Rethinking Spoleto after Rome?
 

Evening, Big lurker here, thanks so much for all the help you have provided thus far. We will be going to Rome at the end of September, and thought we would take the train a bit north for 4 or 5 days before our trip goes to Athens. As of now, we are staying in Spoleto and planning to do some day trips by bus or train. Does this seem like a good idea? Will we be able to get to some other towns from the train or bus easily enough, or should I rethink this town? Thanks in advance.

I'd re-think it. There are many other more attractive and more centrally located towns to choose from.

From Spoleto, I know you can visit by train or bus-

Norcia (bus)
Spello (train)
Assisi (train + short bus up hill)
Perugia (train + short bus up hill)
Trevi (train + short bus or short taxi up hill)

And there are probably other options from Spoleto.

Perugia allows great access to bus and train trips throughout Umbria.

If it was me though, I'd rent a car in Rome or train to Spoleto, rent a car and stay here-

http://www.lecasegialle.com/

...as a base to explore by car. And I'd stay 5 days (nights?) minimum. There are so many wonderful places to visit in Umbria, but some of the best are best accessed by car.

Use autoeurope.com to rent the car.

Have a great trip!

Hi boroth25,

I stayed in Spello, with a car, and absolutely loved it! I was only there 2 nts, but visited Montefalco and Assisi, both very close.

Check out Palazzo Bocci ****, a wonderful hotel in an ancient palazzo. Views from Spello are wonderful, the town tiny, untouristed and lots of flowers. Easy to get in and out of for day trips.

Buon viaggio!

I don't know which towns Tuck is thinking of. Spoleto is on the train line, which many Umbrians towns aren't, and most people find it charming and attractive.

Foligno might be better connected in terms of transportaton, and even has better food, but normally tourists want to stay in the more picturesque towns. But if you are planning on a lot of day trips, who cares? You'll be someplace else most of the time.

Perugia is probably more urban than you want, and harder to get in and out of.

Can you talk more about which town you want to see and would you consider renting a car? The core of Umbria -- which includes Assisi, Spello, Spoleto, Todi, Bevagna and Montefalco -- is a very easy valley to drive around.

Zeppole, I guess we really are not sure which other towns we would like to see. It has been so long since we started planning for this trip, my brain is turning to mush! We picked Spoleto, (hotel Palazzo Dragoni) after reading a great trip report. We rented a car last time we were in Italy, and that is where some of our best memories are from. After making the mistake of driving into Rome last visit, maybe we will rent a car in Spoleto, if that is possible. Thanks!

Easy to have your brain turn to mush -- or polenta -- planning an Italian trip.

If you can't rent the car in Spoleto, pick it up in Orvieto.

It almost doesn't matter where you base in Umbria. Most people want to see Assisi and Spello, which are very easy to get to from Spoleto. You just want to make sure if you stay in Spoleto that you are not stying during the music festival (unless you'd like to attend!)

I stayed in Montefalco and really enjoyed it, partly because the best Umbrian wine is from Montefalco -- a very strong wine called Sagrantino -- and i hate to drink and drive. Even if you don't stay there, the town is worth a visit for its pretty museum with Gozzoli frescoes, and its views. (I stayed at B&B Frantoio Brizi, which has a restaurant open at lunch and its own olive oil mill.)

If you are there in warmer months with a car, a drive to the Piano Grande above Norcia is spectacular. It's one of the finest natural sights in Italy, the "wow" equivalent of the Grand Canyon.

Zeppole, Wonderful! Thanks for the help. I have checked with Hertz in Spoleto and the rates are not as high as I feared. Yay, more E for vino! The Piano Grande sounds very interesting, so does a place with an olive mill. See, that is what I love, the olive trees, the vineyards, aahhh, can't see that from a bus. Thank you so much!

Here are some good websites for Umbria for wine and olives, and some pictures of the Piano Grande

http://english.stradadelsagrantino.i...le.asp?id=2008

http://www.bellaumbria.net/home_eng.htm

and some pictures of the Piano Grande

http://images.google.com/images?q=pi...a=N&tab=wi

http://www.lifeinitaly.com/tourism/u...ano-grande.asp

boroth,

Here's a second vote for Sagrantino di Montefalco! Fabulous, be sure to try some.

Just don't get behind the wheel after more than a taste of it. It is certifiably one of the strongest wines produced in Italia.

Take in Castelluccia, a hilltop village overlooking the Piano Grande.

Also there's a tunnel just to the north of Spoleto that's a shortcut under the mountain range en route to Norcia.

A nice little village in the Val Nerina is Scheggino.

And if you go there, you might like to eat the exceptionally delicious trout from the Nera river, as a break from all the meat the Umbrians generally serve in their restos.

Dayle mentioned Palazzo Bocci in Spello. We've stayed there many times and love it (since 1993). Nice video of the hotel here:

http://www.webvisionitaly.com/catego...p;ref_item=211

We love the food in Umbria. There are a few Umbria restaurant video reviews on the site in the region of Umbria:

http://www.webvisionitaly.com/category.php?id=216

Enjoy, Umbria is a great region of Italy.

We based in Spoleto, and went to Assisi (twice), Trevi, Spello, Montefalco, Bevagna, Deruta and Norcia. All easy, nice drives.

On the Norcia day, we went to the Piano Grande after Norcia, then to Castellucia, then looped around north to come back around to Spoleto. It was a wonderful drive, and we had a good, very late lunch in Borgo Cerreta (I think that was the name of the town).

Just for the record and research, the name of the town (and its highly prized lentils) in the Piano Grande is Castelluccio.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castelluccio

Right you are, zeppole.

I can blame Michelin - it's spelled with an "a" on my map...

I like Spoleto as a base for Umbria. But if you're going to rent a car and spend much of your time exploring other towns, I'd chose the Hotel San Luca over the Palazzo Dragoni. Without a car, you'll probably want to cab up and down (at least a few times) to reach public trans.

The Dragoni is in a visually lovely location at the top of the town near the Duomo, but driving up and down each time you leave will be a navigation test. It's a pretty good hike on foot. The San Luca is at the bottom of the town, just inside the city walls. It's a couple of turns to leave town and a couple of turns off the highway to return to the hotel. During a week's stay, we had no trouble finding free street parking, and there's a nice supermarket just a block away. And the San Luca is a lovely hotel.

Here's a thread with lots of info on Umbrian towns:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2

Hi boroth25, Hub and I trained from Spoleto to Spello on a Sunday and found the station totally unmanned. Unless that is no longer the case, be certain to have your return ticket in hand.

I personally did not find Spoleto attractive and wouldn't want to stay there. I guess I just prefer smaller, quainter villages. Spoleto had lots of billboards and traffic...neither of which I was looking for. We went to Spoleto and turned right back around. Just my personal opinion though. We loved le Case Gialle, as mentioned above, and the towns surrounding it.

However, Spoleto is near one of my favorite sights in Umbria...Carsulae. It doesn't appear as though many know about this ancient sight but we found it fascinating and hauntingly quiet and peaceful. If you do stay in Spoleto and have a car, I highly suggest a visit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carsulae

Tracy