We're going to be spending four weeks in Umbria based in Corciano and are looking for day trips to make from there. We will all have cars and are also willing to drive to a parking lot and hop a train or bus. I know I want to see Assisi for the historic significance and Deruta for the pottery, I assume we should visit Lucca, Siena, Gubbio, Orvieto.... Interests among our group are varied so I can't say a specific thing we're looking for, just general sightseeing, having a good lunch and heading back to home-base for the evening, hopefully with provisions to cook dinner. What are your favorite towns? Favorite sites, museums, churches,shops, restaurants in the towns? Any terrific craftspeople along the way?
Many thanks!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16014 posts
You are very close to Perugia, therefore you should visit there for sure. In addition these are the top 10 small towns to see in Umbria: http://www.10cose.it/umbria/cosa-vedere-umbria.html For Tuscany, which is bigger and with more to see, take a look in the website below. The site is organized by province. The Tuscan provinces that are closer to Umbria are: Siena, Arezzo. The province of Florence is also reasonably close. Cortona is your closest must-do town in Tuscany. http://www.borghiditoscana.net/
Posted by
Philadelphia, PA, United States
174 posts
We liked Todi very much. We also spent a couple of days in Spoleto and found it to be beautiful with many things to see and good walks. I envy you!
Posted by
OP
Pittsburgh, PA, United States
19 posts
Thank you, Roberto. Those links look terrific! I was surprised you suggested Cortona. I assumed it would be overcrowded with tourists (like me) because of Under the Tuscan Sun. No? Anyway, the lists are great and I hope to see as many as reasonably possible. Many thanks!
Thank you, Katherine, too. I will look into Todi and Spoleto.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16014 posts
Cortona is very close to Corciano, therefore it would be an easy drive. If you start eliminating places because there are many tourists, you won't be seeing much of Italy. Over 35 million foreign tourists visit Italy every year. Cortona is particularly popular with Americans, in part because of "Under the Tuscan Sun", in part because of the presence of some international universities, such as the University of Georgia, but the number of tourists overall is not any worse than other historic towns in Tuscany. You'll just see a much higher proportion of Americans there. So brush up on your American English language skills.
Posted by
SF Bay Area, CA
2030 posts
A few years ago, I spent a week at a wonderful apartment in Cortona. I loved it very much as a low-key, charming home base in Tuscany. Not a major tourist attraction compared to other towns, perhaps, but it has a couple of good museums. Orvieto is another great hill town, which I recommend seeing.
Posted by
West Lafayette
59 posts
I didn't really like Cortona. It is overrated although the archaelogical museum there was very good. Mary