Plan a trip to Umbria

The Umbria region, known as “Tuscany for the Advanced" as well as the green heart and the green lung of Italy, is covered with forests, lakes, streams, brooks and rivers, snowy peaks, and valleys covered with flowers, picturesque villages, and tiny ancient towns. Its many famous churches, with the Basilica of San Francesco of Assisi as the most renowned, contain historic masterpieces of art, including frescoes by Giotto. The local food shops and restaurants are legendary in Italy for their truffle mushrooms, sausages, cheeses, olive oil, and, of course, their fine wine.

Umbria is a great vacation destination year-round. During the summer, the region’s mountain air, lakes, and rivers combined with the musical entertainment at the annual, famed "Festival of the Two Worlds" in the city of Spoleto make for an enjoyable, beautiful holiday.

An autumn vacation in Umbria is ideal for wine lovers as it is the season of the grape harvest when the local wineries celebrate with their new wines. October is also the time of the annual Baci chocolate festival in the city of Perugia, where the famous chocolate kisses come from. And, a walk through one of Umbria’s parks so see the autumn foliage alive with vibrant colored leaves is postcard-worthy.

In the winter, the eastern side of the Umbria region is home to excellent skiing on the Sibillini Mountains as well as the renowned international jazz festival, "Umbria Jazz.”

And the spring in Umbria… there are multiple beautiful festivals that take place here during the spring season, including the Calandimaggio Festival - a medieval celebration held annually in Assisi at the beginning of May attracting visitors from all over the world, and La Fiorita, site of an outstandingly beautiful blossoming in the vast Pian Grande (Great Plain) in the east which, with its multitude of colors toward the end of the spring, creates a stunning work of art that is exclusive to nature.

Umbria, which got its name from the Umbrian people who settled in the east in approximately 700 BC, shared this fertile land with the Etruscan people who lived in the west. They all disappeared completely about 400 years later with the Roman conquest. After the fall of the Roman Empire, this area, like so many others, was the site of incessant wars between cities and towns and between the Pope's supporters, the Guelphs, and the Emperor's supporters, the Ghibellines, during the Middle Ages. Umbria, which was later part of the Papal States, joined the United Italian Republic in 1866 and continues to be part of Italy.

The region of Umbria, which borders the Tuscany region in the west, the Emilia Romagna region in the north, the La Marche region in the east, and the Lazio region in the south, is an excellent starting point for trips to the entire region of Central Italy. The only sources of water in the region that aren’t connected to the sea are the beautiful Lake Trasimeno, the fourth largest in Italy after the three great lakes in the north; the Tiber River that crosses it and continues flowing to Rome; the Nera River along which there are ancient villages and fascinating attractions such as rafting on the rapids, canyoning, and fishing; and the Velino River, which, together with the Nera River, forms the highest manmade waterfall in Europe. This waterfall, made by the engineers of the Roman Empire to prevent the flooding of surrounding cities, is currently used for generating electricity and, because of its beauty and force, is a popular tourist attraction.

An attempt to recommend the most beautiful cities and towns in Umbria is challenging because they are all exceptional, fascinating, and intriguing – but here’s a start:

Perugia, a striking and ancient city, is the capital of Umbria. It is home to the university where foreigners come to learn about Italian culture and language.

Assisi is a lovely city that sits on Mount Subasio. As the birthplace of St. Francis, Assisi is the most important pilgrimage site for Catholics after the Vatican. It is also a popular destination for art lovers who visit the basilica to be inspired by the breathtaking fresco paintings of Giotta, one of the great medieval artists.

The ancient city of Gubbio in northern Umbria is a small and very picturesque town whose stone houses look like they’re stuck to the back of the mountain, forming a network of winding and scenic alleys.

The thousand-year-old Orvieto stands on a volcanic plateau at a height of 300 meters (nearly 985 feet) and overlooks a magical landscape through its ancient wall. The Orvieto Cathedral is considered to be one of the most beautiful in Italy. Orvieto is home to the famous white Orvieto Classico wine which is produced from the rows of vines in the valley.

Among the other cities and towns that are definitely worth a visit in Umbria are Todi, Spoleto, Spello, Narni, and Norcia.

In the culinary arts, Umbria is known for the fine tartufo mushrooms that grow there, and they can be found by hiring a professional "tartufo hunter" and his dog. The special legumes that grow between the Montebello Mountains on the eastern side of the region are used in the delicious soups that are served in the local restaurants. The sausages, cold cuts, and aged meats that are produced here, in particular in the Norcia region in the east, are sold in all the best specialty shops in Rome, Milan, and other cities and are known as "Norcinian gastronomy.” Umbrio is also known for its special cheeses, some of which are made with truffle mushrooms and the locally grown saffron. And, of course, all culinary celebrations must be accompanied by the fine aromatic olive oil produced in the local olive presses as well as the wonderful wines, the most outstanding of which are Sagrantino di Montefalco, Torgiano Rosso, and Orvieto Classico.

Buon Appetito…