It's the time to see and be seen, to...
Arezzo Northeastern Tuscany
The province of Arezzo, bounding Tuscany's northeast corner, is a land of castle-dominated hill towns, misty blue mountains, and the vestiges of Apennine forests. Snowy-white cattle graze in the wide Chiana Valley, while light industry toils at the edges of medieval centers. In the reaches of the mountains lie hermitages of ecologically minded vegetarian monks and La Verna, St. Francis's favorite spot to pray, where he became the first human to receive the stigmata. This is the area where the...
On Or Near Piazza Santa Maria Novella
Piazza Santa Maria Novella boasts patches of grass and a central fountain. The two squat obelisks, resting on the backs of Giambologna tortoises, once served as the turning posts for the chariot races held here from the 16th to the mid-19th century. However, these days the piazza sees more action as a roving ground for the few Gypsies picking tourists' pockets in Florence and the hangout for the city's economically depressed small immigrant population and even smaller cache of itinerants....
A Drive Up The Garfagnana
The main SS12 road north toward Barga and Castelnuovo splits to go up either side of the steep-valleyed Serchio just south of Ponte a Moriano. You want to stay on the east right branch because there s no parking on the other side of the river when you get to Borgo a Mozzano 20km 12 miles and the Ponte del Diavolo Devil s Bridge , sometimes called the Ponte della Maddalena. This impossibly narrow humpbacked 11th-century bridge of fitted stone was built under the auspices of the area s...