Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Train -- Massa Marittima doesn't have its own train station, but there's a stop 27km (17 miles) away at Follonica (tel. 0566-902-016) on the main line between Rome (10 daily; 2 1/2 hr.) and Pisa (15 daily; 1 hr., 20 min.). Buses meet incoming trains for the ride to Massa.

By Car -- Massa sits where the SS439 from Volterra meets the SS441 coming up from the coast at Follonica and continues on to just past San Galgano, where it meets up with the SS73 coming down from Siena.

By Bus -- Three to four daily buses run from Volterra (you have to change in Monterotondo), one from Grosseto, and two from Florence and Siena.

Visitor Information

The private agency Amatur (tel. 0566-902-756; fax 0566-940-095; www.amatur.it) acts as the official tourist information center at Via N. Parenti 22. It'll also offer help finding a hotel or signing up for courses (usually weeklong) in artisan crafts like ceramics, leather, wood inlay, and cooking. It's open Sunday and Tuesday through Friday from 9:30am to 12:30pm (in summer also 3:30-7pm), Saturday from 9:30am to 12:30pm and 3:30 to 6pm. There's also a small information stand (tel. 0566-902-289; fax 0566-902-052) at the museum desk inside the Palazzo del Podestà at Piazza Garibaldi 1. It has a few pamphlets and maps for sightseeing.

Festivals & Markets

The Balestro del Girofalco involves a crossbow competition, processions, and displays of complex flag juggling all done in 13th-century costume. It's put on twice a year, on May 20 or the following Sunday and on the second Sunday in August. March through October, there are chamber music concerts, and in July there's an international mineralogical fair held in the cloisters of Sant'Agostino. There's a Wednesday market on Viale Risorgimento and a Saturday one on Piazza XXIV Maggio.