Hello,
We will be traveling to Italy in March. We are trying to decide between Assisi and Subiaco. We only have time to visit one or the other. Can anyone compare these two towns in the following ways? 1. The towns themselves (quaintness, things to see/do, should we stay overnight or do a day trip?) and 2. The religious aspect of what there is to see regarding St. Benedict and St. Francis.
Thanks!
I can’t imagine skipping Assisi. Can’t you visit both if they are important to you?
Where will you be trying to do these from, and what's next after either of these on your itinerary? Where they fit into a larger itinerary might make the decision if time is short. How you intend to get around may also play into it (e.g. no train service to Subiaco although it looks to be possible by bus or combo of public transport). Just looking at a map, I see that the Monasteries of St. John the Baptist and Santa Scolastica are both a bit of a distance out of town so probably would involve local bus or other transport to reach. This MAY be the current local bus schedule:
http://static.comune.subiaco.rm.it/uploads/Orari-Mobilità-Turistica.png
Thanks for the bus schedule. Looking at that, it appears that there may be a bus going from the main town up to the monasteries. That would be nice as I have heard the walk is several miles up a hill. We are still planning the trip, so we have some flexibility. My husband and I have actually been to Assisi before, but not Subiaco. However, we are taking our teenagers for the first time on this trip, and they have not seen Assisi. We love Assisi for the town itself, but we are not fans of how the culture has tried to modernize St. Francis. I am a Benedictine oblate, and while I have seen Monte Cassino, I'd love to fit in another St. Benedict pilgrimage site in Subiaco. We would love to try to do both. We have two weeks total. Figuring on about 5 days in Rome, day trip to Orvieto, Day trip to Subiaco, then Florence. The question is whether we do Assisi OR Venice. I don't think we can fit in both. We usually like to spend the night in Assisi because it is so different at night. But none of us have ever been to Venice, so not sure if it's worth tacking that on to the end of the trip.
