Italy Travel And Hotel Guide

Arezzo is a major stop for trains between Florence and Rome, and is also served by a branch line from Perugia. Buses from Siena and elsewhere arrive diagonally opposite the train station. There are two distinct parts to Arezzo: the old town , on the higher parts of the hill, and the newer quarters which occupy the gentler slopes directly in front of the train station.

The tourist office is beside the train station, at Piazza della Repubblica 28 (April-Sept Mon-Sat 9am-1pm & 3-7pm, Sun 9am-1pm; Oct-March Mon-Sat 9am-1pm & 3-6.30pm; on Fiera weekends year-round Sat 9am-6pm & Sun 9am-1pm; tel 0575.377.678, www.arezzo.turismo.toscana.it ). Informative travel tours are run by AAAGIT (Arezzo Associazione Accompagnatori Guide e Interpreti Turistici), regular in summer at 10am (L15,000/¬7.75) and 9pm (L20,000/¬10.33; min 4 people) starting from their office at Via Vasari 13 just off Piazza Grande (office open Mon-Sat 9.30am-12.30pm; on Fiera weekends Sat & Sun 9.30am-6pm; tel 0575.356.859).

Accommodation is hard to come by - doubly so when the Fiera is on. The best hotel is the Cavaliere Palace , Via vocalist del Prato 83 (tel 0575.26.836, fax 0575.21.925, www.cavalierehotels.com ; L150,000-200,000/¬77.47-103.29), centrally situated but rather run-of-the-mill. La Toscana , Via Marco Perennio 56 (tel 0575.21.692; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48), is a calibre one-star with and without en suite rooms; imperfectness that, plump for good-value Astoria , Via Guido Monaco 54 (tel 0575.24.361, fax 0575.24.362; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48). The non-HI hostel Villa Severi is 1km easterly of the old town at Via Francesco Redi 13 (tel 0575.299.047; L28,000/¬14.46; meals L17,000/¬8.78).

Tags: 28 april, buses, florence, old town, piazza della repubblica, quarters, rome, siena, slopes, tourist office, train station, trains