I'm planning a trip for the end of September and need some help with locations and apartments. I am traveling with a friend first to Paris and then taking the train to Rome. We are spending a week in each place. From Rome, I would like to spend a week either in Umbria, or Tuscany. We need to find a good base to explore the hilltowns and villages of the region. I'm leaning towards either Assisi or Orvieto in Umbria and either Siena or Montelpuciano in Tuscany. I would love to hear any other suggestions as to bases. We are interested in apartments in town. We don't really want to be way out in the country. I like to be able to go to dinner and walk back to where we are staying afterwards. It is important also to be in a town that is big enough to have a good selection of restaurants/shops and leave the really charming little villages for day trips. We are thinking about renting a car as I know it's not easy to get to a lot of smaller towns without a car. I think we need to do either Tuscany, or Umbria, not both, but maybe I am wrong. Not sure distance-wise how feasible it is to do both. So, again, I would really appreciate your expert opinions on this.

For me, this would be a no-brainer: Orvieto and Siena. Both for the same reasons -- great towns, easy access to motorway for day trips, good location. Montepulciano is too far southeast and Siena much more centrally located for Tuscany. Orvieto is not a <i>perfect</i> location for Umbria, but it's such a wonderful town with fabulous restaurants!

So would you split up the week and stay in both places, or if you had to pick just one? I thought Orvieto would be better for day trips to towns in Umbria and Siena for Tuscany. I guess I'm wondering if I can do both in a week, or should I just concentrate on one region. And, would Assisi or some other town in Umbria be a better base?

It is certainly doable to split the week between Orvieto and Siena. It's really a matter of how much you want to try to see, or whether you want to take a more relaxed approach.

Considering that you will be in Paris and then Rome before this part of the trip, personally I would relax a bit and stay in Siena for a week. You will not be lacking for things to do in this area, including a day in Florence. And yes, if I had to choose, I would say Tuscany over Umbria especially if you have not been to either before.

Check out another thread right now titled &quot;first time in Tuscany.&quot; There are a bunch of suggestions for day trips from Montepulciano, but they are just as valid from Siena. (We are talking pretty small distances here in the scheme of things.)
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34466362


I think Orvieto is a much more interesting and lively town than Assisi, but again, that is my preference. In the interests of full disclosure, I should say I have spent a lot of time in Orvieto and very little time in Assisi, so perhaps others can give a more informed opinion.

Marilyn: thanks for your responses - I have been to Siena, Orvieto and Florence, just a few days in each, actually just one day in Orvieto. I just thought the towns in Umbria sounded more interesting, but maybe not, that's why I posted this question. I loved what I saw of Orvieto and the countryside around there. I did not have a car at the time and just used the bus to go to Civita. I really wanted to stay put in just one place as I think we will need that rest after Paris and Rome. I had even thought of Amalfi Coast, but I've been there 2x.

Spent weeks at various times in both places. I prefer Umbria, and recommend tha area around Perugia for accomodations. The area is less touristy and crowded, the cities like Assisi and Gubbio are deeply fascinating and the wine in places like Todi and Perugia is the equal of most Tuscan wines. And you're close enought to vist Tuscan villages like Montalacino. Strongly disagee with post above about Assisi. It has a magic that is precious and rare.

Thanks RJD - any other opinions?

I prefer Umbria and since you don't want to be way out in the country, I'd recommend basing in Spello which is very centrally located and has a good variety of accomodations and restaurants right there or within a 30 minute drive. Very easy to reach Trevi, Montefalco, Bevagna, Spoleto, Assisi and Gubbio. Rent a car and park it at the large parking lot just outside the city walls.

Stay in Montepulciano and do both from one location. Search and find the Politian apts. there. Perfect for what you want. See the trip report by Ann from Hawaii at slowtrav.com.

We stayed in Assisi as part of our honeymoon last year and it was wonderful, it was my hubby favourite part!

Hi Barb,
I'm staying in Perugia in an apartment/villa for a week this July. I don't like driving in Italy and we can catch a train/bus to the places we'd like to visit in Tuscany and Umbria.
I like to amble slowly on my holidays and those places I miss by not having a car..gives me an excuse to return another time soon.

Perugia seems a better place to stay in my opinion.

I respectfully beg to differ with the bulk of advice you're getting here. I know that Umbria is being touted as the new Tuscany and that people are raving about it's less touristy sites and towns but I've done both and can't understand the hype. It's nice enough but IMHO I think it's easy to see why Tuscany was the first of the two to be discovered and frequented by travelers. It's landscape is more unique--rolling fields of sienna colored dirt with periodic stands of cypresses on the ridgelines. Those pictures in books aren't just what you see here and there, they're everywhere and they're beautiful. Umbria is more forested and &quot;usual&quot; I'm with BobtheNavigator choose a place in southern Tuscany and settle in and soak it up. The area around Montalcino and Montepulciano (Pienza, Montichiello, etc.) just can't be beat.

My husband and I stayed in Umbria last September. I wish I could give you a comparison of Umbria to Tuscany, but once we arrived in Umbria, we never left its borders! We thought it was simply beautiful--windy, piney mountain roads, hills cobbled with olive orchards, farm houses set in open fields--I could go on and on. I don't know if Tuscany's offerings were more scenic, only that I did not feel the least bit &quot;cheated&quot; for not having visited Tuscany (though it was originally part of our plan, for how could first-timers to Italy, as we were, skip fabled Tuscany?).

We stayed in the country, very close to Perugia. Since that is not the setting you are looking for, Perugia would be an excellent base, should you decide on Umbria. We made day trips to Todi, Gubbio, Assisi, Orvieto, and Deruta (for the pottery). The distances to these towns from the Perugia area was minimal, though it did take quite some time to reach Todi and Gubbio because of the mountain roads. You can't take constant hairpin turns at a clip! Assisi was by far the easiest, most straightforward drive from Perugia. Our favorite towns were Todi and Gubbio--both very pristine, ancient towns, not overrun by tourists. Assisi's cathedral was magic to us; wherever you end up, make the time to visit this place.

BTW, it's not difficult to access Tuscany from Perugia. Guests at the vila we stayed at made day trips to both Florence and Siena. It made for a long day but it certainly was do-able.

What fascinating responses.

Barb, dear, since you're planning your visit at such a perfect time of year, I would suggest you NOT make a choice and FIND some way to visit both Tuscany and Umbria. You WON'T regret it. This is the ONLY way you'll be able to form your own opinion when you compare and advise others.

Nobody loves Umbria more than me but Umbria is NOT Tuscany. The easiest way to explain the difference between these two regions is &quot;green&quot; and you need to experience both palettes to know what I mean.

Give yourself a REAL TREAT and base yourself in the heart of both regions and explore as much as you can. Four nights in each would be nice and I would do Umbria first, unless you prefer brownish green to pale-yellow-ashy green.

Sienna if fine for Tuscany but I would recommend Perugia or Assisi for Umbria. Driving from one to the other is fun.

Unless you drive a stick-shift in your everyday life, splurge on an automatic and go, go, go! Don't even think about not renting a car. I'm jealous.

Wow, what great responses. It seems there are lots of differing opinions, but it also sounds like I can't go really wrong no matter where I decide to base. Looking at the map, it does seem that Perugia or Assisi seem more centrally located to explore Umbria. So I think I will have narrowed it down to between Montelpuciano in Tuscany, or Assisi in Umbria. Tough choices!

Does anyone have any suggestions for apartments in either Perugia or Assisi? What is parking like in these cities? Coming from Rome, where is a good place to pick up the rental car. We don't want to drive out of Rome. Thanks for your input.

Hope this is not too late for your consideration. I visit Umbria twice a year and recommend, per your specifications, that you contact Enoteca Piazza Onofri in Bevagna. They have a website. Not only a great Umbrian food and wine stop, but they have thirteen recently decorated apartments in the center of that wonderful town with free parking adjacent. Perugia, Assisi, Spello, Montefalco, Trevi, Spoleto, Todi and Norcia are an hour or less away.

DRJ - thanks for the tip - the apartments look lovely. I am not at all familiar with Bevagna. Is there much to do there - restaurants, shops, etc. It does not show prices on their web page. Have you personally stayed there? Which apartment?

BARB: I'v stayed there twice. The first time the paint was drying as they moved in the TV. Bevagna is a semi walled town on a river. I would guess the population at less than 5,000. The main square has two handsome churches. Beside Enoteca Piazza Onofri there are several other nice resturaunts, one at the south entrance to town is Ottovius. The town is easy to get around by foot (not hilly). Its a half dozen km west of the main road connecting Perugia and Spoleto. (You will encounter very few tourists.) BTW, should you be in the neighborhood, Taverna del Pescatore in the little hamlet of Pigge, just south of Trevi is a place that I never miss every time I'm nearby. Traveling south look for one small sign advising you to turn off. Its a right turn to spectacular food, wine and service. Lunch under the tent alongside the little stream replete with two foot high waterfall and swans is memorable, indeed.