Favorite Umbrian towns

Gubbio, Spoleto, Spello, Todi, among others, come to mind.

Below are others that are not as well known:

https://borghipiubelliditalia.it/en/umbria/

Let’s not forget Perugia!
As for why, often for me it’s just how a town makes me feel. The vibes.

After Orvieto, we loved Gubbio.

We spent 6 nights there in November 2021 (four weeks in Umbria ). It's a lovely little hill town, but it's on the side of a hill instead of on the top of a hill.

Picturesque and often steeply inclined streets. Some are Via Baldassini, Via Galeotti, Via Piccardi, XX Settembre, Via dei Consoli, & along the river leading to Piazza 40 Martiri. On Via dei Consoli look for the "doors of death," skinny doors next to the main doors which were probably actually NOT for carrying coffins out.

Fontana dei Pazzi --- see: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fontana-dei-matti

The Museo Civico e Pinacoteca in the Palazzo dei Consoli has views from its loggia & medieval rooms, and the kind of slightly odd paintings I like. Nice views over the countryside and town.

Sant'Agostino has frescoes (like a nice lurid Last Judgement) & other paintings, but it is not always open, so a weekend might be best. More frescoes in the Chiesa di San Francesco & cloister.

2nd largest theatre in the Roman empire (the 1st is in Rome)

The iridium gorge (Gola del Bottaccione) is a 20 minute walk from Piazza dei Quaranta Martiri. It's where scientists could see the iridium layer they predicted, an important indication of a comet strike being the cause of the extinction of dinosaurs and other creatures. Just mentioning it in case you like that sort of thing. My husband, who was a geologist, enjoyed it as a sort of pilgrimage, and I also thought it was cool.

Our two favorite restaurants are side by side: Orto Osteria dalla Terra and La Cresciamia. We needed reservations for lunch, even in November.

Taking the birdcage lift to the top of the hill is really fun. If you are nervous about hopping into it while it's moving, the guy who helps you get in can hold it still for a little bit. It was foggy off and on the day we went up, so the town below us disappeared.

Easy to park, so visiting other towns by car is easy.

3rd favorite town to stay in? Maybe Spoleto. Maybe Norcia, just because it was so different, plus visiting Castelluccio from there.

Norcia is heartbreaking, because the earthquake of 2016 wrecked the Duomo and a lot of buildings in town. Still, it's worth visiting and supporting the town, and you'll eat really well. Same goes for Castelluccio, which is closed off, but the restaurants are operating out of nicely repurposed containers. Favorite towns? Bevagna, Montelfalco, and, I was surprised, Foligno. The last one not because it's that picturesque but because it has a modern, hip vibe.

We also love Gualdo Tadino. It's got a great location at the base of the Apennines and the architecture of the houses in the old town is kind of eccentric. You need to go to Perugia, more a city than a town. It shows how you can mesh modern needs to a medieval core. There's free parking right down the hills, at Pian di Massiano. Pay €1.50 and take the Minimetrò into the historic center--it's an ultramodern cable driven tram with striking stations designed by the prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel. Wander around the downtown, there are so many bars and restaurants and shops.

Have fun!

It looks like the other posters have covered the highlights. I'll add one other suggestion. We stayed at a hotel/restaurant/spa in the town of Torgiano called Le Tre Vaselle. Torgiano was not really very special but the hotel was a highlight of our trip. I understand that it has been renovated/updated since our trip pre-covid.

@apaonita - I have to say I felt the same about Foligno. And we found a great place there for a quick and wonderful lunch: very creative and very delicious sandwiches. I wish every town in Italy had such a place. So often, you get some ham and cheese on bread without a condiment of any type.

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions. We have lots to think about. Gubbio, though is definitely going to be part of our journey!

Hi Sharon,
We based in Bevagna and loved its authentic rural Umbrian culture. If you time it right, in one week you can experience their Labor Day Food Fest (intl. themes), the historic Theatre's live performance plus the annual tweener Communion. The latter includes a solemn, nocturnal torchlit procession.
Trevi also had tons of appeal for us. Smaller and quieter, of course. Spoleto is also quite compelling, a must visit.
Maybe try to visit Montefalco for outdoors brunch on the same day when the Flower Market is on. Saturday, if memory serves.
Collepino is yet another tiny village that we'd recommend visiting.

But for us, Castelluccio (sound of trumpets) is in a class of its own. As mentioned above, the quake devastated the village. Months after the disaster, we completed a tourist survey for the benefit of our Castelluccio landlord's daughter, who was finishing her degree. Our understanding was that the survey would be part of a presentation to local authorities to begin immediate financial support to somehow re-open the stricken village. Note that even though travelers cannot base in that village anymore, getting there nonetheless for its famed 'thermal inversion' sunrises is worth crossing an ocean for. At such times, the entire valley fills with a sea of milky white mist, a fog that dissipates as the hours tick by. A photo op for the ages.

"Go as far up the vehicle trail as possible for best perspective of the inversion." That was the advice of the National Geographic photographer whom we met there, after he'd seen us with our Nikons. He hailed from vale d'Aosta and had rented next to us.

Tante belle cose.
I am done. the end.

We have planned to visit Umbria in May, with 2 nights in Orvieto and 6 nights in Perugia (using it as a base to visit Assisi, Spoleto and more.

We plan to use trains for transport, but I notice on the map how close some of these cities are. Would it be expensive to take taxis?

Yo Geo, that depends on your definition of 'expensive'. Taxi rates in the area were not cheap, but not too exorbitant either. Supply and demand. In our estimation, it was money well spent. Trains and buses in the area seemed to regard Foligno as the central hub and that too was useful.

Unrelated: Norcia was built directly atop a fault line. Some tragic history proves that.
I am done. the Umbrian voyage

I thought Orvietto had a surprising number of sights for a relatively small town. If you aren't driving, it's also accessible by train.