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Spoleto

Treasures of Umbria

Italy’s only landlocked region, Umbria is often known as the ‘green heart of Italy’. A land of saints, artists and delicious food, this small, lovely land is also one of magnificent hills, enchanting woods , rushing rivers, lush green countryside and high mountain plains, famous for its mushrooms, truffles, chestnuts and game. It is also home to some of central Italy’s most extraordinary art towns – Assisi, home of St Francis, Spoleto, Spello and Bevagna. This tour your will guide you through an Italian region which, despite its proximity to Tuscany, is still relatively undiscovered.

We have designed this tour to be the perfect balance between walking, sightseeing and experiencing some of Umbria’s culinary delights – and not only as a passive consumer! You will learn the art of making fresh pasta, and the secrets of making a perfect pasta sauce. Indeed, back home you’ll be able to re-live your time in Umbria by preparing a perfect Italian meal. You will also go hunting for truffles and taste some fine Umbrian wines.

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Chiesa di San Silvestro, Bevagna - Umbria
Chiesa di San Silvestro, Bevagna – Umbria

Scheduled dates for Treasures of Umbria

2025
7th May – 18th May 2025£4250*
Single person supplement: £425
Fully Booked 
2026
6th May – 17th May 2026£4550*
Single person supplement: £575
Places availableBook this!
7th Oct – 18th Oct 2026£4550*
Single person supplement: £575
Places availableBook this!
* price per person, based on 2 people sharing a room. Single supplement is applicable to single occupancy bookings. Prices do not include flights.

Tour Features

  • Fully guided tour of Umbria
  • Small group travel: maximum group size is 12 guests.
  • Guaranteed departure dates
  • UNESCO World heritage sites
  • Accompanied by a Tour manager throughout your journey
  • Tour cost includes entrance fees to main sites/museums
  • Private 17-seater minibus
  • Tour cost includes all hotel city taxes
Tour highlights:
  • Guided visit to the Oratorio San Carlo in San Gemini
  • Visit to Marmore Waterfall the highest in Europe
  • A boat trip on the Umbrian small lake of Piediluco
  • Guided visit of the Cathedral of San Giovenale in Narni
  • Guided visit of the Roman remains in Bevagna
  • We admire the frescoes of the Complesso Museale di San Francesco
  • Guided visit of the Santuario della Madonna delle Grazie
  • Guided visit of the Roman Villa in Spello
  • We admire the frescoes of the Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi
  • Guided visit of the Cathedral of SS Mariano e Giacomo in Gubbio
  • Guided visit of the Palazzo Ducale in Gubbio
  • Guided visit of the National Art Gallery of le Marche
  • Stroll trough the botanical gardens in Urbino
  • We admire the frescoes of the Madonna del Parto in Monterchi
Accommodation:
  • 2 nights in a charming hotel in the little town of San Gemini
  • 2 nights in a large country house hotel with swimming pool in Montefalco
  • 3 nights in a 17th-century stone monastery not far from the centre of Gubbio
  • 2 nights in a cosy hotel in Arezzo
  • 2 nights in a splendid sixteenth century building located in the center of Siena
Included meals:
  • All lunches/breakfast
  • 9 evening meals with drinks (2 evenings not included)
Arrival and Departure:
  • Arrival/Departure airport for this tour: Rome Fiumicino airport
Included transport:
  • Transfers and pick-ups/drop-offs from/to the main airport of arrival on the day of arrival/departure of the tour are included
Activity level:
  • Some walking involved – you should be able to walk 5 kilometres without difficulty.
  enquire about this tour

Full Itinerary

Day 1

Arrival and onward to San Gemini

We rendezvous at Rome Fiumicino airport at 1pm and drive for an hour and a half along the older branch of the Via Flaminia to the charming town San Gemini – a stone’s throw from Terni.

Once checked in to our hotel, there is some time to relax and stroll through the medieval streets of this quintessential Umbrian hill town, stopping perhaps to admire the 12th-century cathedral or the 13th-century Oratorio San Carlo.

In the early evening we meet in the hotel garden for our welcome aperitif before our dinner in one of the town’s fine restaurants.

Day 2

Visit to the Marmore Waterfalls and boat trip on lake Piediluco

Today’s excursion takes us to the Lago di Piediluco and the Cascate delle Marmore. One of Europe’s tallest waterfalls (165m) is actually an artificially one – created by the Romans when, in 271BC, Curius Dentatus dug a channel to drain the marshlands of Rieti and divert the water in the River Nera.

We visit the charming village of Piediluco, from where we take a short boat ride on the lake of the same name.

After lunch, we pay a visit to the archaeological site at Carsulae, founded by the Romans in the 3rd century BC and which was once famous for its waters and wines. 

Evening meal and overnight in San Gemini.

Day 3

Guided tour of Narni & Orvieto

After breakfast we depart San Gemini for the nearby hill town of Narni, one an important stop on the old Via Flaminia. Pliny wrote of its unassailable defences and the Emperor Nerva was born here in AD32. The great Venetian condottiero Gattamelata (1370 – 1443) was also of Narnian birth. And, more recently, CS Lewis borrowed the name for his Chronicles of Narnia after finding the name on Murray’s Small Classical Atlas.

We stroll along the Via Garibaldi, visit the Duomo di San Giovenale and admire the magnificent Palazzo dei Priori.

In the late morning we depart Narni for Orvieto.

Orvieto is a town that owes much of its success to an ancient volcano which created the city’s rupe – the magnificent pedestal of golden tuff forming a 322m sheer-cliffed table-top.

We visit the iconic 13th century cathedral, with its particularly striking facade and its exterior striped in white travertine and greenish-black basalt.

After our visit to Orvieto we continue to Montefalco passing through Todi on our way.

Evening meal and overnight in Montefalco.

San Michele Arcangelo church, Gavelli - Umbria
San Michele Arcangelo church, Gavelli – Umbria
Campello Alto on the route to Trevi, Umbria
Campello Alto on the route to Trevi, Umbria

Day 4

Montefalco & Bevagna

Our excursion this morning takes us to the nearby town of Bevagna, once known to the Romans as Mevania and lying on the western route of the Via Flaminia.

We visit some of the Roman remains in the town including the monochrome mosaics of the Roman baths and there is a chance to watch demonstrations of ancient crafts such as candle-making and paper-making. 

Nowadays, Bevagna is also known as the capital of Italy’s cashmere trade and we visit local artisans to learn about their trade.

In the late morning we make the short drive to Montefalco where we have our lunch.

After lunch we visit the Complesso Museale di San Francesco where we admire the frescoes depicting scenes from the life of St. Francis by the15th-century painter Bernardo Gozzuli.

Evening meal and overnight in Montefalco.

San Rufino cathedral, Assisi
San Rufino cathedral, Assisi

Day 5

Frescoes in Rasiglia, Spello and Assisi

This morning, we depart Montefalco and make the half hour drive to the charming medieval village of Rasiglia which has been described as a “little Venice” with its many canals. We visit the Santuario della Madonna delle Grazie where we admire the well-preserved quattrocento frescoes.

Departing Rasiglia, we head for the very lovely Spello, which, dressed in the same pink-cream Umbrian stone could almost be Assisi’s little sister. Walking up its steep, narrow, cobbled streets with their hidden archways and stairways is a joy and we pay a visit to the recently opened Roman villa with its mosaic-covered floors.

After lunch, we head for Assisi famous as having once been the home of St Francis.

We stroll through the medieval streets, past the church of Saint Rufino to the arrive at the Basilica di San Francesco, one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in Italy. Decorated with frescoes by numerous late-medieval painters, such as Cimabue, Giotto, Simone Martini and Pietro Lorenzetti the basilica holds a unique importance in demonstrating the outstanding development of Italian art.

After we have had time to enjoy the basilica, we we continue our journey to Gubbio to check in to our hotel.

Evening meal and overnight in Gubbio.

Sagrantino grapes
Sagrantino grapes

Day 6

Exploring Gubbio and excursion to Fabriano

We begin the morning by exploring the stony, taciturn and mystical town of Gubbio, once the political and religious centre to the ancient Umbrii. But it is also a town of culture, with its own school of painters and there is much to admire here, starting with the Cathedral di SS Mariano e Giacomo and the Palazzo Ducale.

After lunch, and once we have had our fill of Gubbio, we make an afternoon excursion to the nearby town of Fabriano: one of the first cities in Europe to manufacture paper at the end of the 12th century. The watermark, sizing, and other techniques were all invented here and Fabriano is still famous for its paper production.

The medieval Piazza del Comune is a beautiful stage set and we can enjoy some time to sit in the spare and soak up the atmosphere.

Once we have had time to admire Fabriano, we return to Gubbio.

Free evening (no evening meal included) and overnight in Gubbio.

Village on the route to Spoleto
Village on the route to Spoleto
Casteldilago
Casteldilago, Umbria
Ponte delle Torri, Spoleto - Umbria
Ponte delle Torri bridge on the way to Spoleto, Umbria

Day 7

Full day in Urbino

Today we make an excursion to the nearby city of Urbino – a town which perhaps demonstrates elegance, learning and intelligent patronage of the arts perhaps more than any other Italian hill town.

We pay visits to the Palazzo Ducale and the Galleria Nazionale delle Marche, and for those who wish, the Botanical gardens.

In the mid-afternoon we return to our hotel in Gubbio.

Evening meal and overnight in Gubbio.

Day 8

Guided visit of the “trio of towns”

After breakfast, we depart Gubbio to visit a trio of towns – Monterchi, Anghiari and Sansepolcro – on our way to Arezzo.

In Monterchi, we can admire the the fresco of the Madonna del Parto by Piero della Francesca, painted between 1450 and 1465 in honour of the painter’s mother.

At nearby Anghiari, a battle that took place on 29 June 1440 between the Republic of Florence and the Duchy of Milan inspired a Leonardo da Vinci fresco designed for Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio.

And at Sansepolcro, the Resurrection by Piero della Francesca, on display in the Museo Civico, was once described by Aldous Huxley as “the greatest painting in the world”.

After our visits to these three towns, we continue our journey to Arezzo.

Evening meal and overnight in Arezzo.

Day 9

Arezzo

It was an outsider to the town who gave Arezzo its greatest monument – Piero della Francesca whose frescoes for the church of San Francesco are of a stature comparable to Michelangelo’s in Rome. This morning we venture to the church to admire these frescoes inspired by the them of the Legend of the True Cross. Other  sights that will detain us are the twelfth century church of the Pieve di Santa Maria and the Piazza Grande.

In the afternoon, there is some free to to explore the town at your leisure.

Evening meal and overnight in Arezzo.

Day 10

Siena

We begin the morning at the Campo in Siena: in every sense the heart of the city. Overlooked by the imposing 320-foot bell tower, the Torre del Mangia and with its amphitheatre curve, the Campo appears an almost organic piece of city planning. We spend the first part of the the morning in the Museo Civico before making our way to the Duomo which will detain us for much of the rest of the morning.

In the afternoon we visit some of the more outlying areas of the city – perhaps the Terzo di Camollia, San Domenico and the Monte dei Paschi di Siena.

Free evening (no evening meal included) and overnight in Siena

Day 11

Free day exploring Siena

A free day to explore Siena at your leisure.

Evening meal and overnight in Siena.

Day 12

Departure

08:30am departure for Rome Fiumicino for approximate midday arrival and drop-off at Rome Fiumicino.

  see photo gallery of this tour

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