Spend a Perfect Evening in Cortona, Italy
Cortona, Italy. This lovely little town in the southern Tuscany sits atop a hill, roughly 2,000 feet above the sea level. It is filled with beautiful views, stony side streets, and picturesque restaurants. Dating back to the Etruscan era and Roman times, the town is surrounded by stone walls that run along the outer edge of the city. This offers amazing views of the valley below.
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Booking.comIn 2018, my family and I rented a beautiful villa near Cortona through Hill Town Tours. While in Italy, we were able to explore much of the countryside and villages during our trip. Due to our villa being so close to Cortona, we spent several evenings there shopping, exploring and dinning in the city.
Here is my outline for a lovely evening in Cortona:
Wander Around Cortona
Make sure to arrive early to give yourself plenty of time to explore. It will take you a while by car/taxi to get to the town itself and the road is very curvy so make sure to take it slow. Pull over in a safe spot to take in the view on your drive up. Most of the parking for the city is outside the walls so you will need to wear your walking shoes! When you get to the top of the hill via the main road (Casa Sparse Cortona), there will be parking right there. This is where I would suggest you park to make it the easiest.
After parking you can wander to the main gates and walk up Via Roma which will lead you to the city center, Piazza della Repubblica. However, you can take any street and as long as you are heading UP you will reach the city center. The Piazza has many shops and restaurants to explore and enjoy! Make sure to grab some Gelato and sit on the steps of the Palazzo Comunale . This area has an amazing vibe and great people watching.
Shop in Cortona, Italy
The Piazza della Repubblica is filled with many shops to explore and is the place to shop in Cortona. Everything from wine shops to pottery stores, leather shops and jewelry places can be found here. The best place to check out was a pottery shop called Casantonio. Located right on the Piazza, this little gem carried every variety imaginable of hand-painted Tuscan pottery. The owner was very friendly and welcoming- she could talk forever (in a good way :-))! They even ship to the U.S. if you wanted to purchase one of their larger items. While there, we purchased a lovely olive oil holder and wine stopper. 🙂
Eat and Drink in Cortona
There are many restaurants to choose from in Cortona, several of which I had the opportunity to try during my time here. You cant go wrong with Italian food and almost every place will serve you something amazing. My favorite place to eat in Cortona is La Logetta. This lovely place has a nice inside area but the best seat in the house is on their terrace which overlooks the main Piazzza. Sitting here on a warm evening with a nice glass of red wine and a big bowl of pasta- it cant be beat! Everything they make is homemade with locally sourced ingredients and the place is family-owned. You will find truffles in many of the dishes they offer but you really cant go wrong with any item on their menu.
Check out these links to learn more about the town of Cortona, Italy: Cortonamia.com and DiscoverTuscany.com.
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About the Author
Hi my name is Sara and I am the creator of WanderMoore! 🙂 I started WanderMoore in early 2020 after leaving a full-time job in the Communications/Marketing field to stay home and raise my kiddos, Mila and Liam. I wanted something fun to work on in my free time and WanderMoore has become one of my biggest passions! Thank you for reading my post! I can't wait to share more of my travel adventures with you 🙂
I love Italy! I haven’t been to Cortona but have been to Tuscany and Umbria a couple of times. So beautiful and yes, good food and good wine!
What a lovely place and the food looks absolutely delicious!
Cortona looks like such a lovely city. Also, all of your food looks delicious! 🙂
Sounds amazing. I just love your explanation of the shops. My favorite part!
I wanted to visit here when we in Tuscany in the fall but ran out of time. Loved living it through the post.
Beautiful