3 days in Umbria

Will you have a car, or using public transport?

Consider Assisi, Spello, Spoleto, Montefalco, & Bevagna.

Where will you be before traveling to Umbria?

P.S. I almost forgot… Orvieto is also in Umbria, and a great hill town to visit.

We expired all the places poster Priscilla mentions. We spent two weeks in Spello and loved the whole experience and visiting the neighboring towns.

Yes we will have a car.

Where are you before and after? I would want to choose what minimizes drive times and makes the most of three days.

Many thanks for for all of your replies. We will have a car the entire trip except for our three nights in Florence. We will work our way down to Umbria from Florence perhaps making a couple of stops in Tuscany along the journey.. The Umbria adventure can be as much as four nights if we identify enough of interest. We will be returning to Florence after Umbria via one night in Greve-in-Chianti. The date range for Umbria would be approximately April 19 to 22. A day could be added to that perhaps. Although we spend six days in Tuscany eight years ago, we did not make it to Cortona. We also spent almost no time in Pienza/Montalcina area back then either and maybe we don't need to. We like villas, gardens, villages, castles, and significant churches like the St' Francis in Assisi is a must for us. Thank you for any additional suggestions you care to offer.

Let me add some thoughts about Assisi please! The Basilica San Francesco is indeed powerfully beautiful - all three levels. The Basilica Santa Chiara is also an experience not to be missed. Check the schedule for either Lauds or Vespers and join the nuns (they are in cloister, you are in a side chapel) as they chant the psalms. It only takes about 20 minutes but those are 20 minutes you won't soon forget. San Rufino is another church you should not ignore. In the 12th century it became the cathedral. The Roman ruins underneath are worth the visit. Santa Maria Maggiore is another church to visit. It is built on top of a Roman sacred space. After the earthquake of 1997, an Etruscan ruin was discovered below the Roman space. You can walk down to see both. Don't miss the views from the garden behind the church. There are several (many?) other churches and former churches in Assisi that will give you a feel of the history, the culture, the peace that is Assisi. Go up on the mountain to the Eremo delle carceri, the quiet space St. Francis frequently went to, and is still a monastery for the Franciscans. Besides the churches, don't pass up an evening on the Piazza Comune! There are also museums and art galleries that I highly recommend (unusual for me, I'm not a real museum or art gallery visitor). Hmmm, maybe 2 nights in Assisi would be a good start!

Spello! We spent a week there last spring. It’s just lovely, the people are welcoming, and the food is fabulous. We loved it there.

Check out the book, Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center by Michelle Damiani. The book is a memoir about how the author and her family spent a year living in Spello. It’s a good read and will provide a glimpse into life in Umbria.

We are doing 2 nights in Orvieto and 6 in Perugia in May. We plan to use Perugia as a base to visit Assisi, Spello, Spoleto and perhaps a couple more towns. We plan to use the trains.

I hope we can buy tickets at the stations (using machines) with our US credit cards (no pin and chip).

Assisi is a wonderful town with gorgeous views and you can day trip to many towns and villages from there by train. (We did not have a car.) The only one we did was to Spoleto, which was very nice. We also hiked to Eremo delle Carceri, which was fabulous. You don’t mention hiking, so perhaps the hike would not be your cup of tea (it’s all uphill to get there), but you can drive.

It’s easy to buy train tickets at the station with a U.S. credit card. No pin required. However, I suggest downloading the Trenitalia app on your phone. It’s super easy to buy tickets and they don’t have to be validated. The app is great for checking the status of your train and is very easy to use.

Thanks for the advise on buying tickets.
One thing, our phones don't work overseas unless we are using wifi. Can't count on being able to whip out the phone and go right to an ap unless we are in our hotel.

Again many thanks for all. I believe we have decided to stay 5 nights in Umbria April 16-21. We get up early each morning on vacation, have a light breakfast, and are usually out the door by 9 AM. We usually do not return to home base until it gets dark. So there is the answer to that question. So further, given we are on the go pretty much during daylight hours, and will have 5 full days in Umbria, what further ideas do you have. What towns, villages, villas, gardens, castles, churches do you recommend? What spot would be a good base camp for those days?
Thanks.

If you go to Spoleto, try to see the Basilica di San Pietro's very cool facade. 12th century, I think. It's just outside of town and you have to either drive to it or RUN across the highway then up a small hill.

See if this appeals to you --- https://www.viaggiareinumbria.com/altorilievi-facciata-basilica-san-pietro-spoleto/