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Umbria (which towns to overnight in)

Hello! I’ll be spending 8 nights in Umbria the last week of April. I’ve a sense of some of the places I’d like to try to visit if time allows (Orvieto, Spoleto, Trevi, Montefalco, Bevagna, Spello, Assisi, Perugia, Panicale, Città della Pieve & Lago di Trasimeno, and Gubbio) by car, but just don’t have a sense of where I should base myself.

Normally, I’d bop between different towns (staying at least 2 nights each). Is that a good tact for Umbria? If so, which towns would you recommend staying in? I’ve read Assisi is particularly wise to be able to see it before and after tour buses arrive, but I’ve no sense of the others. I tend to like somewhere between slow travel and rushing to and fro, if that helps at all.

(ALSO, if anyone can recommend a car rental place in Umbria itself, I’d be so grateful. I’m thinking easier to take a train from Rome than driving into Umbria).

Thank you for any suggestions and guidance!

Posted by
482 posts

I would do Orvieto (2), Assisi (4) and Perugia (2).

From Assisi, day trips to Spoleto and Spello. Both are pretty small so you can do them the same day without rushing too much. That gives you 2.5 days for Assisi.

From Perugia, day trip to Gubbio. Perugia at night is nice.

Posted by
9840 posts

We did a great Road Scholar tour that has us staying in Spoleto as our base and visiting most of the cities that you listed. Our favorite places in Umbria were Assisi, Spoleto and Orvieto. You don't need to visit these cities more than a full day.

Renting a car is a pain. Parking is difficult to find and can be expensive.

Posted by
1325 posts

We've had no problems at all with a rental car in Umbria.

YOu'll be missing an incredible experience if you do not visit the Piano Granda when the wildflowers are in Bloom...not sure when that will be this year but I would not miss it if your dates coincide....

Posted by
2080 posts

We took the train from Rome to Orvieto, then two trains to Perugia, rented a car in Perugia, finally returned the car to Terni and took the train back to Rome. We use Europcar, but there might be others.