Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
dung off your own shoes” spirit of the place. Several detached apartments down
the hill offer a good option for families, or couples looking for privacy. Double
rooms and breakfast are
15 per hour. The weeklong advanced
trail-riding program with lodging and half-board runs
€
600.
DINING FOR ALL TASTES
€
€
80, and riding is
€
5
(Corso Italia,
285;
%
347-6221586)
cocktail bar from about 6 to 9pm any night. For the price
of a drink, you can down a buffet's worth of appetizers, and people-watch at the
south gate of town. The couscous, mushrooms, and minipizzas are actually pretty
good, and the olives are everything you could hope for in a bar called Martini.
Light dishes cost about
€
5 to
€
8, but why pay when you get 'em for free during
happy hour?
For the best food deal in town, drop by the
Martini Point
€
Toward the north end of town is
Trattoria Mazzoni
(Canto all Croce, 1;
%
0575-26857; closed Tues),
a charming family restaurant/food shop easy to find
(it's next to the sign with the pink pig face advertising its specialty:
porchetta
cooked over a wood fire). Open only for lunch, it gets crowded with locals and a
few passing tourists. Of course, you'll be ordering the smoked
porchetta
for
€
6.50,
but those who feel sorry for the piggy out front can order an equally good pesto
gnocchi for
€
5.50. A liter of house wine goes for a reasonable
€
5.
€
-
€€
As a reproof to the restaurants that achieve economy by concentrating
on pizza, the
Osteria da Luchino
(Via Deccheria, 3;
%
0575-333388)
has a
NO
PIZZA
sign in the window. Instead, the
osteria
offers a tasty selection of homemade
pastas, including my fave: tagliolini in a tomato and basil sauce for only
€
6. Most
other pastas range from
€
6 to
€
10, with grilled
secondi
in the
€
8 to
€
12 range.
In summer, you can dine alfresco until 11pm every day but Tuesday.
€€
-
€€€€
Or try either of two local institutions on the Piazza Grande:
Trattoria Lancia D'Oro
(Logge Vasari, Piazza Grande, 18-19;
%
0575-399124;
www.loggevasari.it)
and
Ristorante “Logge Vasari”
(Via Vasari, 19;
%
0575-
300333),
which are both under the same ownership, and under the same arcade
at the north end of Piazza Grande. Logge Vasari is the more upscale of the two,
with candelabras and antique furniture. Here, you'll sit back and enjoy a multi-
hour Italian-style meal with perhaps an assorted prosciutto starter, followed by
homemade ravioli with truffles, and a
secondi
of Chianini steak with a side of fresh
vegetables. Pasta dishes cost from
20 for a truffled selec-
tion, while grilled second platters are
€
16 to
€
22. Be sure to save room for a
cheese platter or chocolate cake for dessert. The cheaper option, Lancia D'Oro, is
not quite as swank in looks but its food is darn good, especially its grilled lamb
with rosemary and homemade tagliatelle with regional herbs. Their
primi
are
€
11 all the way up to
€
€
8
to
€
15, their
secondi
€
10 to
€
15.
WHY YOU'RE HERE: THE TOP SIGHTS & ATTRACTIONS
Your first stop should be the
Basilica di San Francesco,
which houses one of
Italy's masterworks, Piero della Francesca's
Legend of the True Cross
55
(Piazza
San Francesco;
%
0575-352727; www.pierodellafrancesca.it; free admission to
