Umbria/Assisi-day drives-help!
 

we have one and one half days to see all of Umbria. We are staying at Malvarina in Assisi. Any tips for what are MUSTS to do on day one (half day) and day 2 (full day)? We will have car. By the way, this is our honeymoon, we love people, food and wine. thanks for all your help in planning this trip. you have all been so terrific.

How about a drive to Gubbio (nice old town and great pottery)? You could also try Sansepolcro (home of Pierro della Francesca and lots of his artwork you can admire) or drive to Todi. Todi is really unforgettable.

I was also thinking of recommending Gubbio.

I would visit Todi - the backroads and the town itself were my favorite of all the places we visited in Italy. Also, the back road out of Assisi toward Mt. Subio into Spello is a beautiful drive - no one else was on the road when we were there two weeks ago. Also, if you go to Todi let me know, we found a great restaurant for lunch - so good we went two days in a row. Umbria is beautiful - enjoy!

I, too, vote for Todi. Todi and Assisi were our two favorite towns in Umbria when we visited a year ago.<BR>Have a great time.

Spend day one at Malvarina, you lucky ducks. My husband and I stayed there last October and loved it: Wake up late, have a leisurely breakfast, take a cooking class from Maria, swim if it's warm enough, explore the property, have an afternoon nap, dine in the Malvarina dining room. Ahh, heaven.... Go to Todi or Gubbio the next day. Oh, don't forget to spend some time in Assisi (maybe after your nap and before dinner on the first day).

Go to Spoleto with your half day. The bridge there you will not forget. Perugia would also be worthy of some consideration. I have some pics up of Umbria, go to http://www.pbase.com/overthere/umbria_and_tuscany<BR><BR>Personally I would take more than 1.5 days out for Umbria, maybe try to stretch an extra day in ;)

If you will be in Assisi on Sunday, 10:30 a.m. Mass at St. Francis Basilica (lower basilica) is amazing. The choir is brilliant, the church is incredible, the experience is uniquely Italian.

Agree with Assisi and Todi/Spello. You'll never see all of Umbria in 1 1/2 days, but you can get a gorgeous view of it from Montefalco.

The Todi restaurant you are suggesting that is a must? Can you tell me the name and location, please? Thank you!

I agree that Todi is a great town to visit. I also enjoyed Orvieto which was not that far from Todi if I remember correctly.<BR><BR>Have fun!

Spoleto - cool town with Roman ruins (theatre) and the very high stone bridge (pedestrian only) is actually an old Roman aqueduct. I read it is as high as the height of the dome of the Vatican. Cool shops for food items too. We ate high on the hill (I think the Fodor's book recommends it) at a restaurant overlooking the town and the bridge and the fortress.Gubbio is cool too. Orvfieto is a towards the autostrada - has very neat church (black and white striped) tour of tufa caves underneath, shops, and is way up on top of a bluff from which views of the countryside from the fortress park make you think of the Etruscans. Perugia is neat too - lots of people there, stylish shops, an Etruscan well(pozzo).

Zack,<BR>You asked about the restaurant in Todi. It is called Ristorante Pizzeria Cavour. It is about one and one-half blocks down from the main plaza. From the outside it doesn't look like much, but the inside has several nice rooms and in nice weather you can sit outside in back, which over looks the whole valley. We only had lunch there, not dinner. They had great pizza's and wonderful salads - everything looked good and it was some of the best and friendliest service we had. Can't wait to return!

Heard so much about beautiful Gubbio..we were very disappointed but did visit all the other places mentioned Oriveto, Spoleto, Todi, Montefalco (good wine and great views). hard to see Umbria in such a short time. Don't push yourself or you will not really enjoy it and will be exhausted. Make a plan for 2 places and truly enjoy them. We went on a whirl wind tour in Greece once and we hardly could remember anything. We will never do that again. Umbria is awesome. We were there 2 years ago for a week in a villa. It was great.Shar

I'm surprised there's be little or no mention of Assisi itself! We just spent a glorious day there. For the other half day, I'd go to Orvieto.