debs57

My boyfriend and I along with my 2 adult children with their significant others will be spending a week in Cortona in March for a week at a villa. We were thinking of extending somewhere else for a few days and also needed ideas for daily excursions around Corona. Please give me your recommendation for extension, day trips, restaurants, sights, etc
THanks as always

HappyTrvlr

Cortona is in a good location for exploring. You do mean Cortona not Corona which you wrote twice?
You can do day day trips to Pienza and Montalcino and also go east into Umbria to Asissi, Spello, and Todi as well as many other charming towns.
We spent a week in Cortona and enjoyed this location.

Leely2

Arezzo is nearby and definitely worth a visit--lots to see there, including the magnificent Piero della Francesca fresco cycle, Legends of the True Cross, in the basilica of San Francesco.

As for extending your stay, where are you flying out of?

debs57

Yes I do mean Cortona. Thanks for the recommendations We are flying out of NY.

Leely2

Sorry, I meant in Italy, which airport on your way home? Because it would make sense to spend a few days in Rome or Florence or Bologna or _____ before departure if you'e flying home from there.

starrs

One thought - we rented a lovely place in Tuscany and took "daily excursions" out, including a trip to Cortona to meet up with another Fodorite. The one thing I would change would be fewer daily excursions and more time at "home" enjoying where we were staying. Be aware of time constraints. I drove back twice after dark, which was not enjoyable on small curvy roads. The drive back from Cortona included wild boars in the road as they made their way through the vineyards at night. Maybe head out every other day and enjoy being in Cortona the rest of the time.

Jean

March in Tuscany is a transitional month between winter and spring, so weather on any given day can be a bit of both seasons, esp. if your week is early in the month. You'll have to watch the daily forecasts and be flexible with plans.

starrs talked about daylight hours... At the beginning of the month, sunset will be at 6:00 p.m. On March 26th, sunset will be at 6:30 p.m. Then the clocks change, and sunset will be at 7:30 p.m.

You should rent two cars, not just for the comfort of passengers and navigating tight spaces, but also to allow for flexibility if some in the group want to do something else.

I limit my day trips to a range of about an hour's drive, so for me Todi, Deruta, Spello Assisi, Gubbio would all be too far from Cortona. Montepulciano and Pienza would be close enough. I would visit Arezzo by train (about 20 minutes). Perugia would be faster to reach by car, but it's a fairly big city with traffic and lots of one-way streets. You could also go to Perugia by train. And you could train to Orvieto (about an hour). When searching drives on maps.google.com, add 10-15% to all driving estimates. You can search train timetables here:

https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html

But following on Leely2's question about airports, some places are more easily visited on the way to your departure airport and/or from the place you stay on your last night(s) before flying out of the country.

starrs

Good advice from Jean. After encountering the wild boars, I'd take a train if I thought there were a chance I'd be driving back after dark. We were there in October.
I sensed movement to the left and stopped the car. In all, about a dozen crossed the road in front of us. Very little traffic on the road. I'm glad we didn't hit one.

HappyTrvlr

Those boar look like the javelina we saw constantly on roads when we lived in Arizona!
We actually stayed right below the hill where Cortona is located. We were in the middle of beautiful vineyards but close to the town too.
You mention wanting to add another place to stay. Look at the Chianti region between Siena and Florence, with beautiful, charming small towns.

starrs

In that area, I LOVED Le Torri -
https://www.letorri.com/en/home-english/
VERY reasonable.
Simply gorgeous.
One of my favorite places ever.
A villa apartment rental with incredible rates. Weekly only. On arrival day, Saturday, the owners have a fabulous feast for all who will be staying there for the week.
You'd definitely need a car.

My concern about staying in Cortona is dealing with all of the hills and driving in/ out.
LeTorri is very small, very easy access and a great base for exploring the area.
Plus, it is simply lovely. I read about it on slowtrav dot com about 20 years ago and thought it simply could not be as good as the descriptions.
It is.

HappyTrvlr

For Cortona, we stayed at the beautiful In Falconiere which is in the vineyards below the hill of Cortona. It was a fabulous experience. The restaurant has Michelin stars.

starrs

That sounds lovely. I think I would prefer that location to actually IN Cortona.
I was really looking forward to visiting Cortona. I'd been a fan of Frances Mayes, long before the movie. That was our most "off" day. We were supposed to meet up with goddesstogo. I found the parking difficult. We had a bit of a trouble finding the escalator. My friend was having issues with the elevation. We had sketchy phone service. We were not able to connect with gtg, and that was really sad for me. We had met in Toronto a few years prior. I would like to return to see more of it but I think staying at the base would make for a more relaxing week if daily excursions were the goal. I loved the views and recognized the location as the one used for a Soft Surrounding photo shoot. I bought a coat from SS, probably because I loved the locale so much (pre-trip).