Umbria + Rome Itinerary

Posted by Mary (Massachusetts) on 01/10/26 09:24 PM

Hi all, I am seeking your input for a solo trip I am planning to Umbria and Rome. Last year, I received invaluable advice from many of you on my Northern Italy trip.

I have visited Orvieto on an RS Village Italy tour when we also stopped by Assisi for a short period. I have been to Rome multiple times. I have no physical limitations (I run five miles daily), am comfortable taking public transportation. I can spend hours in museums, whether the subject is art or archeology or history. I wiil also take any opportunity to climb towers or church domes or hills for views.

Am I short-changing any locations? Should I skip Rome and add those days to the other cities? Or add another location (although I am trying not to move locations too much)? Any other advice?

Thu 18 June Arrive at FCO, train to Orvieto
Fri 19 June Orvieto
Sat 20 June Orvieto
Sun 21 June Train to Perugia
Mon 22 June Perugia
Tue 23 June Perugia
Wed 24 June Perugia - maybe day trip to Foligno or Gubbio
Thu 25 June Train to Assisi
Fri 26 June Assisi
Sat 27 June Train to Spello
Sun 28 June Spello
Mon 29 June Spello - day trip to Spoleto
Tue 30 June Train to Rome
Wed 1 July Rome
Thu 2 July Rome
Fri 3 July Rome
Sat 4 July Rome - PM train to FCO airport hotel
Sun 5 July Fly home

Thank you in advance and looking forward to your feedback.

Mary

Posted by John

CA, USA

01/11/26 08:07 PM

1399 posts

You might be interested in reading the book "Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center" by Michelle Damiani which came out a few years ago. Along with her family they spent a year in Spello so the book really takes you inside what it would be like to live there.

Perugia has a helpful TI office and is also a center for the regional bus network. You may want to research some other Umbria towns for possible daytrips and the TI office can help you with the bus schedules. Deruta is famous for pottery, Gubbio and Todi are nice to visit, Bevagna has a strong medieval presence, Montefalco is famous for Sagrantino based wine, and doubtless you can find other places worth visiting within an hour of Perugia or your other stops.

Posted by Roberto da Firenze ⚜

San Francisco Bay Area (USA)

01/11/26 08:22 PM

17299 posts

If you are staying in Perugia, take the bus to Assisi, not the train. The bus takes you straight to Assisi proper, the Assisi train station is a distance away (in the town of Santa Maria degli Angeli) and from there you need a bus or a taxi.

The bus terminal in Perugia is on Piazza Partigiani.

The direct bus no. is E007
The bus Perugia-Assisi via the S.Maria degli Angeli-Assisi train station is E422.

Posted by geovagriffith

01/11/26 10:40 PM

9701 posts

We did a great Road Scholar tour of Tuscany and Umbria and stayed in Spoleto and used it as a base to visit other cities.
I recommend that you visit Spoleto.
Also, we visited Gubbio, which you might consider.

Posted by nancys8

Saint Paul, Minnesota

01/12/26 02:08 AM

2007 posts

It depends on what you are interested in, of course, but what we did in November 2021 was to fly into Rome, right away took the train to Orvieto for 4 nights (a return visit). Most of the places we stayed in or visited in Umbria were to walk around the historical center, eat the local food, see early Renaissance art and architecture, and buy some ceramics we do not need but really like. I'd give another night or two to Orvieto.

Took the train to Perugia. From Perugia, we took buses to Assisi for frescoes, to Deruta for ceramics, and to Spello for another fresco. Also visited Montefalco for art.

Then we rented a car to go to Gubbio to stay for a while --- our favorite town in Umbria except for Orvieto. Church art & museums, the Gola del Bottaccione (a geology thing), the birdcage lift.

Then to Spoleto --- my favorite Romanesque church facade (San Pietro extra moenia), the cathedral art, the aqueduct, daytrips to Vallo di Nera and Citta di Castello and San Gemini (twice, to eat at Osteria Pecora Nera)

We drove to Norcia for the food and a daytrip to Castelluccio to eat lentils. We like to eat dishes an ingredients that are named for a location AT that location, like eating Trevi black celery in Trevi. Then we stayed in tiny Narni, partly to daytrip to Amelia (to photograph signs that said "Amelia" for a family member). Returned the car in nearby Terni and took the train back to Rome.

My thought for you is that, once you are in Umbria, visit other places in Umbria, whereas it's easy to return to Rome and see more of Rome (and I adore Rome!). So, yeah, steal a few nights from Rome.

We found Umbria an easy region for taking trains and buses, also easy to pick up and return a rental car, and easy to drive around in and to park just outside of the historic districts. But note that we were there in the off-season.