Touring Italy and Slovenia, we spent one night at the Pomo d’Oro in July. It was basic but comfortable and functional, and the staff were helpful and friendly. Our room was comfortable but plain, with an uninspiring view. The main drawback was the lack of air conditioning, which in temperatures in the high thirties (nineties for Americans) made for a sweaty and less than perfect night’s sleep. The hotel is in a pretty piazza with plenty of metered parking in front, though if coming by car it’s a good idea to download their map to help you negotiate the one way-system. The restaurant menu looked good, but had no outside seating and no customers, so we went around the corner to the to Piazza Paolo Diacono find somewhere with a bit more atmosphere. The Taverna Longobarda was great, and served the biggest pizza I have ever had – hanging off my plate 2 inches all round. (The house white was very nice, but the red was undrinkable.)

The atmosphere, and our experience, might have been very different had we arrived a few days earlier. The previous week Cividale had hosted the 'Mittelfest', a lively festival of central European theatre and music, which had attracted visitors from many countries and finished the day before we arrived.

Breakfast at the Pomo d’Oro was adequate. There is a buffet with a small range of packeted pastries and jams, and the waiter offers you a large plate of local cheese and the very tasty local San Daniele Ham. Cividale del Friuli is a bit off the beaten track and does not get a lot of visitors, and most of those it does get appear to be German or Austrian. In cooler weather, in a different season, or even the week of the 'Mittelfest', the Pomo d’Oro might come into its own and be a very different and more inviting place, but we probably wouldn’t want to go again in high summer.