Umbria
5
Day Itinerary •
Italy
Five days in Umbria lets you explore the full extraordinary range of Italy's green heart. Beyond Assisi and Orvieto lie some of the most extraordinary and least visited cities in central Italy. Spoleto with its extraordinary Roman aqueduct bridge. Norcia, the birthplace of Saint Benedict and the truffle and salumi capital of Italy. The wild Valnerina gorge. Todi on its perfect hilltop. And the extraordinary Montefalco and its Sagrantino wine. This route covers it all. The pilgrimage city of Assisi at dawn, Perugia's underground Etruscan streets, Orvieto's Signorelli frescoes, Spoleto's extraordinary Roman-medieval layers, Norcia's truffle and cured meat culture and the wild Sibillini mountains, and Todi, one of the finest and most perfectly preserved hilltop cities in all of Italy.
Best Time To Visit
April to June or September to October
Getting There
Fly into Rome (FCO) then drive 2 hours or Perugia (PEG)
Getting Around
Rental car essential throughout
Budget Per Day
Approx 90 to 150 euros per person per day
Difficulity
Easy, walking and driving
DAY 1
ASSISI
MORNING
MIDDAY
THE BASILICA DI SAN FRANCESCO, GIOTTO'S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT
The Upper Church contains Giotto's 28-scene cycle of Saint Francis's life, painted around 1297, which effectively invented the visual language of Western painting. The Lower Church has extraordinary frescoes by Cimabue, Lorenzetti and Martini. Entry free. Arrive just after 9am opening. Drive: 20 min walk to Eremo
AFTERNOON
THE EREMO DELLE CARCERI
The cave hermitage where Saint Francis retreated to pray, in ancient ilex forest on Monte Subasio. The caves are tiny and deeply moving. Still occupied by Franciscan friars. Free entry.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Basilica di Santa Chiara contains the San Damiano Crucifix that spoke to Saint Francis in 1206 and told him to rebuild the Church. The original cross is in the dark chapel to the right of the nave. Free entry and one of the most important objects in Christianity.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar in Assisi lower piazza Coffee before walking the empty dawn streets. | Lunch: Trattoria da Erminio, Assisi Finest traditional restaurant. Local truffle pasta, wild boar and Sagrantino wine. | Dinner: Ristorante Il Frantoio Outstanding restaurant in a medieval olive press. Extraordinary Umbrian cuisine.
DAY 2
PERUGIA AND ORVIETO
MORNING
PERUGIA, THE MEDIEVAL UNIVERSITY CITY
The Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria in the Palazzo dei Priori is the finest collection of Umbrian painting in existence. The Fontana Maggiore (1278) is the finest Gothic fountain in Italy. The Rocca Paolina underground city, a medieval neighbourhood preserved beneath a papal fortress, is free to walk. Drive: 1 hour drive to Orvieto
MIDDAY
ORVIETO CATHEDRAL AND THE CAPPELLA DI SAN BRIZIO
Luca Signorelli's Last Judgement frescoes, begun 1499, were studied by Michelangelo before the Sistine Chapel. The debt is unmistakable. Entry approx 5 euros. The striped black and white marble facade is extraordinary. Drive: 30 min walk underground
AFTERNOON
ORVIETO UNDERGROUND AND THE POZZO DI SAN PATRIZIO
1,200 years of tunnels, Etruscan cellars and medieval pigeon houses below the cliff. Entry approx 6 euros. The double-helix Pozzo di San Patrizio (1527), where donkeys going down never met those coming up, is extraordinary Renaissance engineering.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Galleria Nazionale dell'Umbria Perugino collection is the finest in the world. Raphael was Perugino's student in Perugia. Entry approx 8 euros and visited by a fraction of those who queue at the Uffizi despite containing comparable masterpieces.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Caffe Sandri, Perugia Most beautiful historic cafe in Perugia since 1860. | Lunch: Trattoria del Matto, Orvieto Outstanding Umbrian restaurant. Wild boar, truffles and Orvieto Classico. | Dinner: Ristorante Il Giglio d'Oro Most celebrated restaurant in Orvieto. Medieval setting.
DAY 3
SPOLETO AND MONTEFALCO
MORNING
SPOLETO, THE CITY OF THE ROMAN AQUEDUCT BRIDGE
Spoleto is one of the most extraordinary and undervisited cities in Umbria. The Ponte delle Torri is a remarkable 14th-century aqueduct bridge spanning a deep gorge on 10 arches 81 metres high, one of the most dramatic medieval engineering achievements in Italy. The Piazza del Duomo below it frames the extraordinary Romanesque cathedral. The Festival dei Due Mondi (Festival of the Two Worlds) every June is the finest arts festival in Italy. Drive: 20 min walk to Roman theatre
MIDDAY
SPOLETO'S EXTRAORDINARY ROMAN AND MEDIEVAL LAYERS
The Roman theatre in Spoleto is a beautiful 1st-century structure still largely intact. The Arch of Drusus in the Piazza del Mercato has stood since 23 AD. The extraordinary Romanesque church of San Pietro on the hillside below the city has the finest carved facade in Umbria. The Rocca Albornoziana fortress above the city was a papal prison for centuries. Drive: 30 min drive to Montefalco
AFTERNOON
MONTEFALCO AND BENOZZO GOZZOLI'S EXTRAORDINARY FRESCOES
Montefalco is called the Balcony of Umbria for its extraordinary panoramic views. The former church of San Francesco contains the extraordinary fresco cycle by Benozzo Gozzoli from 1452, a vivid narrative of Saint Francis's life that rivals Assisi's Giotto in colour and detail. Entry approx 8 euros. The town also produces Sagrantino di Montefalco, the most powerful red wine in Italy.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The walk from Spoleto across the Ponte delle Torri to the Monteluco hillside forest takes 40 minutes and gives extraordinary views back to the city. Saint Francis built a hermitage in the sacred forest of Monteluco above and it is still occupied. Free.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar in Spoleto centre Coffee before walking the empty morning streets. | Lunch: Ristorante Il Tartufo, Spoleto Most celebrated restaurant in Spoleto. Black truffle on everything. Book ahead. | Dinner: Enoteca Federico II, Montefalco Outstanding wine bar in the Balcony of Umbria. Sagrantino tasting and local food.
DAY 4
NORCIA AND VALNERINA
MORNING
NORCIA, THE TRUFFLE AND SALUMI CAPITAL OF ITALY
Norcia is the birthplace of Saint Benedict, founder of Western monasticism, and the food capital of Umbria. The norcino (pork butcher) tradition from Norcia is so revered that norcino means pork butcher throughout Italy. The main street is a continuous procession of extraordinary shops selling black truffles, lentils from Castelluccio, cured meats and cheeses. The Castelluccio plain below produces the finest lentils in Italy, extraordinary in flower in June. Drive: 30 min drive to Valnerina
MIDDAY
THE VALNERINA GORGE AND THE CASCATA DELLE MARMORE
The Valnerina is the extraordinary gorge of the Nera river through the southeastern Umbrian mountains, wild and dramatic with medieval villages on impossible ridges above the river. The Cascata delle Marmore is one of the highest waterfalls in Europe, an extraordinary 165-metre cascade created by the Romans in 271 BC to drain Lake Velino. Entry approx 8 euros and one of the most dramatic man-made landscapes in Italy. Drive: 30 min drive to Piano Grande
AFTERNOON
THE PIANO GRANDE OF CASTELLUCCIO
The Piano Grande is an extraordinary high plateau at 1,452 metres in the heart of the Sibillini mountains, a vast flat plain surrounded by mountains that fills with wildflowers in May and June. The tiny village of Castelluccio on its isolated hilltop above the plain is one of the most extraordinary views in Umbria. The lentil fields in flower are among the most beautiful agricultural landscapes in Italy.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Abbazia di Sant'Eutizio in the Valnerina is one of the most beautiful and least visited Romanesque abbeys in Umbria, founded in the 5th century in a dramatic cliff setting. The pharmacopeia tradition here produced the first pharmacist in Italy. Free to visit.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Norcineria in Norcia Buy black truffle and cured meats directly from the producers. Eat standing up. Extraordinary. | Lunch: Ristorante Granaro del Monte, Norcia Most celebrated restaurant. Black truffle pasta, local lamb and Sagrantino wine. | Dinner: Agriturismo near Castelluccio Dinner on the Piano Grande. Local lentils, lamb and Umbrian mountain cheeses.
DAY 5
TODI AND BEVAGNA
MORNING
TODI, THE MOST PERFECT HILLTOP CITY IN ITALY
Todi is widely considered the most perfectly proportioned hilltop city in Italy, its medieval streets and piazzas arranged with extraordinary geometric precision on a hilltop above the Tiber valley. The Piazza del Popolo has been voted the most beautiful medieval square in Italy, with the extraordinary 13th-century Palazzo dei Priori and the superb Romanesque-Gothic Cathedral facing each other across the perfectly proportioned space. Todi was also identified in the 1980s as the most liveable city in the world. Drive: 20 min walk around city
MIDDAY
THE SANTA MARIA DELLA CONSOLAZIONE AND TODI'S HIDDEN CORNERS
The church of Santa Maria della Consolazione below the city walls is one of the finest Renaissance churches in Italy, a centrally planned domed church built from 1508 over 99 years that Bramante may have designed as a study for St Peter's in Rome. The views from the church terrace over the Tiber valley are extraordinary. Free to enter. Drive: 30 min drive to Bevagna
AFTERNOON
BEVAGNA, THE PERFECTLY PRESERVED ROMAN TOWN
Bevagna is one of the finest and most overlooked small towns in Umbria. The extraordinary Piazza Silvestri contains two extraordinary Romanesque churches facing each other across a perfect medieval piazza, with a fountain and the Palazzo dei Consoli completing the ensemble. The town has two extraordinary Roman floor mosaics visible through windows in house floors throughout the historic centre. The Mercato delle Gaite in June recreates the entire medieval town to extraordinary effect.
💎 HIDDEN GEM
The Tenuta Castelbuono near Bevagna is one of the finest modern wineries in Umbria, producing extraordinary Sagrantino di Montefalco in a building designed by sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro. The extraordinary sculpture Carapace (a tortoise shell winery) rises from the vineyards. Tours and tastings by appointment.
🍽 WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Bar in Todi's Piazza del Popolo Coffee in what may be the most beautiful medieval square in Italy. | Lunch: Ristorante Umbria, Todi The finest traditional restaurant in Todi. Umbrian cuisine in a medieval courtyard. | Dinner: Osteria del Podesta, Bevagna Outstanding osteria in the perfectly preserved Roman town. Local pasta, truffle and Sagrantino.
Where To Stay
Assisi, Night 1 Hotel Fontebella, a beautiful 17th-century palazzo in the old city. Approx 110 to 180 euros per night. Spoleto or Orvieto, Nights 2 to 3 Hotel Eremo delle Grazie, Spoleto, or Locanda Palazzone, Orvieto. Approx 120 to 200 euros. Norcia or Todi, Nights 4 to 5 Agriturismo near Norcia or Relais Todini, Todi. Approx 90 to 170 euros per night.
Top Tips
1. Assisi at dawn is extraordinary. Arrive before 7am and walk the Via San Francesco completely alone.
2. The Basilica di San Francesco Upper Church Giotto frescoes are best in the first hour after 9am opening.
3. Umbrian black truffle (tartufo nero) is far more affordable than white truffle. Buy it in Norcia directly.
4. Sagrantino di Montefalco is the most powerful red wine in Italy. Buy it at the Arnaldo Caprai estate.
5. The Orvieto underground tours run daily. Book at the Piazza del Duomo tourist office on arrival.
6. Umbria Jazz festival in Perugia is every July. The world's finest outdoor jazz festival. Book hotels a year ahead.
Total Budget
85 to 140 euros/day