I have booked my flights Sept 29th into Venice and Oct 8th out of Rome. We are planning two nights in Venice, Two in Rome and 4 nights somewhere in Tuscany/umbria. We definitely want to spend a day in Assisi. Does anyone have any great suggestions where to stay that may be a good central location to hit assisi, and some other small towns in between. Maybe Montepulciano????
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Perugia.
Posted by
Oakville, Ontario, Canada
81 posts
Todi
Posted by
Boise, ID, USA
2257 posts
I have been to Perugia but did not spend the night. Have not been to Todi. But we spent a couple of nights in Montepulciano several years ago and loved it. In fact, we're about to go back there for a four-night stay. It really depends whether you're driving or doing public transportation. Perugia would be better for the latter as it's pretty difficult to get anywhere from Montepulciano on public transportation. Assisi, Orvieto and Spoleto are all accessible by public transportation, and we enjoyed all three of those towns.
Posted by
San Jose, CA
1994 posts
If you are interested in early Italian Renaissance art, you might want to spend more than a day in Assisi. I spent more than a day just in the upper and lower basilicas of St Francis, plus there are other wonderful sites to explore and streets to wander. Also, Assisi is beautiful at night and in the very early morning, and I'd suggest experiencing it, even if you aren't overly enthralled with Renaissance art. I walked the length of Assisi--from the Basilica of St Clare to that of St Francis--at about 6 one morning, and it was so beautiful to experience the town with just a few folks emerging from their homes and the birds waking up.
Posted by
San Francisco/Marin County
9436 posts
We've stayed in Montelpulciano, Assissi and Siena. Loved Montepulciano and Assissi.
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
San Gimignano is a great small hilltown accessible by public bus.
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
The Tuscany towns are a ways from Assisi. We stayed in an agriturismo south of Gubbio and north of Perugia. I wouldn't stay in Perugia with a car - it's pretty big. Cortona might be an option.
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
1449 posts
Are you going to have a car? It is a great convenience in the area, although we have traveled by train before. We've stayed in the hilltown part of Perugia, which is a somewhat central town and has a selection of nice restaurants as well as a large piazza. We have also stayed in Cortona and Spello. Really just pick any town that interests you, the region isn't that big and driving around and admiring the scenery is half the fun anyway!
Posted by
Dallas, TX, USA
5 posts
In 2008 our group used Gorgacce Rentals (www.tuscanyumbria.com) for the Tuscany/Umbria region of our trip. Their rentals are in Umbria, some very close to the Tuscany border around Lake Trasimino and so much cheaper than anything we could find in Tuscany but still close enough to everything you want to see. Our place outside of a tiny village in the countryside was great and the company was really easy to deal with (we're using them again for our 2011 trip). I can't stress enough the savings using them - which is likely because they're an English company so you're dealing in Sterling instead of Euro. From the Lake Trasimeno area we visited Assisi, Gubbio, Cortona, Castiglione del Lago, Perugia and more. It's beautiful country. I highly recommend a car for the Tuscany/Umbria region. It will save you a lot of precious vacation time and allow you to set your own timetable. Our whole group agreed that was the best decision we made. It was our first time to Italy and a great success.