Hi
We will be in Siena and going east to Umbria. We will have a car and looking to visit Orvieto, Gubbio, Spello, Assisi, Deruta and Cortona. Is one of these towns good to stay at, is another better? Any advice on where is best to use our 4-5 days. We are looking to go slowly. I have read that Spello and Assisi are good in the same day.
Any good AirBnB to suggest as well? We are 2 couples.
Thank you in advance.
They are all great places to visit, but Assisi is probably the most central base to see them all from Assisi on separate day trips.
They are all within about 45 min drive from Assisi, except for Orvieto which is at least 1.5 hours away (Orvieto is a bit of an outlier to the rest being to the far west of Umbria). Cortona is in Tuscany, but you can get there from Assisi in a little over 1 hour.
Add Bevagna and maybe Spoleto to the list of towns to visit, if you have the time for all.
Be aware that all those ancient towns in Italy are forbidden to cars within the historical core (basically within the ancient town walls), so choose your accommodations accordingly preferably outside the town walls or, if inside the historical core, within an easy walk from one of the parking lots outside the town walls. Confirm with the host about the parking availability on the premises or nearby if the Airbnb is located in the forbidden zone. Entering the historical center without a resident permit (which your car won't have) will result in hefty fines. Access is enforced by hidden cameras.
Do you have suggestions for more western parts of Umbria to visit? Or where would you stay in Umbria having visited?
Thank you!
All the towns you cited, plus the two I added, pretty much exhaust the list of places worth to visit in all of Umbria. You could add Todi also. Assisi is probably the place I'd stay. Actually it's the only place in Umbria where I've stayed overnight (more than once). It's really central of all, and I've used it as a base to see everything else.
Deruta is not really a big deal for me, but my wife drags me there every few years to buy some ceramic pottery. Gubbio is also famous for ceramic pottery. If you care about pottery, visit both, if you don't care, then Gubbio is more worth of a visit than Deruta.
If you choose to stay in Orvieto, which is very nice but not central to the others and away from the rest of Umbria, you could consider visiting also Civita di Bagnoregio, one of Rick Steves' favorites (but not really a big deal to me). Civita is not technically in Umbria, it's in the Lazio region, but not far from Orvieto.
Thank you
I'm going to complicate things even more for you. if you choose Orvieto as your base, and take advantage of Roberto's suggestion of Civita di Bagnoregio, I'll suggest you go south from there to see Vitorchiano, and/or west to see Pitigliano, and /or further west to see Saturnia Thermal Springs. The list of great places to see in those rural parts of Lazio and Tuscay is endless, and probably deserves another trip in order to see it all.
