Assisi, Perugia, Spello, Spoleto??
Apr 3rd, 2007, 06:06 PM
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Assisi, Perugia, Spello, Spoleto??
My 18 year old daughter and I will be landing in Bologna and taking 4-5 days to travel by train to Pescara to visit relatives. What cities along that route do you recommend? We have in previous trips been to Florence, Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, Lucca. We had wanted to go to Assisi but wanted input on any other cities in that area. Our time spent in each and dates are flexible. Thanks!
Apr 3rd, 2007, 07:24 PM
#2
What time of year is your trip?
With 4-5 days, I'd base in one town (or perhaps two if you want to spend time in both northern and southern Umbria). Since you mention Assisi, I'd concentrate on northern Umbria.
Without a car, I like Perugia because of its transportation options, particularly bus service covering northern Umbria.
Go to www.perugiaonline.com for info on sights, museums, shopping, etc., in Perugia.
Go to www.apmperugia.it/canale.asp for info on bus routes and timetables. Unfortunately, this website is in Italian only, but you can still find a lot of info to get you started in your planning. When you enter the site, you'll see 1-2-3 in the upper-left corner. Click on "Mappa Digitale" first. Two maps will come up. Click on the lower one. (You may have to magnify it to read all the towns.) This map reflects all the towns you can get to by bus from Perugia. Now, go back to the first page and click on "Orari" and then "Extraurbane." This will bring up the timetables for the routes you saw on the map. For your purposes, you would most likely use the "Feriale" schedules.
Other than Assisi, towns to visit depend on your (and your daughter's) interests. Gubbio is a medieval jewel. Panicale is famous for lace, and Deruta for ceramics. Spello has some very good restaurants and is a good place to buy olive oil and olive-wood carvings. Although Todi doesn't offer the usual tourist attractions (not a bad thing!), it's a beautiful town with wonderful views of the Tiber Valley. Lake Trasimeno, Citta di Castello, Cortona, Gualdo Tadino. The list goes on and on. Happy planning!
With 4-5 days, I'd base in one town (or perhaps two if you want to spend time in both northern and southern Umbria). Since you mention Assisi, I'd concentrate on northern Umbria.
Without a car, I like Perugia because of its transportation options, particularly bus service covering northern Umbria.
Go to www.perugiaonline.com for info on sights, museums, shopping, etc., in Perugia.
Go to www.apmperugia.it/canale.asp for info on bus routes and timetables. Unfortunately, this website is in Italian only, but you can still find a lot of info to get you started in your planning. When you enter the site, you'll see 1-2-3 in the upper-left corner. Click on "Mappa Digitale" first. Two maps will come up. Click on the lower one. (You may have to magnify it to read all the towns.) This map reflects all the towns you can get to by bus from Perugia. Now, go back to the first page and click on "Orari" and then "Extraurbane." This will bring up the timetables for the routes you saw on the map. For your purposes, you would most likely use the "Feriale" schedules.
Other than Assisi, towns to visit depend on your (and your daughter's) interests. Gubbio is a medieval jewel. Panicale is famous for lace, and Deruta for ceramics. Spello has some very good restaurants and is a good place to buy olive oil and olive-wood carvings. Although Todi doesn't offer the usual tourist attractions (not a bad thing!), it's a beautiful town with wonderful views of the Tiber Valley. Lake Trasimeno, Citta di Castello, Cortona, Gualdo Tadino. The list goes on and on. Happy planning!
Apr 3rd, 2007, 07:59 PM
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Thanks Jean. We're traveling late June 2007. I'll check out the websites you gave me. I'm fluent in Spanish and know a wee bit of Italian so I should be able to navigate the website. We like meeting people, eating, shopping (ceramics, jewelry, clothes, leather) quaint places, interesting, good scenery.....My daughter will be spending additional time in Pescara the month of July but we wanted to do something relaxed together before I had to travel back to the US. Thanks!
Apr 6th, 2007, 03:02 PM
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Not really clear on how the trains would work, and whether you could in fact travel by train to see the following, but the following were highlights for us in that general area: Arrezzo, Ravenna, Urbino (not far from Pescara), Gubbio and Asissi. You will find great shopping for ceramics in Arrezzo (as someone else points out) along with the great Piero frescos and a generally wonderful town. Gubbio has considerable ceramics too (havent been since the earthquake a number of years ago). These towns are all visually spectactular with some great works of art and architecture. Unless things have changed radically in the last 20 yrs, and with the exception of Arezzo,and maybe Urbino I would not think of them as destinations for shopping, lively nightlife.
