Arezzo
The calendar that fills the city
Arezzo is not a city of a single moment. There is a market that returns every month, a joust run twice a year, and a winter that lights up the old town for the best part of two months. Knowing when they happen is half the journey. The other half is booking in good time.
Every month, all year round
The Antiques Fair
Founded in 1968, it is the oldest antiques fair in Italy. On the first weekend of every month Piazza Grande and the streets around it fill with stalls: furniture, prints, ceramics, objects that have already had a life. You walk for hours without noticing.
When
The first weekend of every month, Saturday and Sunday. All year round.
Where
In the old town, about 900 metres from the apartment: you walk there, and come back to drop off your bags.
When to book
It is the city’s most constant draw, and that weekend fills before the others. A month ahead you can still choose.
Twice a year
The Saracen Joust
The city’s quarters face each other in Piazza Grande, and for an afternoon Arezzo changes its voice. It is run twice a year: on the evening of the second-to-last Saturday in June, for Saint Donatus, and in daylight on the first Sunday of September, for the Madonna del Conforto.
When
Second-to-last Saturday in June, in the evening. First Sunday of September, by day.
Where
Piazza Grande, in the heart of the old town.
When to book
There are only two dates, and the city waits all year for them. Visitors from further afield book months ahead: here booking early is not caution, it is the only way.
From mid-November to Epiphany
Arezzo, City of Christmas
For almost two months the old town changes its skin: markets, lights, full squares, one weekend after another. It is the event that changed winter in Arezzo, and that brings people who would not otherwise have come in December.
When
From mid-November until 6 January. Weekends are the busiest days.
Where
Across the whole old town, walkable from the apartment.
When to book
This is the period booked furthest in advance: enquiries for December arrive as early as the end of summer. If you are thinking of Christmas in Arezzo, move now.
Whatever brings you here
An entire apartment a short walk from the centre, with free parking: you park once and then go everywhere on foot.