Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Train -- Pistoia is on the Florence-Lucca-Viareggio line, with more than 35 trains daily from Florence (45-55 min.). There are also 16 daily local trains from Bologna (a 2-hr. trip), most of which connect in Prato. Pistoia's train station (tel. 0573-20-789) is on Piazza Dante Alighieri, a short walk south of the town center on Via XX Settembre.

By Car -- Take the A11 from Florence, past Prato. The SS64 leads here from Bologna. You can park off Via Pacinotti (just outside the south wall) at the ex-Officine Meccaniche Breda.

By Bus -- Lazzi/COPIT buses (tel. 0573-363-243 or 0573-21-170; www.copitspa.it) run to Via XX Settembre 71 (near the train station) from Florence (75 min.), Prato (30 min.), Montecatini Terme, Lucca, Viareggio, Pisa, Livorno, and other destinations. COPIT buses also run from Piazza San Francesco 4 to service Pistoia province (Abetone, Cutigliano, and nearby areas) and Florence. You can buy tickets onboard from the driver.

Visitor Information

The helpful tourist information office (tel. 0573-21-622; fax 0573-34-327; www.pistoia.turismo.toscana.it, though you'll find more info regarding museums and such on the city website at www.comune.pistoia.it) is open daily 9am to 1pm and 3 to 6pm at Via Roma 1/Piazza del Duomo 4 (cater-cornered to the Baptistery).

Festival & Markets

In 1300, the Giostra del Orso was a real Joust of the Bear, a bearbaiting event in which horsemen ceremonially took on the captive ursine. Revived in 1947, the wildly popular July 25 event is now more humane. The highlight in a day of general costumed pageantry is the joust, when mounted knights circle opposite each other around a track and score points by slamming their lances into stylized bear targets. There are daily fruit and veggie markets (except Sun) on Piazza della Sala and Via Ciliegiole, and a Wednesday and Saturday morning market on Piazza del Duomo (which, incidentally, makes for a pretty messy visit on those afternoons, before the streetsweepers get there.)