louipivac

I would appreciate if anyone could recommend a property/town/village in Umbria accessible by train or bus for a week in August (2014).

It will be at the end of three month holiday so are looking for somewhere we can relax by the pool in the afternoon after easy visits to towns in the morning. We would rather not hire a car for this part of the trip.

We quite like the look of Spoleto but there is nowhere near town (that we have found) with a pool. Somewhere near here would be great but it is hard to find rentals that mention local bus access, it appears many tourists rely on a car in Umbria.

For day trips I would like to visit Spello, Assisi and Spoleto.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers, Louise

stevewith

One place you might look is on the outskirts of Assisi. Take a look at the online Google map of Assisi and you will see a few areas identified just outside the main core, and you might find someplace there with a pool but also walkable to town. You would probably need to spring for taxis to take you to and from the train station, but that is not hard to work out, and often there is a bus.

My personal pick, however, would be to look at the outskirts of the town of Foligno, which has the best transportation connections in that part of Umbria, and gets nowhere near the mobs of tourists and pilgrims that could weary you on repeated visits to Assisi. Part of Foligno is modernized, so it is not a tourist magnet. But it does have an historic core with all the characteristic features -- Duomo, piazza, great markets, considerable art -- to enjoy, plus the ambience of a local's town rather than a tourist town. Restaurants in Foligno are well regarded. There is also a car rental office there to drop off a car if you have one, or rent one if you change your mind. It is very easy to use public transportation from there to get to Peruiga, Spoleto and Assisi, plus I believe there is a bus to Spello, but I am not sure.

Something like this near Foligno might work if you can nail down access to town.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/VacationR...ia_Umbria.html

In either case, you will need to really dig around to turn up the magic combination of pool and walk-to-town. You might post on the Slow Travel website asking for help, but be prepared for the possibility of some arm-twisting about renting a car and staying on a farm.

And if you want people to actively help you look, you need to reveal how many bedrooms and baths you need, and what your budget is.

nytraveler

There is limited public transit between these towns - and finding a place with frequent bus service and a house with a pool near town will, I think, be very challenging.

I would simply rent a car and make your life much easier.

louipivac

Thanks for that Steve, I'll take a look at Foligno and the place you linked to looks teriffic. I'm happy to pay about eu130 per night with 1 bed room with sofa bed for the kids or a second bedroom. It will probably end up first week of Sept so should be able to get something at a good price.

Ive searching through Slow Trav rental reviews, i've spent alot of time searching these for our trip and have sent a couple of emails to places near Spoleto, I'll check if there is any for Foligno.

Nytraveler, I know a car would be easier snd i appreciate your advice, but hubby who will be driving legs in France and Slovenia really does not want to drive but would rather sit back and enjoy the view. Also I know by this stage of the holiday sightseeing will be less of a priority than relaxing. If we stayed a couple of KM from a nice town I'm sure we spend less on taxi than on car rental.

louipivac

I'm having a rethink and will perhaps cut accommodation budget and hire a car, but with a four year old the car seat is a major annoyance, either you drag one all around Europe on the trains, hire one ($$$$$$) or keep buying cheap ones (a bit difficult in out of the way places).