Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The extremely efficient
tourist office
( 0588 8 72 57;
www.volterratur.it
; Piazza dei Priori 19-20;
9.30am-1pm & 2-6pm)
provides free maps, offers a free hotel-booking service and rents
out an audioguide tour (€5) of the town.
Getting There & Around
connect the town with Pisa (€6.10, two hours, up to 10 daily).
You'll need to go to Colle di Val d'Elsa (€2.75, 50 minutes, four daily) to catch con-
necting bus services to San Gimignano (€3.40, 35 minutes, four daily) and Siena (€3.40,
two hours, four daily). For Florence, you'll need only one ticket (€8.35, two hours, three
to four daily), but you'll usually need to change buses at Colle di Val d'Elsa. Note that all
bus services are greatly reduced on Sundays. Bus tickets can be purchased at the
Asso-
ciazione Pro Loco Volterra
( 0588 8 61 50;
www.provolterra.it
; Piazza dei Priori 10;
9.30am-12.30pm & 3-6pm)
office.
Volterra is accessed via the SR68, which runs between Cecina on the coast and Colle di
Val d'Elsa, just off the Siena-Florence
superstrada
.
A ZTL applies in the historic centre. The most convenient car park is beneath Piazza
Martiri della Libertà (per hour/day €1.50/11), but there are other car parks around the cir-
cumference - P5, P6 and P8 are free. Don't park in P5 overnight on Friday, as the city's
weekly produce market is held there on Saturday morning.
OFF THE BEATEN TRACK
ABBAZIA DI MONTE OLIVETO MAGGIORE
Still a retreat for Benedictine monks, the congregation of this
medieval abbey
( 0577 70 76 11;
www.monteolivetomaggiore.it
;
admission free but library donation requested; 9.15am-noon &
3.15-5pm Mon-Sat, to 6pm in summer, 9am-12.30pm Sun), 39km southeast of Siena, was founded in
1313 by John Tolomei, although construction didn't begin on the monastery until 1393. Visitors come
here for the wonderful fresco series in the Great Cloister, painted by Luca Signorelli and Il Sodoma,
which illustrates events in the life of St Benedict, founder of the order.
You can also visit the church, which features magnificent choir stalls of inlaid wood; the refectory,
frescoed by Paolo Novelli; the magnificent library, built in 1518; the pharmacy; and the chapter house.
Downhill from the main building is the abbey's 14th-century
Cantina Storica
(Historic Wine Cel-
lar;
www.agricolamonteoliveto.com
; 10am-1pm & 2.30-6.30pm, to 6pm winter), where it is pos-
sible to take a guided tour and enjoy a wine tasting.
