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Best day trips from Perugia and Umbertide

Best day trips from Perugia and Umbertide

Old Aug 21st, 2017, 09:39 AM
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Best day trips from Perugia and Umbertide

Ciao!
I will be staying with family friends for 9 days in Perugia and then with a different family for 9 days in Umbertide. I may not always have access to a car so I am looking for day trips with some 1-2 day overnight trips from both locations via bus or train. I am open to driving when necessary (and possible) PS: this would be my first time driving abroad.
I love walking/hiking, great food/wine, art & a serious outdoors fan. I'm traveling on my own for these days.
I will be in Rome for my last 4 days, so I do not need that added to a day trip itinerary but welcome any advice/ideas for a unique 4 days (this is my second visit to Rome)
Any suggestions would be welcome for my 18 days in Tuscany/Umbria region.

Graczie!!
ktspiv4 is offline  
Old Aug 21st, 2017, 10:01 AM
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I based in Perugia for several days and did great day trips - like to nearby Gubbio, Todi, Assisi, etc. Buses go everywhere all the time.
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Old Aug 21st, 2017, 10:20 AM
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Spello is a beautiful hill town in Umbria and has a train station.
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Old Aug 21st, 2017, 10:49 AM
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I've spent quite a few weeks in the area, but always with a car, so my suggestions may not be feasible, but you can research that:

Chiusi (wonderful Etruscan museum)
Panicale
Paciano
Almost anywhere on Lago Trasimeno, including the island of Maggiore
The many spa towns up in the hills: Chianciano, Tripono, San Gemini...there are so many I've forgotten exactly where they were, but they were all wonderful.
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Old Aug 21st, 2017, 12:14 PM
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You can go to Arezzo by train in one hour from Perugia. I would bet you can reach the Lungarotti wine complex) in Torigiano by public transportation if you'd like an excursion for wine tasting. I highly recommend that you take a taxi or bus to the Etruscan tomb that is at the periphery of Perugia. It's really quite fascinating.

http://www.perugiaonline.com/cinepgus.html

There is a website called Bella Umbria that has detailed descriptions of all the town in Umbria, so you might find it useful to peruse.
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Old Aug 21st, 2017, 02:20 PM
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Perugia is a good hub for traveling by public transportation. It's the capital of the Umbria region, so many towns, even small ones, have buses to Perugia. You should ask the family friends if their home is convenient to the train station or to the main piazza from which many buses depart. If they live on the far outskirts of Perugia, you may find yourself stuck there without a car.

By train from Perugia, you can easily get to Assisi and Spello, both beautiful towns worth visiting. Assisi, of course, is famous as the birthplace of St. Francis of Assisi, and there are three major basilicas in the town, all with beautiful art. Especially the upper Basilica of St. Francis has the world-famous frescoes by Giotto. However, in some ways I love the plain stonework of the lower basilica better. There are lots of craft shops and restaurants in Assisi.

Spello is just one of the prettiest little towns in Italy. They have a beautiful "fioratura" for the Feast of Corpus Domini in the spring, where they create beautiful floral mosaics on the streets of the towns during the night, and then a procession marches over them after the mass in the morning.

Arezzo (in Tuscany) is a small city, which I like very much. On the first Sunday of every month, and the day before, they have an outdoor antiques market in the main piazza. The Church of San Francesco has a famous fresco cycle called, "The Legend of the True Cross", by Piero della Francesca. Beneath the church is a small art museum which sometimes has an interesting special exhibit.

The train that goes to Arezzo continues on to Florence, but it's a fairly long ride, from 1 1/2 to 3 hours, depending on which train you take.

Spoleto is a fairly easy trip by train from Perugia. It has an attractive medieval center, some Roman ruins, and an impressive medieval bridge/aqueduct over a very steep gorge. In the summer there's a big (classical) music festival there.

One very interesting trip you could make from Perugia is to the Frassasi Caverns, in Genga, in the Le Marche region. The trip is somewhat long, about two hours on the best trains, and you have to change trains in Foligno. Still it gives you plenty of time to get there, visit the very beautiful caves, have a nice lunch in the little town of San Vittore Terme, and return to Perugia. The shuttle bus for the caves leaves from the parking lot below the train station. I recommend going on a weekday, because the caves are very popular, and there can be long waits on the weekend, especially in the summer. They have some tours in English, but even if you can't make one of those, they'll give you a headset that has the spiel in English.

San Vittore Terme is a sulphur spring spa town (you'll smell the sulphur), a short walk from the parking lot for the shuttle. You could even walk back to the lot after visiting the caves, and turn left for San Vittore before you get there. There is a good restaurant on your right as you enter the town. There is a very beautiful little Romanesque church, with a cliff towering behind it, in the town. This church is now a speleological museum, and your ticket to the caves gives you entry also to the museum.

There are also some trips you can make by bus from Perugia, but surely not as many as there used to be when Palenq was there. There are weekday buses to Todi all year: http://www.umbriamobilita.it/public/...linee/E012.pdf

The town of Deruta, famous for its pottery, is along this route, and you might enjoy that town more than Todi.

You can also get to Gubbio, one of my favorite Umbrian cities, by bus from Perugia: http://www.umbriamobilita.it/public/...linee/E001.pdf

Umbertide doesn't have anywhere near the number of public transportation options as Perugia. If you decide to rent a car, it might be best to rent it for use in and around Umbertide. You probably should rent it in Perugia, as there probably aren't many car rental agencies, if any, in Umbertide. You could then use it to get to Umbertide. (If not, there are also buses between Perugia and Umbertide.)

There is a bus from Umbertide to Gubbio, and it takes even less time than from Perugia. However, it makes only a few runs each day, and has no service at all on Sundays.

For train information, you should use http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

There is bus information here, in Italian only,for the area around Perugia, including Umbertide.
http://www.fsbusitalia.it/cms-file/a..._Ann_ExAPM.PDF

There are also local buses within Perugia.
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Old Aug 21st, 2017, 02:38 PM
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Todi can also be reached by local trains - not part of Trenitalia - from Perugia -it's a slow train and dumps you off at the bottom of the hill Todi crowns so bus may be better.

Todi is a different type place - all gussied up catering to the many ex-pats buying up villas around it - so kind of plastic IME but a neat place nevertheless:

https://www.google.com/search?q=todi...w=1745&bih=864

Gubbio was my favorite though I nearly got hit by a falling roof tile in a wind gust!

bvlenci is way WAY more an expert on day trips (and all things Italy IMO!) but I rather liked those two easy excursions.
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