This review has been revised based on my recent, fifth trip to Umbria, in February, 2005.

If you're considering a trip to Italy you could do much worse than to devote a significant portion of your trip to "Italy's Green Heart," the region of Umbria. Aside from Umbria I have spent time in Rome, Tuscany, Veneto, the Val d'Aosta and Emilia-Romagna and I have to say that Umbria blows the rest away. One of the very few landlocked regions of Italy, Umbria is quite central, with a varied geography of mountains, rivers and plains. Umbria's soil is well suited to olive, wheat and grape cultivation and these staples play a huge role in the cuisine of the region, as does the mysterious black truffle.

I found the physical beauty of the Umbrian landscape to be quite similar to the famed lands of Tuscany and easily as breathtaking. What set Umbria apart for me was the fact that it is much less known, and therefore much less visited than its near neighbor to the north and west, Tuscany. It is filled with picturesque little hill towns dating from the middle ages or even earlier. Most of these towns have spilled over their impressive fortification walls, but not all of them. Umbria is also blessed with excellent land for agriculture; from many of these fortress-towns you may look down upon small but orderly olive groves, wheat fields or grape vines.

In wintertime the air of Umbria is heavy with the scent of wood smoke, which for me has created a wonderful olfactory memory of my trips. The weather in this season can be rainy or occasionally snowy, but there are many days of clear or overcast but dry weather perfect for long walks. If you are in any of the smaller towns around 5-7pm on a weeknight you will probably experience the hububbling bustle of the evening promenade. It seems like the whole town is out and about, running errands between the end of work and dinnertime. It's a great opportunity to people watch and join the crowds for a little pre-prandial exercise. With the amount of food you're probably eating, take any opportunity to burn a few calories.

In the course of two trips to Umbria, I've had the chance to explore several towns. Below you will find my impressions and suggestions for each of them.


Deruta

Deruta is famous for its ceramic studios and to be honest there's not much point in visiting this town unless you're intent on buying or at least ogling these beautiful treasures. The old town is now given over almost entirely to showrooms for the dozens of potters who produce Deruta pottery. All of the studios have the legally protected right to label their works "Deruta" but there is enormous variation in both the style and the quality of the pottery produced here. Different studios take very different approaches to their work. Some crank out huge quantities of cheap items such as decorated flowerpots. Others produce only a few score pieces per year with perhaps half of those sold directly to museums or private collectors. It's quite easy to become overwhelmed by the choices. I would suggest one of two things if you want to purchase pottery here. Either pick up a guidebook and visit the two or three places recommended therein, or spend an hour strolling through the old town. If you choose the latter option, simply look in the windows without going in. When you've picked out two or three shops whose work appeals to you, go in and ask where their main studio is located in the lower town and shop there.

My two "favorite" studios fall into the high-medium to extravagant ranges in terms of both quality and price. The Grazia family produces very fine ceramics that represent a good balance between high quality and reasonable prices. It must be kept in mind that "reasonable" is a relative term here. Considering the amount of skilled manual labor involved and the extreme beauty of their pieces, this family firm is an "affordable" choice for family heirlooms-to-be that will actually be usable in the meantime. The studio can be found at Via Tiberina 181 in the old town.

They also have a large main shop in the new lower town, where the proprietor, Ubaldo Grazia, will be quick to tell you that he sells directly to Saks 5th Avenue, that he knows Alice Waters and supplies all of the dinner plates for her restaurant, Chez Panisse. If that fails to impress you, he'll tell you about the gift he presented to Dubya last year. And yes, if you visit twice, like I did, you get to hear the exact same schtick all over again. All in all, the guy's a pompous jackass but he has a good supply of Deruta pottery. No matter how obnoxious you find him, you should in no way interpret my complaints and your own irritation as license to indulge your urge to pee in one of his urns.

The other ceramicist I think worth visiting is Antonio Margaritelli. His shop is in the lower town. Margaritelli is a true maestro of ceramics. He scavenges around construction sites in Deruta, looking for shards of the old ceramics that date from as early as 11th century. He mixes his own glazes from minerals he grinds up himself in the studio and he works with just one assistant. His total output ranges from 200-300 pieces each year and each one is unique and a masterpiece. His plates and shallow bowls are to be admired from a respectful distance, not to be actually used as eating or serving pieces. My husband fell in love with one of them on our first visit in 2000. It hangs in our living room. Prices are quite high, but not shockingly exorbitant considering the skill and the time involved in production. Even if you don't want to spend this kind of money, the shop deserves a visit if you love ceramics. You can find it on Via Tiberina.


Perugia

Perugia is the capital of Umbria and one of the few towns I visited that I didn't much care for. I found it large, loud, fast and dirty. Not at all the qualities I had come to savor in Italy. It wasn't easy to walk around in and I spent only about half a day there on each trip. Since it's a university town there are plenty of young people around and tiny, expensive internet cafés. Parking is especially problematic in the old town. I recommend that day visitors park in the lower town, near the train station and take one of the buses that go up the old town. Tickets are bought from kiosks near the major stops (the train station and the Piazza d'Italia - the end of the line near the center of the old town) and not on the buses themselves. Remember to validate your ticket when you get on the bus, otherwise you're liable for a fare-evader fine.

We had a good lunch with friendly service at Cesarino in the old central piazza. Afterwards we picked up some fine salumi di cinghiale, packed in a jar in olive oil, at the highly recommended Salumeria Fratelli Temperini at Corso Cavour 30. These we were allowed to bring back to the States since they were sealed and preserved.


Trevi

Trevi is another one of those incredibly picturesque hill towns that charm the eye as one travels north to Perugia. The town is molded to its hill as if it grew there organically. Though Trevi's center is less spectacular and less dramatic than many of the other hill towns, its side streets are well worth a casual stroll. In October each year the town puts on a festival to commemorate its restoration after being destroyed by a neighboring rival. Three teams, one for each section of the city, participate in a race to pull and push wooden carts up the steep cobblestone streets of the city. Before the race itself starts, the residents don medieval costumes to walk in procession towards the central square. It's a great opportunity for photographs, and the children are particularly photogenic in their colorful garb. The festival is free and worth a couple hours of your time, though you will probably have to park well outside the city and walk in for quite a ways.


Clitunno

Not far from Trevi, just along the highway is a little scenic spot with a Roman temple and a small water park. The Fonti di Clitunno is the site of springs that feed into the Clitumno river, venerated in ancient times as a god. The Romans, always egalitarian in religious matters, erected a small temple here to the god Clitumnus. The temple still survives to this day, and is worth a short stop if you're interested in ancient history. Of course the pagan temple was converted to a church in Christian times, but it's remarkably well preserved just the same. Admission to the temple is just €2. There's a separate admission for the Fountains, which is a little ways further down the road. In the summer months this area is incredibly green and beautiful. Apparently, it's a favorite spot for newly married couples to have their pictures taken.

Another little gem in this immediate area is Campello sul Clitunno, a tiny, ancient and dying hill town. There's no reason to go up to Campello except to see the view of the valley or watch the sunset from up there. There are no shops or restaurants, just a few stubbornly well-tended residences. Those who really like to get off the beaten path will enjoy it.


Assisi

Another notable town in Umbria is Assisi, of Saint Francis fame. This is the only town that regularly draws large numbers of tourists in all seasons. Therefore I avoided it like the plague. Actually, we did make a quick drive through town and found it lovely, but we didn't want to stop because it looked crowded. The town is a marvel of preservation because of an ordinance that forbids the alteration of the exteriors of all buildings in the old town. Apparently this ordinance has been in place for many, many years so the visitor can see essentially the same town that Saint Francis saw when he lived here.

Is the review too long already? Should I have broken it up and posted it under individual towns? Ah, well. No matter.


Montefalco

Of all the old hill towns I've visited, tiny Montefalco must surely be the most authentically preserved, the loveliest and the quietest. In all honesty there's not much reason to come to Montefalco except to enjoy the town's serene beauty and its views. Nicknamed "La Ringhiera dell'Umbria," or "the banister of Umbria," the views from the old town walls of olive groves and gently rolling hills are truly unsurpassed. There is very little commercial development in the town and not much in the way of expansion beyond the old walls. Making the cicuit of the city walls on foot provides gentle exercise and great photo opportunities in almost any weather.

There are a few small artisanal linen shops in town. Umbrian linens enjoy a modest fame for their high quality and lovely designs. You can find table linens, bath linens, curtains, pillows and pot pouries at slightly pricy rates. We indulged in some fine napkins on each trip.

Montefalco is also an important center for production of the excellent Sagrantino red wine. If you drive about outside of this town you may see signs for "cantinas" - the Italian equivalent of vineyards that provide wine tasting facilities. One of the best producers of Sagrantino di Montefalco is Arnaldo Caprai. Caprai helped vintners in this region obtain the Indicazione Geografica Protetta, which secures the right to label their wines "Sagrantino di Montefalco" to these vintners alone. Do try these wines while you're in this area; they are among the few worthwhile Umbrian wines.

I highly recommend Ristorante Coccorone in Montefalco. You can find it just off the central piazza by following the yellow signs. Excellent grilled meats garnished liberally with black truffles in season, superb pasta (some of the very best I had anywhere in Umbria) as well as seasonal vegetables. Soups are decent and the wine list is modest but well chosen and affordable. For even better wine and a more casual approach to meals, I also highly recommend l'Alchemista on the central piazza. The soups and sandwiches are excellent and you can sample and buy an enormous variety of wines here, as well as local meats. Service is friendly and the few tables placed outside on the piazza are much coveted during the warm months of the year.

On our second trip we stayed just outside Montefalco, at the truly charming Villa Mustafá bed & breakfast, where we enjoyed real Italian hospitality at a very low price. I highly recommend it!


Foligno

If there were no other reason to mention the town of Foligno other than my favorite enoteca in all the world, that would be enough. But Foligno has a certain ineffable charm that always captures my heart. Foligno is unusual in that it is one of the few ancient towns built on the plain instead of perched atop a hill. Having suffered serious damage in the earthquake of 1997, the town is still pursuing its vow to restore every building to "where it was, as it was."

Foligno offers the usual minor attractions of a few old churches, a few small museums of local interest and a noble looking town hall that has been periodically reinvented over the centuries. Opportunities for drinking in the local color - often literally - are what sets Foligno apart for me.

Getting back to that favorite enoteca of mine...So great a treasure is this place that I refused to include it in my original review of this region. But my charitable side is winning out at the moment, so I'll tell you that it's called Il Bacco Felice (The Happy Bacchus). Salvatore Denaro, the proprietor, despises both cigarettes and cell phones. In the two-year interval between our visits, Salvatore seems to have finally found the means of enforcing the Vietato Fumare (No Smoking) sign that has long greeted his customers at the front door. The enoteca is a tiny local favorite - so much so that no sign advertises its presence on the street. Within you will find walls concealed by rows of wine bottles as well as olive oil. This is an excellent place to buy either of these commodities. The food from the kitchen is nothing short of divine. There is no fixed menu; diners are merely asked whether they want the antipasto course, then the primi and the secondi if they have the room, until finally it is time for the dolce and caffe. Typically, you may chose between a couple soups as primi and three or four meats or pasta as secondi. We absolutely adore the cook and her food and would eat almost anything she turned out. On our recent five days in Umbria, we ate dinner there twice. It's plain where Salvatore's priorities lie: the stemware here is gorgeous and varied for many different kinds of wine, while the table linens and flatware are serviceable but ordinary.

During our honeymoon two years ago, we stayed at Villa Roncalli, just on the outskirts of Foligno. A family enterprise run by the Scolastra family, the Villa offers moderately priced, simple rooms and sumptuous fare in its very elegant and intimate dining room. Their wines are well selected and the sommelier is helpful, enthusiastic and not merely eager to sell the most expensive bottles. The handwritten nightly menu was usually indecipherable for me, so we fell into the habit of ordering the €44 Menu Degustazione (tasting menu) every time we ate there. We were never disappointed. Six tiny courses issued from the kitchen for us at the sedate pace of one every 45 minutes or so. Yes, that meant we were eating for about 3 and a half hours, which is what made it so nice to be sleeping there too. All we had to do was stagger upstairs and fall into bed, replete.

There's also a producer of olive oil with a manufactory just outside of Foligno to the east. The Metelli oil company produces a fine, extra-fruttato oil. Salvatore at Il Bacco Felice will scoff a bit and call Metelli a "businessman," a sort of insult implying greater devotion to his bottomline than to the local traditions and veneration of the olive. Dark hints about mixing oils were made. But I have to admit that I do enjoy their decently priced oils. Their November bottling was especially good last year.

Bicycle and car rentals are available from the train station. If you're looking for a simple and cheap place to stay in Foligno, you should consider Albergo Le Mura. This modest hotel offers immaculate rooms at reasonable prices.


Spoleto

Spoleto plays host to a huge music and dance festival each summer. This well-preserved hill town seems to have centered its entire existence on that seasonal influx of teeming hordes. An abundance of twee boutiques designed to vacuum the tourists' wallets lend an overly commercial feeling to what would otherwise be a thoroughly charming place. As it was, we found it a great place to get in a little after-lunch exercise that we so desperately needed.

We parked at the parking lot at the bottom of the new town and started walking. Uphill. The cobblestone roads are steep - quite steep. And they seem to go up and up forever, always surprising us with yet another uphill route as we followed the twisting lanes. Quite often the roads gave way to steps and became pedestrian zones entirely. There is an intact Roman amphitheater near the summit. We got to see it on a rare day when it was covered with several inches of snow. The architecture in Spoleto is quite striking and romantic in the sense of evoking a bygone era. I imagine it could be a photographer's dream in fair spring weather.

If you're interested in the summer festival, it's called the Festival dei Due Mondi and it takes place from mid-June to mid-July. Jazz, opera and classical music share billing with all kinds of dance and theater. The fame of the festival means you must book well in advance if you plan to stay in Spoleto at this time.

One quick walk through Spoleto was enough for me. I don't feel the urge to ever return.


Norcia

Another town geared towards milking the tourist trade, Norcia has little to offer other than its mountainous setting and its superlative pork products. Tucked in the far southeast corner of Umbria, Norcia has broad associations with the dying art of pork throughout Italy due to its famous "Norcini" butchers. Salumi vendors in all regions of Italy proudly boast their Norcia credentials with the word "Norcineria" above their awnings.

Serious foodies and porkophiles should absolutely make the trip up into the mountains to reach Norcia. Most others could just as easily skip it. And even those who come for the salumi and other foodstuffs should beware. Norcia is crammed with shops selling Umbrian lentils, black truffles in oil, dried porcini mushrooms, a huge variety of pork products and other local specialties. Many of these stores overprice their goods and many sell meats that are below local standards. With all the tourist euros washing around, they can easily get away with it. If you want to buy here, follow a trusted guidebook such as Eating In Italy or find out where the locals shop.

Norcineria Fratelli Ansuini at Via Ancinia 105 provided us with their house made products: an 18" cinghiale (wild boar) salame, Coglioni di Mulo ("mule's balls") and two U-shaped salumi di prosciutto. I highly recommend this butcher. On the other hand, I bought organic Umbrian lentils (€5 for a 500 gram bag) from Ulivucci Ercole at Via Mazzini 4 and later found they were wildly overpriced. You can find Umbrian lentils plenty of places. Look for them elsewhere.

Although we didn't have time to visit it, and with 8" of snow on the ground the weather didn't favor a visit, Norcia lies within the enormous Monti Sibillini National Park. The Park stretches into the neighboring region of Le Marche to the east and actually comprises a significant percentage of the total area of that region. In good weather the opportunities for burning off the Italian calories with scenic hikes must be myriad.


A few other thoughts

Italy in general is not one of the cheapest destinations for a vacation. Unfortunately in Umbria there are fewer options for those on a tight budget than say, in Rome. Lodging will probably be expensive, with double occupancy rooms starting from €65 per night. One can certainly economize by eating fewer meals, because any single meal in Italy will probably be equivalent to your total daily caloric intake at home. Or you could buy some of the incredible cold cuts and produce and eat a lot of picnic lunches. Many hotels or villas include breakfast with the price of a room. The web of course, will be very useful in shopping around for the best deals.

If you need to travel within Italy I would recommend that you travel by train whenever possible. The train system is fast, extensive, inexpensive and comfortable. Rented cars are great for traveling around in and exploring a given region, but the price of gasoline makes the train a much better bargain for long distances. When I was there I traveled by train from region to region and rented a new car in each place.

Smoking seems to have become significantly less popular, or at least less offensive than it was on my first visit to Umbria in 2000. In any case I observed far less smoking going on than in Spain, Germany, Belgium or even France. Perhaps it's a declining practice. One can always hope anyway.

All in all, Umbria is a superb choice for a vacation or honeymoon at any time of year. I would go back there, even move there, on a moment's notice. It is without question one of my very favorite destinations.



For further information on travel within Italy, these reviews may be of use:
• Umbrian cuisine - read more about the incomparable cuisine of this region
• Florence - One of Italy's Gem's
• Venice - the Good, the Bad & the Gorgeous
• Venicescapes - an excellent small-group day-tour operator
• Bassano del Grappa - a charming but often overlooked river town at the foot of the Dolomiti
• Eating In Italy - the most reliable English-language guide I know of for dining in northern Italy

Flying into Rome? Try these cheap hotels for a decent room near the train station:
• 69 Manin Street
• Le Real de Luxe



Recommended: Yes

Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime