Hello all. Wife and I are planning a stay in Umbria this fall. So far thinking about Gubbio, Assisi, Spello, Perugia, maybe Todi and/or a couple more.
I know we can visit these towns without a car, but thinking about renting one anyway for flexibility and getting off the public transportation lines.
If we don't rent a car, we will probably base in Perugia.
Any thoughts on if there is better base with a car and what prevailing opinion is as far as car vs public transportation? Thanks.
Given your intended destinations you will be doing a number of day trips from your base. A car is probably more efficient, but not essential as all this locations have good bus connections to Perugia (but less so on weekends since bus transportation is designed primarily for commuters and students).
If you decide not to rent a car, then Perugia is probably the best option, being the region’s capital city and transportation hub.
If you opt for a car, which would be my choice, Assisi and Spello are centrally located to many destinations. With a car you might even consider some countryside accommodations, like agriturismo or similar. Just be aware that both Spello and Assisi have a ZTL, therefore cars are restricted in the historical center, therefore choose your accommodations judiciously so that you have parking available, if not at the hotel, at least in close proximity.
Regarding the time to travel I’d opt for late October rather than early November. The chance of rain will be slightly less and you will have longer days at least until the last Sunday of October, when Europe switches back from daylight savings to standard time.
We wanted to visit Umbria and visit Gubbio, Assisi, Spello, Perugia, and Orvieto and my reserach indicated that trains would be possible to visit those places, except Gubbio. However, Gubbio had a bus that we could take from Perugia.
When Road Scholar came out with their tour "The Hidden villages of Tuscany and Umbria" we took that wonderful tour. We used Spoleto as a base city for Umbria. Umbria was great. Don't miss Assisi, Spoleto and Orvieto for sure.
We had a car and stayed in Spello for a week. We choose Spello due to the train station and access by train to Assisi and Perugia. It was easy to park at the lot on the side of the town and small enough to walk everywhere. Driving around the area was easy and we were always sure to google map the parking lots on the outskirts. The surrounding towns of Trevi, Montefalco, Bevagna and Scheggino (my personal favorite) were wonderful . We were there in October and had a few rainy days, but overall it was lovely. We lucked on to the Sedano Nero (black celery) festival in Trevi. Among the very few tourists, it was a true taste of local village life and a memorable experience. Warning; parking was a nightmare, but doable!
I'm sure you can do it with public transportation, but I would say that having a car gave us more options and was not difficult. We rented at FCO and drove from there. Let me know if you choose Spello, because we stayed in one of my most favorite Airbnb's. We also did a small group wine tour through the area which was fun.
