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Practicalities
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Arriving by bus you will be deposited at the
bus station
below Piazza Fera, from which it's a twenty-minute walk down the length of Corso Mazzini to the hotels and the
centro storico
. Arriving by train, you will have to take a bus (every 20min) from the
train station
a little way outside town - tickets from inside the station at the bar. There's a
left-luggage
office here (7am-8pm) and two
car rental
agencies charge identical prices - useful for excursions into the Sila - Hertz (tel 0984.31.081) and Maggiore (tel 0984.482. 144); note, however, that parking spaces in Cosenza itself are a valuable commodity.
The main tourist office is at Corso Mazzini 92 (Mon & Wed 7.30am-1.30pm & 2-5pm, Tues, Thurs & Fri 7.30am-1.30pm; tel 0984.27.271), and there is an office specifically for the centro storico behind the duomo in Via Toscano (Mon-Thurs 9am-1pm & 4-6pm, Fri 9am-1pm; tel 0984.813.336). Primarily used by business travellers, Cosenza's hotels are mainly brash and expensive, but there are some more modest choices close to each other in the centre, namely the spacious and comfortable Excelsior in Piazza Matteotti (tel 0984.74.383; L90,000-120,000/a?¬46.48-61.98); the modest, rather gloomy pension Bruno at Corso Mazzini 27 (tel 0984.73.889; up to L60,000/a?¬30.99), and the more business-like GrAsaro , around the corner on Viale Trieste, (tel 0984.27.952; L90,000-120,000/a?¬46.48-61.98), which has parking for guest.
There is more choice when it comes to
eating
places: the best deal in town is at the small (but unmarked)
La Pignata
on Piazza Crispi (closed Sun), where you can have a complete meal for L20,000/C10.33. In summer the most congenial place to be is
All'Acquedotto
, a pizzeria/
birreria
below the old aqueduct, at the end of the winding Via Arnone and Viale della Repubblica, with great views over the valley (no closing day). In the old town,
L'Arco Vecchio
, above Piazza XV Marzo on Via Archi di Ciaccio, and
Calabria Bella
(closed Tues), in Piazza Duomo, which has outside seating in summer, are more formal choices, both serving traditional local dishes. But it's the
cafA©s
and
bars
of Cosenza's old quarter that are most fun, including a couple of very lively
birrerias
that stay open late:
The Beat
, serving beers and snacks opposite the duomo; and one of the town's two local Irish pubs, the
James Joyce,
on Via Cafarone (closed Mon), which charges up to L10,000/C 5.17 for entry when there's live music in the basement (usually at weekends, when it's heaving). Just up from here, at Via Liceo 9, the
CaffA? Telesio
is another congenial - and quieter - place for a late-night drink or meal, serving a range of cocktails, beers, and
frullati
inside, where the decor suggests an outdoor cafA© in Rome's Trastevere. For coffees and
cornetti
during your daytime strolling, stop off at the old-fashioned
CaffA? Renzelli
, up past the duomo. The best
ice creams
in town are from
Zorro
, at the bottom of Corso Telesio. Other useful information
for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections): |
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Italy,
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