Know the valley Casentino, Arezzo, Italy
Getting here, and getting around
The Casentino is not on the way to anywhere. That is why it is still like this.
The Casentino is the upper valley of the Arno, closed on three sides by mountains: the Pratomagno to the west, the Apennine crest and its national park to the north and east. Nobody passes through it on the way to somewhere else. That is why it has kept what it has kept, and also why you have to mean to come here. Here is how.
By car, which is the honest answer
- From Arezzo The SR71 runs straight up the valley. Bibbiena is about half an hour, and from there you are in the middle of everything.
- From Florence Over the Passo della Consuma, round the shoulder of the Pratomagno and down into Stia: roughly an hour and a quarter, and one of the best drives in Tuscany. Do not attempt it for the first time in fog.
- From the A1 motorway Come off at Arezzo from the south, or at Valdarno from the north.
- From Romagna The passes of the Calla and the Mandrioli cross the national park. Slower, higher, and worth the extra half hour in any season except ice.
- Airports Florence is the nearest, roughly an hour and a half by road. Bologna and Pisa are each around two.
By train, which is nicer
There is a railway, and it is a small pleasure in itself. The Casentino line climbs from Arezzo up the valley through Bibbiena and Poppi to Pratovecchio Stia: single track, unhurried, and it sets you down in the middle of the villages instead of in a car park below them.
Check the timetable on the day you travel, and expect Sundays and holidays to be thinner.
Once you are here
- Buses exist They connect the comuni, but they are built around school and work rather than around visitors. On a Sunday they are close to theoretical.
- Without a car Base yourself on the railway, in Poppi, Bibbiena or Stia, and walk. There is far more within an hour on foot than the map suggests.
- Parking Usually easy, usually free, and usually at the bottom of the hill. The old centres are steep and mostly closed to traffic. Leave the car below and climb: it is a short climb.
- Two villages a day That is the right pace, and almost everyone gets it wrong once. The distances are short, but the roads are not straight.
What the valley expects you to know
It is rural, and it is not pretending otherwise. Petrol stations and small shops close for a long lunch, and often on Sunday and on Wednesday afternoon. The high roads take snow between December and March, and a mountain forecast is a suggestion. The phone signal is good in the towns and imaginative in the forest.
None of that is a problem. It is only a problem if you were expecting a city.
Thirteen comuni, fewer people than one district of Florence, and a national park along the whole eastern rim. You will not be crowded.