Week in Umbria

You can take a direct train from Passignano sul Trasimeno to Assisi (1h), a direct train from Castiglione del Lago to Orvieto (1h 15m) and if you rent a car one day drive to Civita di Bagnoregio (1h 45m).

Thank you! We will have a car!

Panicale and Pacino right in your neighborhood. A little further afield Bevagna, Montefalco, Spello Gubbio....lots of choices
Brad

Perugia and Spoleto

We once rented a cottage in that locale, for two weeks. For 3 days, I recommend Perugia and, maybe, Spoleto. Assisi for sure. Spello, Montefalco, and Bevagna can all be done in a day. They are all small and very close to each other. If you can fit it in, Gubbio, too.
I can’t resist commenting on some of the other recommendations. Panicale is the town we were nearest to and where we needed to go for a bank atm. Imo, not worth your limited time.

I have never understood RS’s enthusiasm for Civita da Bagnoregio. It hardly merits the appellation, “hamlet,” never mind either village or town. The last I heard, it had a permanent population of 8. Maybe more now that RS has drummed it up, and a couple of businesses have opened to cater to his fans. Another poster has mentioned 1:45 as travel time from where you will be. That doesn’t include negotiating the pedestrian bridge that connects CdB to Bagnoregio. 15 minutes? Definitely not a good use of time.

Gusto wine tours out of Montefalco. Truly wonderful day out, did it with 5 friends and it was the highlight of our 2016 trip

Thanks, all! We are staying about 20 minutes south of Magione. Looking forward to exploring!

Hello, we just got back from a week in Umbria! We stayed in Passignano Sul Trasimeno at a villa where we were originally scheduled to be marred before covid.

We had a car and did day trips quite easily to:

Perugia - only checked out the historic center, but it was lovely.
Assisi - a new favorite
Arezzo - much bigger than I expected, good for shopping if that is what you are into
Montepuliciano - great city/area, don't miss it and Pienza - super cute town, great cheese
Orvieto and Civita di Bagnoreggio - longer drive from the lake, but so worth it. The latter town isn't much itself but the view is an absolute stunner and I'm so glad I went, one of my favorite visits in Italy at this point. However, its just a floating tourist island really at this point, but does have many sweet cats.

We found it was very easy to drive just about anywhere from this location, we have been to Italy 3 times now. Previously we saw Sienna, Volterra, and San Giamano and could have easily reached those again if we wanted.

The lake region was pretty closed down when we went because it was offseason, but there is still plenty to explore.

Happy to answer anything I might be able to!

@Dan, thanks so much. Perugia is definitely on our list! Was Assisi real touristy? How long would you allow to stroll around Orvieto? We’ll probably drop our car there and catch train to Rome.

Any memorable restaurants?

We stayed right between Montepulciano and Pienza a few years ago! Loved it!

@ksinclair I found Assisi to be quite touristy, but still magnificent. We were there on a Sunday, so of course many people were in town for services. We spent a few hours here and strolled all the way up to the castle for the views. We had lunch at little spot with takeaway Torta La Testa, which was great. It was near a church on the far side of town away from the main basilica. I'm not religious at all, but I imagine this place is quite moving for someone who is. I was very impressed by the art and colors in the large St Francis church. Beautiful place.

In Perugia we had fantastic and cheap pizza at a place called Mediterranean which was recommended to us by a family member who studied abroad there.

I've found for us that 2-3 hours in most all the hill towns has been adequate, more if we eat a meal there. Orvieto could be longer if you spent a lot of time at the Duomo, or did underground tours and such. Museums and the like aren't really my thing, so we tend to just stroll, eat, and people watch. We basically did the "walk" Rick prescribes in his book. We only had lunch here as well, foolishly near the Duomo because we got hangry and the food was awful, mistakes were made. Can't recall the place, but very obviously a tourist trap and hunger got the best of us.

If you find yourself in Passignano at all, the Osteria Mammamara was pretty solid!

We spent a few days in Perugia and visited Assisi, Spoleto and Gubbio. We traveled by public transportation and spent a solid day in each town. Spoleto’s sights included the gigantic aqueduct and fortress, the Roman amphitheater and the magnificent Lippi fresco cycle in the cathedral. Gubbio was fascinating, a rabbit warren of old medieval streets as I recall. Assisi and Giotto. All interesting and worthwhile. Safe travels.

I wouldn’t describe Assisi as touristy. It is overseen by the Vatican which keeps it in excellent condition. It is a beautiful small city. Perugia is a large city on top of a large hill. There are escalators to take you up from the parking garage. It would be a hassle to stay there, getting in and out.
Spello, Montefalco and Bevagna are much smaller towns and are quite beautiful as well.

Thanks, @suki!