• Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Italian Notes
  • HOME
  • PEOPLE & PLACES
    • Abruzzo
    • Basilicata
    • Calabria
    • Campania
    • Emilia-Romagna
    • Friuli-Venezia Giulia
    • Lazio
    • Liguria
    • Lombardia-Lombardy
    • Marche
    • Molise
    • Piemonte-Piedmont
    • Puglia – Apulia
    • Sicilia
    • Toscana-Tuscany
    • Trentino-Alto Adige – Trentino-South Tyrol
    • Umbria
    • Veneto
  • FOOD
    • Antipasti
    • Primi piatti
    • Secondi piatti
    • Dolci
  • PR/ADVERTISING
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

Undiscovered Umbria

Tugged in between Rome and Florence rural Umbria tends to be overlooked. A great pity considering the beauty of the scenery; the many places of great cultural and historical interest; and the quiet, friendly atmosphere.



Booking.com


To top the attractions prices of rented villas in Umbria are considerably lower than in the neighbouring regions making it a perfect and affordable base for exploring the still beating green heart of Italy.

Undiscovered Umbria

Gola dell’Infernaccio by Adriano Gasparri on Creative Commons

Hills and Hell’s gorge

Umbria has the fourth lowest population of all Italian regions, and the population density is half the national average which leaves plenty of space to roam the countryside and the extensive woodlands.

Hikers love the Sibillini mountains, following old pilgrim trails over hills and through meadows that are covered by a fragrant and colourful carpet of flowers every spring. If you are lucky you may spot rare species of orchids and lilacs, hunt truffles and mushrooms, or explore the crumbling castles, watchtowers and hermitages that crop up in the horizon.

One of the most popular hikes goes to Gola dell’Infernaccio or Hell’s Gorge along the river Tenna where mountains rise steeply on either side of a narrow gorge ending at a waterfall and the eremo di S. Leonardo. A small church built by a monk in the early 1970s, who lived there in perfect solitude.

Undiscovered Umbria

Cascata delle Marmore by Tanzen80 on Creative Commons

A not quite natural beauty

Another great sight if not quite natural is the Cascata delle Marmore 7 kilometres from Terni. The spectacularly beautiful waterfalls were created by the Romans to redirect the Velino River and eliminate an unhealthy swamp of stagnant water. The diversion was created by creating a 165 fall over the Marmore cliff and into the Nera river below. Today the waterfall is used to drive a power plant, and therefore it can only be seen when it is ‘switched on’ during opening hours around noon and in the evening.

Undiscovered Umbria

Lake Trasimeno by spettacolopuro on Creative Commons

Quiet waters

Apart from the rivers landlocked Umbria offers several nice lakes and Lake Trasimeno is big enough for swimming. The quiet waters feel cool and clean and the beaches I’ve visited were ideal for small children with their sandy shores and slow descent. There’s even 50 km biking and hiking path around the shores.

Undiscovered Umbria

Orvieto, Gubbio, Perugia

Like stepping into a fairytale

In addition a visit to some of the 21 Umbrian cities or the small medieval towns dotted on the top of the hills sides is like stepping into a fairytale.

I have gawped at the bling-bling cathedral and the underground maze of Orvieto. Felt the urge to climb the city wall of Gubbio that looks so impenetrable from a distance with its back to the hill side. And enjoyed the international atmosphere of the virtually car free and busker friendly Perugia, where there are some great masterpieces to explore btw.

Everywhere you look there’s a story to be told. You just have to figure out where to begin.

More on undiscovered Umbria and other nearby places

Pilgrim trails: A brick for Assisi

Signals from heaven

Photo Essay: Capture the colour

A university town named Camerino

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
Maps were disabled by the visitor on this site. Click to open the map in a new window.
13 replies
  1. Sophie
    Sophie says:
    April 4, 2012 at 11:39 pm

    I was in Umbria last summer, but obviously missed a lot. But I did drive around most of Lago Trasimeno. So many pretty spots along that lake.

    Reply
  2. Turkey's For Life
    Turkey's For Life says:
    April 5, 2012 at 6:20 am

    Looks so beautiful there. Perfect for spending a few days trekking around those hills! I want to be there, now. :)
    Julia

    Reply
  3. Jack Norell
    Jack Norell says:
    April 7, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    This is gorgeous. I’m feeling like a quick trip to Umbria now.

    Reply
  4. Abby
    Abby says:
    April 7, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    Oh, I wish I were going! I had such a fun time at TBU. Love these photos!!

    Reply
  5. Laura
    Laura says:
    April 7, 2012 at 9:11 pm

    The car free Perugia sounds like a dream. It just made to my “must visit” list.

    Reply
  6. Laurel
    Laurel says:
    April 10, 2012 at 12:24 pm

    I’m really looking forward to visiting Umbria next week and hope I’ll have the chance to visit the Sibillini mountains and Hells Gorge. I didn’t realize the population density was so low either, which is a good thing in my books.

    Reply
  7. Natasha von Geldern
    Natasha von Geldern says:
    April 11, 2012 at 1:38 pm

    Ah great, some new things to see and do in Umbria when I’m next there to celebrate my wedding anniversary in Orvieto!

    Reply
  8. Wanderplex
    Wanderplex says:
    April 17, 2012 at 11:42 pm

    Oh goodness, those pictures are gorgeous! This is one of those parts of Italy I haven’t made it too, but now I’m craving to go back!

    Reply
  9. Mary @ Green Global Travel
    Mary @ Green Global Travel says:
    May 16, 2012 at 6:26 pm

    Will definitely have to check out Umbria now, especially after the way you presented it!

    Reply
  10. admin
    admin says:
    May 19, 2012 at 11:24 am

    You won’t be disappointed. Umbria is so nice, tasty – and green.

    Reply
  11. Chaisng the Donkey
    Chaisng the Donkey says:
    July 22, 2012 at 2:25 pm

    Ohh we were there in 2010 – gorgeous.
    Is this photo of the church you’re displaying have a black and white side?

    Reply
  12. admin
    admin says:
    July 23, 2012 at 8:25 am

    I don’t remember anything about a black and white side to the church in Ovieto. But I may have been too dazzled by the gold to notice.

    Reply

Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. #Vakantietip #Italië discover undiscovered... says:
    May 26, 2014 at 8:38 am

    […] Tugged in between Rome and Florence rural Umbria tends to be overlooked. A great pity considering the beauty of landscape.  […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Followon TwitterSubscribeto RSS Feed
Discover Rome - Italian Notes

Discover Rome

Discover Florence - Italian Notes

Discover Florence

Discover Venice - Italian Notes

Discover Venice

Discover Puglia - Italian Notes

Discover Puglia

Discover Sicily - Italian Notes

Discover Sicily

Discover Piedmont - Italian Notes

Discover Piedmont

Slow roasted lambSlow roasted lamb - Italian NotesFennel grapefruit saladFennel grapefruit salad
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Accept settingsHide notification onlySettings

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Accept settingsHide notification only