Orientation

To get a proper sense of Cortona’s topography, take a map, pinch it somewhere in the middle, and pull up. There you go.

You will arrive in town via the Camucia-Cortona train station, which is at the very bottom of the steep and sizable hill. A bus runs from outside the tiny station to Cortona’s Piazza Garibaldi every 20-30min. or so, but don’t plan to arrive or leave on a Sunday, when the bus runs its loop just twice the entire day. This same bus is also the only public transportation in Cortona unless you count the outdoor escalator leading up to P. Garibaldi. From that piazza, walk uphill for the hostel. Walk left along Via Nazionale—Cortona’s one bustling street—to reach Piazza Della Repubblica. Just to the right of that square is Piazza Signorelli. Most other streets of interest extend downhill or uphill from these piazze.