msmaxine

I have rented an apartment in Cortona for 10 days......beginning in a few days !

Advice I need:

1. Hate to drive.....is it possible to see lots and visit near-by towns without a car and do trains & buses ?
2. Towns worth visiting with only 10 days there.
3. Thoughts on day tours......and names of them.
4. Time it takes and train to take to get from Rome airport to Cortona

Thanks much !

kybourbon

I think you need a car. The closest train station is Camucia and you would have to take a bus to reach it.

HappyTrvlr

I highly recommend that you rent a car to give you many more day trip possibilities; most likely though, there are buses to these destinations as well. We spent a week in Cortona and loved it.
On the hillside of Cortona is the 13th c. Eremo le Celle where St. Francis of Assisi resided for a while. It is very interesting and a beautiful, peaceful place.
For day trips we visited Assisi and it's beautiful cathedral. Make sure you go all to the basement level.
We also visited Todi, Montalcino, Montepulciano,Pienza, Lago Trasimino,and the pottery town of Deruta.
Make sure you also include Arezzo to see the frescoes in the cathedral.

stevewith

you are probably going to catch a lot of flak for booking without a car and without a lot of research from the travel planners who post here, but you can have a spontaneously beautiful time in Cortona for 10 days without a car if you mix your stay with enjoying Cortona on some days without leaving at all, plus some day trips with drivers that you can locate when you arriive In Cortona. In particular, if you don't mind walking uphill, take some walks around the upper areas of Cortona and its neighboring villages to enjoy the views. it is best to do this early in the morning, before the sun gets too hot.

You will need to either master the local bus schedule or treat yourself to taxi rides to the Cortona train station, but once there you should make a point of visiting these neighboring towns by train or local bus: Arezzo, Chiusi and Orvieto. You should read up on these towns to see what they offer. If you like these places, consider revisiting to see more of them. They are very rich in history. There is a lot of good information online

http://www.seeyouintuscany.com/tusca...si/chiusi.html

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/tuscany/arezzo.html

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/tuscany/cortona.html

http://www.italyheaven.co.uk/orvieto.html

Visit the local tourist office early on, and find out if you can get buses to the nearby lake if that would interest you, or to Assisi. If you are interested in tours of the wine country, step into the lobby of any of the major hotels and you'll probably find plenty of brochures. You can look up reviews of lots of these places online.

Please remember that the rhythm of Italian life is morning commerce, everything shutting for a long lunch and nap, and then re-opening after 4pm for completing errands and socializing until dinner time. So unless you are a very early riser, it can be nicer to visit a place like Arezzo or Orvieto between 3 and 6pm than between 11 and 3pm, when too much is closed. Spend relaxed mornings in Cortona doing some shopping or taking some walks to villages nearby.

After your first five days there, if you think you might enjoy a few days of car rental, you can easily rent a car in Chiusi, booking it online. If you take walks into fields and weedy areas, do remember that Tuscany has ticks, so protect yourself with some spray from pharmacy. This is what you want. Make sure you get the orange spray that looks like this

http://www.autan.it/autan.cfm?a_id=302

DAX

10 days in hilltop Cortona without a car will be a challenge, I would communicate with the owner to see if you can reduce the days so you can find a better connected base location.

Stevewith gave very good detailed advice, i'd like to add that I would wear white pants & socks for tick protection on top of autan.

bobthenavigator

There are a number of locations in Tuscany where you can use public transport to see many highlights---Cortona is not one of them to me. How did you pick that location? I agree with DAX---I would talk to the owner about staying fewer days or see about a car rental for a few days. Arezzo would be the closest option for a car.

kybourbon

I think there is a Sixt car rental in Camucia and maybe a local rental company in Terontola.

There are a couple of LFI buses from Cortona, but routes/towns might not interest you and timing can be difficult.

You have a few more options using the train station in Camucia, but even a trip like visiting Chiusi will require multiple transport connections (bus to Camucia, train to Chiusi, taxi or bus to the old town, etc.).

Easy? No. Possible? Yes.

>>>4. Time it takes and train to take to get from Rome airport to Cortona<<<

The easiest train option is take the local FR1 train (not the Leonardo Express) from the airport to Rome's Tiburtina station. From there you get a regional train to Camucia and then bus to Cortona. The train portion will take about 3 hours.

msmaxine

Thanks to you all for your replies !!! Perhaps having a car is a way to go....as much as I hate the idea of driving...;-(

Please keep the replies coming...the more the merrier and much appreciated.