Traveling and exploring beauty is always a good idea, right? We were supposed to be in Italy and France this past winter but some changes in travel plans pushed the trip back a few months. Recently we explored the Umbria and Tuscany areas before making our way over to the coast. Today, I am sharing a peek at a village and countryside areas in the Umbria region, some travel fiascos and a couple tips we learned and some more about a couple of our favorite stops while exploring.
Perugia
We started in Perugia & picked up our rental car there at the airport.
First tip is that if you would like to explore the Umbria region- Perugia has an airport and that would make it much easier to get there quickly.
Our flight was delayed leaving and letting us off the plane which meant we were taking a train about a couple of hours later than planned. Unfortunately, the train had an issue and could only take us a bit up the road before we had to transfer to a bus. Which meant the next issue- we arrived at a bus station. LATE. and there was no taxi service there and we were nowhere near where we were supposed to be dropped off at the train station.
Both my husband (who is half Italian) and I have been mistaken for local Italians many times-but we are not fluent in Italian. We try to speak the language and do know some conversational italian but we had a bit of an issue explaining the exact location. Since cell service was not good enough to use Uber- we were standing at the bus station & had no idea where our hotel was from there.
A tip- contact the hotel you are staying with and ask for their help with taxi or train services if you need to. Incidentally- the hotel was over 30 minutes away by car so in hind site that plan to walk there in the dark at 9:30p.m. was not a good one. haha. It kind of felt like the trip was off to a very.frazzled.start. But it quickly got better when we arrived at the most charming little medieval village.
Bettona, Italy
We stayed in the charming village of Bettona and absolutely fell in love with the people and their kindness and the beauty of this village.
We did not know that the evening we arrived they had a festival to celebrate their patron saint.
If you caught my instagram stories – you might have heard their church bells ringing and seen the special fireworks.
Candles lit the village pathways, there was a procession on the cobblestone streets and they had a fireworks show at midnight. We watched from afar as we didn’t want to intrude upon their special event but it was such a lovely way to start the trip with a bit of that Italian magic- especially after such a crazy travel day.
The next day, we moved up to a vacation rental that was perched high on a hillside overlooking the valley. It was breathtaking and we enjoyed sipping coffee and wine and relaxing on the patio each day. It was also our home base for our explorations. We visited Assisi, Spello, Spoleto, Trevi and some off the beaten path villages that we found while driving around in the Umbria region. I will do posts about each village – there was so much beauty.
What we loved about Umbria
One of the things we loved about Umbria was how peaceful it was compared to other places we have been in Italy. There were mostly local tourists rather than crowds of tourists packed in like sardines. One of the reasons we wanted to stay in the Umbria region was just that- a slower pace and less touristy was key to what we were looking for. The villages were not overwhelmed with people and busy and it was such a lovely change of pace from what we have experienced before. It almost felt like we had the whole village to ourselves at times.
The scenic beauty is absolutely incredible. Italy actually reminds me very much of California landscape and this region did that as well. The lush rolling valleys were surrounded by beautiful mountains and dotted with vineyards. And of course, the little villages on the sides of the mountains were enchanting as well.
It is a definite recommend if you are looking for a quieter pace and a similar ambiance and look as Tuscany. Though you can’t go wrong there either.
The first village we explored in Umbria was Spoleto- I will share a closer look at that in my next travel post.
You are tweaking my “Wanderlust…and, we just returned from Ireland!!!” franki
Thank you for sharing these great pics.I am hoping togo backto Italy and wouldlove to explore this region.
Does look tranquail and so nice. Wish I could go somewhere peacefulL. LOL I’m going to check out your Instagram. Have Fun!
I have just returned from umbria traveling solo. Perugia is the perfect medieval town with one piazza opening into another. perched high on a hill the views are spectacular. assisi is then the perfect 11th century town. buidlings of stone and cobbled narrow lanes and in spring, mauve perfumed wisteria draped across the walls. the devotion to st francis is everywhere.i found traveling around umbria by train easy with no hitches. you see all the scenery and mix with local people. even though my Italian is basic i pretend i belong there and most locals speak some english or try to meet you half way with my italian and english words and theirs. yes the lifestyle is peaceful because italians prefer living and enjoying life acquiring wealth and goods.
I love Umbria! I spent a BEAUTIFUL week at Casa san Gabriel .. it was a perfect spot to explore Umbria and THE SOUTH of tuscany. The English hosts were amazing! They had RECOMMENDATIONS for SHOPPING, wine tours and of course food! But my FAVORITE was truffle hunting.
It was a perfect spot.. so BEAUTIFUL and PEACEFUL
I stumbled across your blog this morning, just before my wife and I drove from Florence to Assisi, where we are spending two nights of our 4 week road trip around Italy and Switzerland. The views from our hotel in the upper portion of Assisi are stunning, as beautiful as anything we have ever seen. I look forward to more of your posts.