Do I Need a Detailed Road Map for Driving in Umbria?
 

I now have a large (I do mean large) Umbria regional map printed by the Touring Club Italiano.

Following is the route we plan on driving in May: From Perugia to Bevagna. Then Bevagna to Trevi and back to Perugia.

I can't determine if this map is sufficient for our needs, or if I should purchase a more detailed map.

Mappy.com illustrated the route in more detail; however, it looks like there's not a complicated road system in that area.

Any advice?

What is the scale?
You want 200k to 1.

If you plan to stray off of major roads, I would go for one that is detailed. The smaller, dirt roads to vineyards etc may not be shown on yours.

Hi i,

200k:1 is good.

175k:1 is better.

((I))

Bob, the Scale on the map indicates

1:200 000, below that there is an illustration of a scale 0 - 10 km. In addition, in parenthesis is (1cm =2 km).

sandi_travelnut, we will not venture from our planned route.

Oh, Ira...I'm having enough trouble with Bob's response! What's a girl to do?

For that particular drive, you should be fine - you're right, there's nothing complicated about it.

From Bevagna, you'll go up the hill to Montefalco ("the balcony of Umbria") and then downhill towards Trevi. On the way back to Perugia, you'll want to make a stop in Spello. And how 'bout Assisi?

Tuck, Thanks for the reassurance.

We will be in Perugia for four nights, and decided on taking a train into Assisi on a separate day. However, if our plans do change, and we don't get to Assisi on our planned day, I would tack Assisi onto the last leg of our circular trip. But, no Spello on this trip.

You are fine---have fun !

My question does not relate to Umbria, but to Austria. We have a good Michelin map for navigating from town to town, but I'd love a Mapsco-style book that has detailed layouts of all the towns/cities. Does anyone know of any companies that produce this type of detailed road map for European countries?

Driving in Umbria is a snap. We drove from Spello to Sploleto to Montefalco to Bevagna back to Spello one day. Except for a misstep going through Foligno (which was my fault) it was easy.

The next day we drove from Spello to Assisi to Perugia to Trevi and back to Spello. It was easy (although the map didn't tell me not to drive on the pedestrian square in Trevi).

We brought a huge map, but basically just used the viamichelin directions I printed out before we left. When in doubt, follow the signs. The worst that happens is you find yourself on another scenic little road.

You will have no problems.

((H))

We used the Touring Club Italiano atlas for our trip, but driving in Umbria is incredibly easy. It's hard to get lost because there are signs everywhere pointing in the direction of the various towns. I think that what you have should be fine.

Tracy

Dear i am kane: It's easier to take a bus from Perugia to Assisi than the train. From the train station in Santa Maria Degli Angeli (which is the station for Assisi) it's too far to walk - you have to take a bus anyway.

We don't use our big maps (which I call table cloths due to size) as much as we use city maps to figure out the best way to approach a town for parking purposes. Signage in Umbria is pretty good. On our last trip, I just took a Streetwise laminated map of Umbria, and we did fine.

Ditto tcreath's comments.

The Touring Club Italiano driving guide for Umbria has both area and city maps. (It reminds me of the Michelin Green Guides which are so helpful in France.) This guide has lots of great info on scenic roads, restaurants, archeology, history, etc. I think I bought it in a bookstore, but it's probably available on Amazon.

Lovia,

This is the e-mail I received from Hotel La Rosetta last week:

"Dear Mrs Kane,
we're sorry, but we haven't buses from Perugia to Assisi. For informations you should call Apm:
tel. 0039 075 506781
web site: www.apmperugia.it"

You may have old information, I believe there used to be buses on that route. I know we have to take a bus from the train station in Santa Maria Degli Angeli to-and-from Assisi.

Tom, thanks for the tip about driving on the pedestrian square...who would know?

To everyone else: Thanks. Looks like we're good to go!

A good map will help a lot. A GPS is even better because road names and addresses are rarely posted.

As maitaitom says, driving in Umbria is a snap. The hard part for you will be getting into and out of Perugia which is one of the more confounding towns. You should get your hands on a good map of the town and mark the best routes to and from your hotel. Ask your hotel to email turn-by-turn directions and info on where to park. The Mapquest map, although simplified, shows most of the one-way street directions.

Jean,

Yes, on my map I can see the squiggly road on the south side of Perugia before you get to the main highway.

I have a couple of good maps of Perugia, but your point about exiting and entering the town is a valid one.

We are taking trains from one destination to another for this trip. A rental car will be only for one day in Perugia to see the Umbrian countryside. So, our starting/ending point will be the car rental site.

Hey, DH drives tens of thousands of miles a year for his job...he just looked at the Umbria map and said "no problem." My kind of guy!

I am Kane:

Admittedly, I haven't been to Perugia since May 2006 when we took the bus to Assisi.

The website for buses given to you by your hotel which you list above shows two bus routes to Assisi, E006 and E007 (E is for extraurbane - city to city):


http://www.apmperugia.it/canale.asp?id=23

Perhaps what your hotel meant was they don't have information about buses, rather than there is no bus route connecting those cities, and are suggesting you look it up yourself.

lovisa,

What a difference a day makes...this is the most recent information I received about bus transportation.

"Dear Sir/Madam
from the train station you can take taxi or Bus n° 9 / 6 / 7 / 11 / 1 / 15 /all have a last stop in Piazza Italia where we are

Best regards
Reception"

You were right. I will follow your advice and take a bus.

Are these the TCI maps everyone is talking about?

https://www.trektools.com/product.php?productid=16404

https://www.trektools.com/product.php?productid=16407


These seem to be in Italian?

Trektools has some steep shipping charges for UPS. These should be very light, right?

Any other vendors? Amazon shows them but does not sell them directly.