A market morning and the pizza we return for.

Begin with the town while it is doing ordinary work.

The municipal market calendar lists Città di Castello’s weekly markets on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Those mornings give the centre a different rhythm from a museum-only visit: clothes, household goods and food stalls sit against civic buildings that would otherwise be photographed empty.

Saturday is the easiest version for many visitors, but it is also the busiest. Arrive early enough to walk rather than circling the centre in a car. Read the parking signs and enter historic streets only where the signs allow it.

Look up between the stalls.

Palazzo del Podestà is one of the buildings that stops a practical shopping trip becoming anonymous. Città di Castello’s official tourism site dates the original palace to the first half of the fourteenth century and describes a later Baroque façade on Piazza Fanti. It rewards the simple habit of looking beyond the awnings.

The civic tower, Palazzo dei Priori and the wider historic centre are close enough that there is no need to force a formal itinerary. If the group wants art, the two Alberto Burri collections justify a separate, slower visit rather than being squeezed between bags of shopping.

Then, the pizza.

Pizzoteca is listed by the town’s official tourism service at Piazza Gabriotti 5. It is the place we return to for a quick, satisfying lunch in the centre: crisp, generous and easy to fit around a market morning.

Turn back towards the house before the hottest afternoon.

The drive back is typically around ten to fifteen minutes. That leaves room for lunch to become a swim rather than another appointment. On a longer town day, return for the Burri collections or dinner; there is no need to exhaust Città di Castello in one visit.