degas

After reading many wonderful postings here, I'm considering spending a few days visiting Assisi, Spello, Spoleto & Trevi.

I am a first time visitor planning to use public transportation (mostly trains) and interested in art, local markets, gardens, hiking, biking, and exploring old churches.

Would appreciate feedback on:

1. How much time to devote to each town (I know its all subjective). My first thoughts:

Assisi: one full day

Spoleto: One full day

Trevi: Half day & half day for an area hike

Spello: Half day & half day for area hike

2. Which town to use as a base. Spello and Trevi look good, but I read that they were very steep and was wondering if fighting the hills would be a good way to end a long day of exploration. Thought Spoleto or Assisi be better, but worried that Assisi might be too "dead" in the evening and/or have too few eating options.

3. What other towns might I might add to my orginal list. I was thinking of Todi, Bevagna, Montefalco or Norcia but was unsure about how to get to them via bus or train.

4. Hikes or walks around each town

5. Bike rentals and bike paths


I'm also gathering inputs from slowtalk.com

nanb

topping you

maitaitom

Degas, quick question. Have you thought about renting a car? We rented a car in 2001 and drove around Tuscany and Umbria for four or five days. Next year, we are heeding the Slow Travel Group and exploring for many more days. Our Umbria base will be Spello.

The driving in Italy is pretty easy, and everything is relatively close. Just a thought. When are you going?

degas

Maitaitom, I'm actually planning two trips. One for me in May/Jun 05 time frame and one for a bunch of lazy relatives in Mar 05. We have similiar interests so its not too much of a chore.

Yes, a car would be nice, but I have a lingering medical condition that makes driving a risk. Hoping it clears up, but I'm doing some worst case public transportation planning just in case.

maitaitom

"One for me in May/Jun 05 time frame"

We went in May 2001. Great time to be there. Start thinking about booking hotels. There have been a couple in fall of next year that are already booked. Amazing.

Hey, maybe you can get one of those "lazy relatives" to drive in March.

Huitres

degas: I stayed for 2 weeks in Umbria last year (Sept 2003). You will be fine with public transportation - that is the only way I have ever traveled in Europe! I made Perugia my base as it is very central to Assisi, Spoleto, Spello, etc. I took trains back and forth to the towns (including a foray to Cortona and nearby Lake Trasimeno). There are busses you can take between Perugia and Deruta (as you know, "the" place for wonderful plate and china ware).

There is one thing to note: most of these towns in Umbria are high up on hills or plains. It makes travel with a suitcase rather fun. After arrival at the train station, it will be necessary to take a bus up into the central part of town. Both Perugia and Assisi are like this. In terms of access, Spoleto was a bit more difficult to get to after taking the train there, it was a walk to the town walls, then the town is high up behind them. I didn't see any busses anywhere near the station. I think taking a taxi into the city itself, as the other poster suggested, would be best as it is not as easy to access as Perugia, for example.

I went to Todi, it is a slow town (slower than Spello and Spoleto) and was planning on getting to Bavagna but didn't make it there. I have heard that Bavagna is off the usual tourist radar so they welcome newcomers to their town.

I wouldn't think Assisi would be dead, there are TONS of tourists there and shop after shop of souvenirs. There are lots of restaurants lining the streets up towards the basilica. For a more lively time, I would suggest checking out Perugia - there are a lot of cafes and people out taking strolls. Its famous chocolate aside, it is also the home of the annual jazz festival in Umbria.

degas

Maitaitom, I doubt it - the only driving they do is on a tractor or the local go-cart track!


Huitres, thanks for the input. Its good to know a travel pro like yourself has done it.

I will do some more research on Perugia and Cortona with nearby Lake Trasimeno.

Any other "off the beaten path" stuff would be welcomed. I was hoping to visit a vineyard and maybe an olive grove or someplace where they make olive oil.

italyss

I have based out of three different towns in Umbria on trips: 1)Perugia; 2)Assisi; and 3)Spoleto. I also don't drive, but I use a combination of trains/buses/taxis. As another poster said, most of the towns are perched up on mountains, and some have easier access by public transportation than others. From Perugia, I visited Gubbio, Todi, and Deruta by bus. On my last trip, I spent several days based in Assisi and Spoleto to do the Perugino tour. I had a great time! I visited Spello, Trevi, Montefalco, and Bevagna. From Spoleto, I used the taxi driver who had picked me up at the train station. I arranged a tour to Spello and Trevi, and was driven in a beautiful white Mercedes for 25 euros/hour. You can get to Trevi and Spello by train, but there are no taxis/buses waiting at the stations. I also used a taxi drive in Assisi to take me to Bevagna (very tiny)where I walked around and had a great lunch. I did Montefalco by taking the train to Foligno (its a fairly industrial town now, but there is a beautiful church, and also a tiny, tiny church with a gorgeous Perugino fresco inside. To reach Montefalco, I got a taxi from the train station to drive me. There is NO public transportation to Montefalco. There are two buses a day, but they are really school buses. So, he drove me and then we arranged for him to pick me up later in the afternoon. The entire round trip was 45 euros. Montefalco is also small, but beautiful, especially the gorgeous San Francisco church there. I also saw tons of bike riders coming in and out of Montefalco in groups.

Eloise

I don't know when Italyss was in Umbria, but when I was there in 2002, there definitely WAS public transportation to Montefalco. There was a bus that left from Spello (up in the town) for Foligno, where I took another bus to Montefalco. I visited Montefalco, had lunch there and took a bus that left Montefalco, as I recall, around 3:00 p.m. Since I had to change in Foligno anyway, I visited the cathedral and some kind of palace/museum there (large collection of frescoes detached from local churches) and took a late bus back to Spello. I could have waited for one that took me up to the town but the one that I did take left me off very close to the city gate. It was not very long or hard to get to "downtown" Spello and the Palazzo Bocci where I was staying.

Admittedly, it's all a bit time consuming and complicated, but it can be done.

degas

Thanks Eloise - looks like Trevi will be my homebase.

GAC

The BEST public transportation hub in Umbria is, without question, FOLIGNO, even though it's not the most touristy of towns. Here is a list of towns which can be reached from Foligno by either train or bus (or combination of both), within 90 minutes each way:

1. Trevi
2. Montefalco
3. Bevagna
4. Spello
5. Assisi
6. Perugia
7. Cortona (via Terontola or Camucia)
8. Nocera Umbra
9. Gualdo Tadino
10. Gubbio (via Fossato di Vico)
11. Camerino
12. Fabriano
13. Spoleto
14. Norcia (via Spoleto)
15. Cascia (via Spoleto)
16. Narni (via Nari Scalo)
17. Amelia (via Narni Scalo)

Spoleto is a much more touristy town, and also has good public transportation options, but not as good as Foligno.

Foligno has approx. 50,000 inhabitants, and is the third largest town in Umbria (after Perugia and Terni).

You can reach Foligno from Rome in two hours by Eurostar Italia train (7 per day). You can also reach Folgino from Florence in 2.5 hours by local train (7 per day)

www.spoletina.it (buses)
www.trenitalia.com