Umbria - Draft Itinerary - Thoughts?

Old Oct 8th, 2013, 09:21 AM
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Umbria - Draft Itinerary - Thoughts?

Hello,

My partner and I are planning a trip to Umbria next June for about 12 nights. We would welcome any suggestions about itinerary, sights, hotels and restaurants.

Our specs:
--have been to Italy several times, do not want to spend much time in big cities
--speak some Italian
--like to walk, hills are good
--all kinds of art and architecture, especially small early medieval things; piles of Roman rocks make our day
--fond memories of Umbrian food and we want more, especially umbrichelli, truffles, boar
--the ideal lodging is a small hotel or B&B wedged in a 12th century retrofitted monastery, but we’re not picky. Not seeking luxury lodging.
--want to use trains; can plan our schedule around sparse train connections

Here’s a very early draft itinerary:

>>Rome: arrive noon from Montreal, Leonardo to Termini, train to Spoleto

>>3 nights Spoleto, then train to Assisi

>>3 nights Assisi (yes, crowded in daytime but I’ve read you can get away from ground zero and see lots of good things beyond the crowded basilica area; is this true? And by late afternoon the crowds go elsewhere and the town is beautiful in the evening. True? Not?) Then train to Spello.

>>3 nights Spello. Then train to Rome.

>>2 nights Rome (there’s an extra night dangling around somewhere; would prefer not to spend 3 nights in Rome, have visited it sufficiently already, just want one full day to wander aimlessly)

Then Leonardo back to airport and home.

Many thanks in advance for any ideas you might have.
EYWandBTV is offline  
Old Oct 8th, 2013, 10:15 AM
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I loved Spello and Palazzo Bocci. I thought Spello was easy to drive in/out of and a good loc for day trips. Can't say about the train station proximity. Il Mulino in Spello was great. I would return in a flash.

Crowds in Assisi were everywhere. Quieter at night but very religious city. Stores sell everythi g to do with Catholicism and much much else. I would stay somewhere smaller and make Assisi a daytrip.
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Old Oct 8th, 2013, 10:39 AM
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Love Umbria, especially the small towns around Lago Trasimeno and Panicale, Paciano and thereabouts. Hate Assisi...miserably crowded and choked with trashy religious trinkets everywhere you look. Not all that pretty a town, either, comparatively speaking.
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Old Oct 8th, 2013, 12:13 PM
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I'm surprised you aren't renting a car - it is such a pleasure to discover the sweet little Umbrian towns like Gubbio, Norcia, Montefalco, Panicale and Todi, and I'm not sure how easily you can get to them without driving yourself. Maybe someone else can comment on that.

I agree with others - Assisi is a day trip.
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Old Oct 8th, 2013, 04:48 PM
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[...taking notes...] Good ideas, thank you. Reluctant to rent a car...almost annihilated on a Sicilian autostrada three years ago, a life-changing moment...
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Old Oct 8th, 2013, 06:11 PM
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I would rent a car. I haven't driven on Sicily in 20+ years, but Umbria is easy and, as txtree points out, some of the best parts are not on train lines.

To txtree's and StCirq's lists, I would add Deruta and Bevagna. We have loved just randomly driving the area inside the triangle of Spoleto-Todi-Bevagna.

Not a former monastery but a former tannery, this is the hotel in Spoleto where we stayed for a week.

http://www.hotelsanluca.com/en/
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Old Oct 8th, 2013, 06:40 PM
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About 10 years ago we stayed at an agriturismo, Malvarina, in the hills outside Assisi. Totally loved the place, especially dinner, which was hosted by the family. Click on "Rooms." Ours was the one with the yellowish bedspread with the light over the headboard. Great ambience, beautiful views. Away from the tourist crush in Assisi. You'd probably need a car to get there. I'd go back in a heartbeat.
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Old Oct 9th, 2013, 11:53 AM
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For what it's worth, hub and I based in Spoleto and trained to Orvieto, Assisi and Spello from there. There were no taxi's at the unmanned Spello train station but the walk to the top wasn't too strenuous (although I had asthma problems at the time). The other 2 had easy access to the tops.

On a second trip, we based in Perugia and visited Trasimeno, Gubbio and Todi by bus. Montepulciano and Montelcino by car and Abrezzo by train.

We both thought Spoleto was wonderful but a lot of that was because of Clitunno Hotel owners and staff. IMHO, there is much more to see there than in Assisi and Spello so I'd add 2 nights somewhere else.

We felt we lost time with bus travel because the schedules were more geared to commuters and students than to tourists. The guy we hired for the day wasn't cheap but it might have been less expensive than a car, petrol and possible screaming that might have ensued with either of us behind the wheel. And he never got lost!
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Old Oct 9th, 2013, 01:58 PM
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Our family of four plus two friends spent a week in a rental near Todi in 2004. Our daytrip destinations incuded Perugia, Assisi, Spello, Montefalco, and Orvieto. Granted my frame of reference is Southern California, but I didn't find the driving in Umbria to be stressful. There was typically a choice of the direct, generally uncrowded highway or the scenic windy road. I would not stay in both Assisi and Spello. They are relatively close to one another and constucted of the same, albeit lovely, pink stone. Spello is easier to get in and out of. (I have a memory of a beautiful Pinturicchio in a small church there.) Would also consider Perugia, a lively university town, Orvieto, farther afield but with a fabulous cathedral, and Todi, this last especially if you had a car.
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Old Oct 9th, 2013, 03:25 PM
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You say that hills are OK, so I guess the hike up to Spello from the train station wouldn't bother you. I wouldn't do it, but I think it might be fine for you.

Assisi and Spello are very close. No need to stay in both.
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Old Oct 9th, 2013, 07:07 PM
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I just returned from a month-long stay in Italy. I used Perugia as a home base - took day trips to Todi, Orvieto, Assisi, Cortona. I did not rent a car. I relied on trains and the occasional bus. The Mini Metro in Perugia is so helpful for getting around. I wish I knew about it my first day in town!
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Old Oct 9th, 2013, 07:13 PM
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We over-nighted in Orvieto and rented an apartment and based in Spello for 11 nights in mid June. We had a car. We thought Spello made a great base for exploring.

We visited Assisi, Norcia, Sibilini National Park, Montefalco, Bevagna, Gubbio and the ruins at Carsulae.

Visiting Assisi from Spello is fun. We took a white road up and over Mount Subasio, stopped at Eeremo delle Carceri and spent a good portion of the afternoon/early evening in Assisi.

We visited some good local olive oil producers. Our favorite was Nunzi in Cantalupo. Wonderful oil and really nice folks.
http://www.anticofrantoionunzi.it/
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Old Oct 9th, 2013, 08:34 PM
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I've overnighted in Assisi twice, both times in winter so perhaps summer is different, but I found it very easy to get away from the trinket and tchotchke stores. Stay off (and above) the main drag, the further above the better. You can enjoy a different town than what daytrippers see.

Still, I would not stay three nights in Assisi and three in Spello--too close to each other.

Last time I was in Assisi it was New Year's Eve and the have a big party in the upper town square, bands, light shows, the whole shebang. Even then, off the beaten path the town wasn't too crowded. I have some pretty bad photos of it here:

http://www.pbase.com/leelygoes/assisi
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Old Oct 9th, 2013, 09:04 PM
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bookmarking for future travels.
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Old Oct 10th, 2013, 03:20 AM
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[...furiously amending the draft itinerary....]

Thanks so much...very helpful comments. My take-away: Spello and Assisi duplicate each other too much, we need to choose one and perhaps day-trip to the other.

Perugia is popping up as a very attractive place for us given our interests, plus it would provide a good variation on the theme of Umbrian towns, and appears loaded with great art and architecture. And, it's just an hour by bus to Gubbio. Choices choices. Many thanks again for all of your ideas.
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Old Oct 11th, 2013, 01:40 PM
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One big regret from our trip to Umbria is that we never made it to Perugia.
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Old Oct 12th, 2013, 04:04 AM
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I would do the following:
3 nights Spoleto
4 nights Spello
3 nights Castiglione del Lago (west side of Lake Trasimeno, on the Tuscany border)
1 night Rome

It adds 1 night to Spello, as a way to combine your nights in Spello and Assisi. It takes a night away from Rome, although you could do 2 nights in Castiglione and 2 nights in Rome very easily.

The reason for adding Castiglione is to provide access to the western side of Umbria and southeastern Tuscany: Chiusi, Arezzo, Montepulciano, Citta della Pieve, etc. The Etruscan Museum is in Chiusi, and most of the cities in this area have wonderful Renaissance art and architecture. Also, Castiglione provides a good logistical base to get back to Rome. While it's possible to visit these areas by train and/or bus, it will take a significant amount of time to do so. I would strongly recommend renting a car.
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Old Oct 18th, 2013, 12:50 PM
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Thank you everyone for your very helpful suggestions.
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Old Oct 18th, 2013, 10:10 PM
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We spent 4 nights in Spello in May and used only trains and buses to get around. While bus services are not frequent we found we could visit one or two towns in a day from there. We wouldn't have wanted to do more than that. All timetables are online. While we were there the taxi driver would meet most train services but it was no problem at all to walk into town, except perhaps with lots of luggage. There is also a local bus which goes around town but we were always too impatient to wait for it. We did not find Assisi unduly busy and, yes, it isn't far from Spello by train or bus.
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Old Nov 3rd, 2013, 06:47 AM
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I am new to this forum and came across this thread which discusses a dilemma we are facing for a January trip. Our friends have recommended that we don't drive in Italy mostly due to parking problems. On the other hand we would love to explore the small towns such as Norcia, Todi and Spello. We are starting out in Bologna and training down to Sienna. After that trains routes will need more research. Is jumping back and forth from trains to rental cars an option or do buses serve the smaller towns? We are working our way down to Sicily on the east coast after Umbria.
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