Umbria - planning for 3 or 4 days in April
 

My husband and I have enjoyed the area around southern Tuscany many times. We love Pienza, Montepulciano, Montalcino, San Quirico. This trip, I'm interested in exploring parts of Umbria. We've been several times to Assisi and Orvieto so we won't return this time to those lovely cities.

Relais Genius Loci caught my eye as a lovely place to stay. Has anyone experienced a stay there? We were thinking 3 or 4 nights with the days spent exploring Bevagna, Montefalco, Perugia? Any thoughts, itineraries, restaurant suggestions, pros and cons to this location?

We'll be coming from spending 2 nights in Rome, by train, planning on renting a car either in Orvieto or Foligno? Would another city be better for car rental?

Time of year, end of April. I know the weather is not ideal then, but I was able to use AAdvantage miles for business class tickets to/from Rome. Thanks, in advance, for your thoughts and ideas.

The train Rome-Orvieto is an easy hour. The Hertz office is around the corner from the station in Orvieto.

I've spent weeks in and around Bevagna and would be happy to list some restaurants nearby.

End of April shouldn't be bad.

What are your interests/goals? Food, wine, olive oil, art, ceramics ,scenery? All are abundant in and around the valley with Montefalco overlooking the scene. We haven't stayed in the Relais but in several other nearby apartments. A car is essential and the drive from Orvieto is not bad--you could stop in Todi or Spoleto on the way to Montefalco.

We like L'Alchemista in Montefalco for dining. Wine options in the area are terrific as well as some very passionate olive oil producers (except for last year's olive issues).

Restaurant suggestions would be most appreciated - big thank you!

We stayed in Relais Genus Loci this past October-very nice place. Lovely views over the vineyard. Innkeeper is a nice half American half French young man. We were there mid week late in the season and the only people there.

You might want to train to Chiusi rather than Orvieto, closer to your destination.

MY son loved Genius Loci.

Montefalco is an amazing little city plucked from the medieval era of long ago. I was there in November and it was like a step back in time with amazing views. I also visited the nearby Caprai vineyards which was beyond outstanding. Caprai was the European Winery of the Year in 2013 and they produce the most amazing Sangratinos and Grechettos. I ended up shipping a case home! Their tour and staff are fantastic.

You may also want to consider Spello, a beautiful hill town with some wonder art, food and wine and a few nice hotels. It is charming with a lot of warmth and character that might be worth a second look for you. It is home to very interesting artists and I absolutely love this little cty.

Your choice of Bevagna is a good one. It is a charming city with a well preserved centre storico. It is beautiful at night with a few nice restaurants and close to several other towns such as Montefalco and Spello

Wow, what wonderful recs and affirmation for our vacation choice. I'm making notes of the villages mentioned - thank you!

Bob & Yestravel - good to know I've chosen the accommodations well!

We stayed up in Montefalco at a B&B, Casa Turrita, run by someone who came to Perugia to take an Italian language class and then never left. She has a full kitchen in the guest area, which was nice. Here's piccies of our trip, including a drive out to Norcia and the eerily enchanting Parco Nazionale dei Monti Sibillini:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougla...7632254170980/

You have chosen a beautiful area of Umbria to base yourself & to explore! My husband & I have stayed in Bevagna twice - September 2013 & May 2011, 4 nights each time. We found it to be charming and well-situated for taking day trips. We would return to Bevagna in a heart beat!

We enjoyed our meals at La Trattoria di Oscar and Osteria del Podesta. We also had a fantastic lunch at L'Alchimista in Montefalco. Montefalco wines are lovely!

I have written trip reports about our time in Umbria. If you would like to read about what we did, just click on my name above.

Happy planning!

We had an excellent meal at La Trattoria di Oscar. The owner, not named Oscar, entertained us the entire evening as we were his only diners that evening. Nice guy & intersting stories.

I'm loving this thread! My husband and I are set to spend a week in Umbria this May--based out of Spello. Everyone's positivity about the area is quite encouraging. Dfourth, I just love those photos!

Regarding rental offices, I've dropped in both Orvieto and Foligno. As mentioned, the rental offices are just a block away from the station in Orvieto. Foligno was super easy, the rental office was in the same building as the station.

I stayed in Spello at Palazzo Bocci which I just loved. Their restuarant across the street, Il Mulino, was excellent. Another restaurant in town, La Cantina, was good, but not great. I loved Spello. Easy parking, easy in/out, gorgeous views and basically untouristed. If you visit just for a day, be sure to walk up to the little cafe/gellateria and enjoy the view from their garden in the back. Perfect spot for a glass of wine and snack or a gelatto!

Spello also has a gorgeous church and surprisingly excellent town museum.

Montefalco has the wonderful Sagrantino.

I didn't get to visit Bevegna, no time. But did also really enjoy Todi. Another untouristed hilltown.

Buon viaggio!

I'm not sure Foligno is quite as convenient anymore. Autoeurope no longer has the location on its list, and Hertz and Avis websites don't list it. Kemwel/Europcar have an office in the train station, but it's only open in the morning (Mon-Sat). Their "downtown" office is open the usual hours and is located about a mile from the Foligno train station. I didn't check other companies.

Uh oh. Well there goes our game plan for renting a car at the train station in Foligno.

We stayed at Genius Loci last September. would stay again in a second, in fact we might in 2016. We found it very convenient for our day trips, and just great to come back to. Their wine is lovely, we had some shipped to us. Breakfasts were delicious, and Mary and Michael are gracious and helpful.

If the weather co-operates, Casteluccio and Piano Grande were magical. I think I heard that Piano Grande is covered with Crocus in spring, but I don't know when Spring arrives at that elevation.

Don't miss Gubbio if you haven't been

Thanks Jean, offices do change. indyhiker, I would still check out the possibilities for Foligno since it sounds like there is something there. Call Autoeurope or Kemwell and ask.

When I did my trip to Sicily I wanted to pick up and drop in locations that were not very common. Autoeurope booked me with Hertz in order to accommodate, when in Sicily Hertz is not their preferred provider. They are great to work with and it doesn't hurt to ask!

Buon viaggio!

Yeah, we plan to verify with AutoEurope/Kemwel. However, it does appear that the rental will be from Europcar and I've heard so many negative reviews about them. That gives me a lot of pause. We might prefer to get a car from Hertz in Orvieto. And if we do that, we might just stay there our first night in Italy. We were hoping to take a day trip there anyway. We have already paid for a rental in Spello, but even if we end up eating that first night, the rental was inexpensive. I'd rather do that than have a bad car rental experience.

I rent thru either Kemwell or AutoEurope several times a year. Most of the time we have gotten a rental from Europcar and have never had any problems with them. I have also read the stories of issues with Europcar, but so far they have been fine.