dgio1960

My wife and I will be staying in Umbria (approx 20 miles southwest of Assisi) in May 2012. We will be in this region for 3 nights and want to get some ideas of what cities not to miss. We will have a car for transportation and will most likely visit Assisi, Spoleto, Spello, Montefalco, and Perguia. I would hate to miss Orvieto but not sure if we have enough time. Can we hit more than one of these on the same day without ruining the experience and are there any other shouldn't miss towns to visit ?

Previous to Umbria we will be just south of Florence for 3 or 4 nights and previous to that, Venice for 3 nights. After Umbria we head down to Rome for 3 nights.

Thanks ..... Detroiter Dave

PalenQ

Perugia is a larger city with a plethora of fine sights so it may demand a whole day - Assissi is smaller but also has a lot of sights but if you are not interested in mainly churches then it may not take much time at all. Orvieto is small enough up top so if not wanting to take the luaded subterranean tours of the tunnels hewn out of this large lava plug over the years it too could be a half day or so.

Cortona is also one heck of a sweet hill town close to Assisi and Perugia.

bobthenavigator

To me, Assisi and Spello make a good combo, but start early in Assisi to beat the crowds.

DRJ

20 miles SW of Assisi? You're almost in Bevagna. Don't miss it.

dgio1960

PalenQ ... i see in your profile that your a michigander .. cool .. we go camping at rifle river near lupton ... we're suburban detroiters ... give me some hints on perugia (sights, restaurants, ect...)

BTN ... thanks ... early in assisi is a plan.

DRJ ... we won't miss Bevagna .. we're just a little northwest of Bevagna .... any good restaurant / bar tips for this town. and of course what are the can't miss sights.

franco

As PalenQ said, Perugia demands a whole day. You could do Assisi and Spello in one day, as Bob said, or Assisi and Bevagna, or perhaps even Assisi and Montefalco. If you go to Orvieto, you might see another of the three - Montefalco, Spello or Bevagna - on the same day. Personally, I don't think it's makes a lot of sense, though; I would combine Orvieto with Todi (which is more beautiful than Orvieto IMO, but I think I'm alone on this board with that opinion), or even better, leave Orvieto and Todi for another trip, and combine Assisi and Spello on one day, Bevagna, Montefalco, Spoleto and the Tempio del Clitunno on the other - which is also your only realistic option of visiting Spoleto.

uhoh_busted

Two towns you could match up would be Trevi and Montefalco. I'm thinking we did Spello and Bevagna on the same day...lunching in Spello and. No, wait, I think we paired it with Foligno in late afternoon, although we weren't thrilled with our choice for lunch and it may have been a better idea to reverse. The order, Click on my name to check out my Umbria report ...we were there for 2 weeks last fall and visited most all the places you mentioned. Trevi was close to where we stayed, and I wish we'd gone there earlier as there was a terrific regional museum with a nice section on cultivation of olives. Our first daytrip was to Montefalco, and while we smartly picked up wine and olive oil there, I passed on some table linens that I never saw any nicer the whole trip. (and I'm not much of a shopper, so I should have known better.). We kept thinking we'd go back, but just never made it.

It is hard to pick and choose between the towns to visit. You may well be back. Orvieto is a place you can do as an easy daytrip from Rome (or visa versa) and we've visited it three times. (2ce on our first Italy trip back in '99 and once this time. We chatted with a couple in front of our favorite restaurant who were staying in Rome and having visited Orvieto earlier in their trip, ended up coming back twice for lunch from Rome to escape crowds! This was at the end of Sept.)

uhoh_busted

Whoa. Sorry about the odd punctuation...iPad keyboard sometimes surprises one.

madonnadelpiatto

3 nights in Umbria means that you have 2 full days, so you are bound to make choices if you don't want to spend most of the time in the car. Take into consideration that in Umbria is more efficient to travel South-North rather than West-Ovest. Said this, you can combine Assisi with Spello in one day and Bevagna and Montefalco with Spoleto. All our medieval towns are full of churches, so you might need to make choices there as well. Saint Francis in Assisi is one of the most significant medieval monuments in Europe, a must. In Spello you must see the Pinturicchio frescoes in Santa Maria Maggiore, in Montefalco the Benozzo-Gozzoli frescoes in Saint Francis.
after all this art you might want to simply have the time to sit at a cafè and enjoy the scenery.
Check this link on my blog for more suggestion for day trips in Umbria plus good food suggestion and parking info http://madonnadelpiatto.com/classic-umbrian-day-trips/

macanimals

Dave,
You're getting great advice which will make a lot of sense when you look at the roads and driving possibilities. In your intended accomodation area there are a number of great wine producers and tasting rooms as well. Montefalco/Bevagna area is home to the Sagrantino vineyards--a dark, tannic wine of note. And L'Alchemista is a good choice for lunch or dinner in the heart of Montefalco--nice wines.
Consider a stop in Cortona on your "transit day" to Umbria and Orvieto on your exit day. As others have said, you can't do it all and will have to make pleasant choices. Good luck.

dfourh

Went to Umbria for the first time last April - - LOVED the entire city of Spello (all sharp angles and sharp atmosphere; great sights, great walks), but found only the Basilica in Assisi worthwhile whereas the town of Assisi was kind of blandly over-sanitized, and after seeing the Basilica, time would have been better spent elsewhere. Just a couple miles from Assisi, however, is Santa Maria degli Angeli, which has the most remarkable Basilica with a complete Franciscan shrine church inSIDE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilic...a_degli_Angeli That was VERY worthwhile.

Also, just south of Perugia is Deruta, where there are pottery factories as far as the eye can see. We chose one and enjoyed the opulent showroom, but they also allowed us upstairs and let us see the pottery being decorated, and in various states of preparation before kilning. That was fun.

dgio1960

thanks for all the replies ... these posts will help me do some more research .... i really liked the transit day and exit day suggestions.