Best towns to see in Tuscany and Umbria

Several years ago we stayed in Perugia in Umbria and Arezzo in southern Tuscany. Both places were very nice and we did not see a lot of other tourists. We did a day trip from Perugia to Assisi and then Gubbio. I much preferred Gubbio to Assisi.

Buon viaggio,

RB

Think about Montepulciano,montelcino, Pienza, Chiusi, Monteriggioni, and really most any small hilltown you see. We drove to so many, and had wonderful meals in many of them. Exploring is half the fun! Caio, Jeff

We too enjoyed the towns mentioned already, but would add Spello, Spoleto and Pitigliano as well worth a visit.

Thanks so much for your replies - as always its such a great helpline. Just wondering if Lucca would be worth a visit - we will be travelling from Cinque Terre to Pisa for our first day in the region and just wondering if we should plan to spend a few hours there or go straight to Pisa and leave time to explore one or two of the other towns that were mentioned before we spent the night at San Gimignano.

Lucca is worth a visit. Pienza, Montacino and Montepulciano are also worth visits. We're making sure we get to Volterra our next trip, we just didn't have time our last trip.

I looooooooooooved Volterra. The shopping, alabaster studios, Etruscan museum, food, ruins, etc., I just loved it. If you are in near San Gimignano, the old part of Certaldo is small and kind of neat. You park in the lower town by the train station and take a funicular up. We weren't there more than an hour but it was enjoyable nonetheless. There was a beautiful ceramic shop and a few other interesting-looking places.

they're all fun and unique; you really can't go wrong. Just pick some you haven't been to yet.

I agree that Lucca is definitely worth visiting if you will be in the area. You can walk or bike on the wide path on top of the wall that surrounds the town for a great overall view. If you go, be sure and climb the tower with the trees on top for a wonderful view of town and the surrounding countryside.

I agree with Debra regarding Volterra. It's definitely worth spending a day there. I agree that the Etruscan Museum was very interesting. We reserved a 1/2 day tour with Annie Adair (Rick Steves featured her in his segment about Volterra on one of his shows) & she really made the town come alive for us. She pointed out all sorts of fascinating things that we would not have known on our own & she tailored the tour to our interests. There's also a Roman amphitheater there that's neat to look at & the alabaster studios are fun to see as well. So, here's another vote for Volterra! Have a great trip.

Lucca wasn't one of our favorites. Nice wall turned into a park but otherwise flat (not a hill town) and far from special.

Lucca could be ideal for someone who lacked mobility because it is so flat. We traveled in October and Lucca was nearly empty - another plus may be smaller crowds in summer than it's more touristy neighbors.

To give you an idea of places we liked, we enjoyed San Gimignano, Orvieto and Siena and would recommend each of those.

Just back. My family and I visited Montepulciano, Assisi, and Civita De Bagnoregio. Montepulciano was very accessible of the 3, and has plenty of shopping, restaurants, and views. Assisi if you're a Catholic or fan of St Frances is equally beautiful with views and quality eating. Civita De Bagnoregio is out of the way, but has great views. While we were there, there was construction on the Piazza, but will probably be done within the week. Not to promoted Rick's books, but we found the "Italy 2010" great for maps and wonderful for restaurants.

from one A+ student