Arezzo in Summer

A short video of the lovely Tuscan town of Arezzo to accompany the slightly longer Arezzo Market video.

With the luxury of living in Tuscany comes the benefit of being able to see places through the seasons. As it is an hour or an hour and a half away (depending on the train you take), Arezzo is a great choice for a day trip from Florence and this video was taken in the height of summer. Generally, Arezzo is less of a tourist trap than some other towns in Tuscany though it has – in my opinion – more to offer than somewhere like Cortona: made famous of course by cinema. So, until they shoot a film in Arezzo, take advantage and make it one of your stops in Tuscany.

The town is arranged around main pedestrianised street running up to the church on top of the hill. With these roads and the narrower alleys that connect them, Arezzo is perfect for wandering or, if you are there at around 6pm una passeggiata – the traditional evening stroll taken in the more traditional Italian towns and cities.

Christmas Market in Santa Croce

It’s not well known that the Christmas Markets in Florence are a very popular attraction. At this time of year many of the visitors are from Italy, preferring to visit the city at a time when there are less tourists from abroad.

As a Christmas Market, Santa Croce has all you could want with an International group of vendors selling food, clothing and gifts. There’s the obligatory mulled wine and strudel from Austria, biscuits from Switzerland and, my favourite, a German trailer selling the type of hot dogs and burgers that dietitians warn you about.

Sant Ambrogio Market – Piazza Ghiberti

As featured on Anthony’s site How to Tour Italy, Sant Ambrogio market is in Piazza Ghiberti in the west of Florence selling fruit and vegetables as well as clothing, shoes and even plants! As an area, Sant Ambrogio is still mostly Italian and that means local prices and a higher standard of produce.

The market has both an outdoor and an indoor area though at the time of writing the interior is having a refit and so it was difficult to film much inside. Outside, about half of the market is dedicated to Fruit and Veg. See some basic Italian food vocabulary

As with most markets, you will need to get there early, though today the market was still going at 11am so it depends on the day.

View Larger Map