What to do in Assisi??

Assisi can occupy you for 2 or 3 full days if you are interested in St. Francis. Certainly a good town walking tour like Rick Steves has in his book. We found that to be enlightening. The Basilica is only one worthy site. You can also visit the Ermitage which is slightly outside the city. We hired a cab and had him wait while we toured the site and the cost of the cab was €40, far better than renting a car!

As far as day trips, Spello, Perugia, Spoleto. You might enjoy this blog http://www.brigolante.com/blog/2010/10/seven-perfect-days-a-one-week-itinerary-for-umbria/. She lives near Assisi and I used several of her articles when we visited along with R.S. Book.

What time of year?

I've been to Assisi 17 times as part of a two week international music festival. There are several major churches I would recommend: Basilica San Francesco, Basilica Santa Chiara, San Rufino, Santa Maria Maggiore. And there are plenty of smaller churches connected to the St. Francis story. There are several museums that are worth looking into - and that from a non-museum person. Local artists and craftspeople are well worth investigating. I always come home with painting and leather goods. And I come home with a very happy stomach! The local recipes are delightful. Assisi during the day can be crowded (not too crowded) with tourists. At night Assisi shows all of its magic. The views, the people on the Piazza Comune, the passagiata up and down the city (which is built on the side of a mountain). There's a quality to life there that generates peace. I'll leave daytrips for others to comment on. I think I only took two or three in all 17 years.

Thank you Laurel and Robert for your suggestions!! Laurel, I will certainly look at the link you sent!
Thank you both again!!
~Jerry

An off the beaten path church is San Stefano. It is a simple Romanesque church that would have been a small parish church during the life of St Francis. Its simple, peaceful, and quiet.

Thank you for the suggestion Jane! I will look into getting to that church, I don't have transportation so hopefully it won't be too far off the beaten path.
Thank you again!
~Jerry

Jerry, it’s actually right in the town, but on a quiet side street! Take time and explore the quiet streets and walk up to the castle! Beautiful views!

Thanks for the great write up of a week in Umbria. We plan to visit Orvieto for two nights and use Perugia as a base for 6 nights next May. Plan to use trains to get around.

Jerry,
If you’re interested, do check the Basilica di Santa Maria degli Angeli located near the train station. It’s a magnificent church which houses the tiny Porziuncola chapel, and the Cappella del Transito where St. Francis is buried.
When you’re there you can also visit the rose garden with a nice bronze statue of St. Francis. And their souvenir shop is filled with great gifts.

While in Assisi you may enjoy the spectacular views of the valley from the Rocca Maggiore, a medieval fortress built on the summit of a hill above Assisi.

Check out Trattoria Pallota for a great meal.
I ate there 3 times since I was staying at their hotel (more like a cozy B&B)

If you go to Spello, a beautiful medieval hill town near Assisi, make sure you enjoy a delicious meal at Ristorante il Pinturicchio

Enjoy your trip!

Our trip to Italy next May includes 2 nights in Orvieto and 6 nights in Perugia. We plan to use rail and perhaps bus for our day trips from Perugia to other Umbrian cities.

One concern that I have is that we will be bringing one large suitcase each and don't want to drag those suitcases much distance to our hotels. When you arrive at an airport or a train station in a large city in Europe you can easily find taxis. That may not be the case for the train station at Orvieto and Perugia.

I could contact our hotels and ask for their advice about this. I will do further research, but would appreciate any tips regarding this matter.

I know that Perugia has a people mover. I found this post on TripAdvisor
Perugia station is called Fontivegge on this map, you could take the people mover direction Pincetto:

http://www.minimetrospa.it/immagini/map_web.pdf

Unfortunately, the link doesn't work.

Another TA post says

f you take the train to Perugia, consider using the Minimetro system to get to the historical center. It costs only 1-2 Euro and comes every 10-15 minutes. One station is located just to the north of Stazionne Fontivegge. The end of the line takes you all the way to the western edge of the historical center, an elevator or a series of escalators and short steps will take you up to street level. Much handier than taking the city bus.

If you take the bus to Perugia, get off at Piazza Parigiana. Across the street, you can ride the escalators and a series of steps ( I believe there is an elevator where there is no escalator). You will end up in the historical center at Piazza Italia. You can also walk up to the city, but it takes about 10-15 minutes to do so.

https://mapa-metro.com/en/Italy/Perugia/Perugia-Minimetro-map.htm

Apparently, it is a 7 minute walk from the Minimetro to our hotel. Not sure about dragging luggage.

Also, will we need to buy a ticket for the Minimetro on a machine. Not sure our credit card will work on such machines?

I enjoyed examining the Romanesque facade of the cathedral of San Rufino in Assisi --- animals, weird people, monsters, birds, vines, etc.

I seek these churches out when in Italy --- some great ones are in Puglia, but my favorite in Umbria is in Spoleto. It's the Basilica di San Pietro and you can walk to it, but you must at one point run across a small highway to get to it. It has some pretty graphic reliefs of devils snatching a person's soul and angels rescuing another person's soul and Saint Peter bonking a devil on the head with his key to stop him from putting his finger on the soul-weighing scale. Here's a few photos of some of the scenes.
https://www.viaggiareinumbria.com/altorilievi-facciata-basilica-san-pietro-spoleto/

I was in Perugia a few years back and had no problem finding a taxi at the train station when I arrived.

I have been to Assisi over a dozen times, most recently this spring. Tour groups generally are in town between 9 and 4. Take advantage of early mornings and the evenings to truly experience the peace and calm of the place.

Take a walk through the olive groves to visit San Damiano. It’s also a nice walk down to Santa Maria di Angeli & the Portiuncula. You can then take the bus back up to town. The Carceri hermitage is a beautiful place, consider taking a taxi up and walking back for gorgeous views of the Spoleto Valley.

The Memorial Museum of World Two highlights the efforts of the city to save over 300 Jews during WW II. The story of the cooperation between Church, civil and yes German authorities is inspiring. It is located in the Bishop’s palace adjacent to the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. This church is also the resting place of Blessed Carlo Acutis a young man who died in 2006 at the age of 15 and is a great example for young people.

I hope you enjoy your time in this special place.

Jerry,

I wanted to share this thread which includes excellent advice from Robert (Delaware) on Assisi

I wish I’d had Robert’s advice before I visited Assisi.
One of these days I plan to return to beautiful Assisi!

Wishing you a wonderful trip!

The bulk of the tourists never go up to the atmospheric medieval upper town. Take a bus to the top of the town and dspend some time wandering down with no other tourists in sight.