A few questions about Spoleto, Spello, Assisi and Gubbio
 

In september I'm staying in Umbria and Rome for two weeks. I'll by using public transportation. My hotel is located in Perugia. From there I'll be making daytrips by train or bus to other places.
I have been reading about an escalator in Spoleto to get to the old town from the train station, but I can't find clear directions to it. Does anyone have experience with this escalator and know where it is located?
I'm planning to visit Spello and Spoleto in one day. Is this wise? Both seem to be small towns, but walking around these hilltowns can take more time than expected. Does anyone know if the train station in Spello is close to the city centre?
I'm wondering what city is best to visit on a sunday: perugia, assisi, spoleto+spello or gubbio.

Any help will be greatly appreciated

Assisi, Spello, and Spoleto can be reach by train.

Spoleto escalator-

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-...to_Umbria.html

Spello/Spoleto in one day- It can be done but I'm not sure how rewarding it will be for you.

Spello train station is near the base of the town and a short walk.

Take the bus from Perugia to Gubbio. If you are staying in the old town center of Perugia you will take an escalator down to the bus station.

Sunday- I'm not sure which would be best.

Thank you Zoecat. My hotel in Perugia is right at the base of the escalator, near the busstation. I may be able to see the Gubbio-bus from my hotelroom window :-)
I think I'll just go to Spoleto and see if there's time left for Spello on the way back (probably not).
Assisi on sunday seems te be very crowded because the main sights are only open in the aftermoon. Maybe I'll just stay in Perugia. This is my schedule now:

sa Perugia
su Perugia
mo Assisi
tu Spoleto (& Spello)
we Gubbio
th Perugia
fr Assisi
sa Train to Rome
su Rome
mo Orvieto
tu Orvieto
we Rome
th Rome
fr Back to Amsterdam

(been to Rome before, I think three days is enough for a second visit)

It looks like you could add Spello to one of your Assisi days. They are near each other.

Also, why not train from Perugia to Orvieto, spend your two nights, and then move on to Rome.

Or, spend only one night in Orvieto and add that night to Perugia. You could spend that extra day day tripping from Perugia to Todi (bus) or Cortona (train + local bus). Or, visit Orvieto as a day trip from Rome.

Another thought, rent a car while in Umbria and stay at a centrally located agriturismo (with a kitchen, pool, patio and more space) and tour the area with a car.

I've stayed in Perugia for a week and visited the area by train and bus. I've also stayed at an agriturismo and rented a car to explore the area. I much prefer having a car and staying at an agriturismo. It allows for enjoying the countryside as well as some of the towns not on the train lines or easily accessible by bus.

Don't miss Spello! We stayed there for a week in May this year and fell in love. It's very close to Assisi, and not nearly as many tourists. Some great restaurants, with views if you want to stop for a nice lunch!

I'm not going to drive a car in Umbria. It will get me killed :-)
Staying in Orvieto could have been a nice alternative, but the hotels in Perugia and Rome are already booked. I'm planning to take at least one daytrip from Rome to Orvieto. The second day is still a bit unsure. Maybe Orvieto, maybe Rome or Tivoli. Orvieto is just one hour by train from Rome (and 3 hours from Perugia).
Spello seems a nice place for a sunday afternoon to me. I'll try to squeeze it in on sunday or one of the Assisi days.

Thanks for all the responds

A little late for you, but this may help some people browsing the site. The tourist map (not Google!) of Spoleto is at http://mappery.com/map-of/Spoleto-Map Unless you're a computer whizz, I suggest you right click on the map, copy and paste it into Paint. The map is a few years old, but it shows the (intended)positions of all the escalators.

Sorry to have missed this but as Jim_Roberts says above, here's info for others.

Hub and I based in Spoleto and the escalator was not there at the time. We took a taxi to the top without exception-it was just too steep for me with my breathing woes. We did walk down.

I would have suggested to Schiermonnik that s/he would need a full day in Spoleto (we actually stayed there 4 days and still missed some nice areas). The Roman pont, the Duomo and the fort were amazing. There is also a nice market, a Roman area, and a nice centre on the lower level. We missed an amazing-looking art gallery as well. There is a big music festival there in the summer.

Size of town-wise, I agree that Spello and Assisi would be combined more easily.

I wish we could have based in Gubbio-we took bus from Perugia there and fell in love. Wished we'd had more than one day to savor it.

Schiermonnik, how was it?

bookmarking for trip planning

That should have been Roman arena not area.