DAY 1:  ROME – MONTEFALCO

Arrive at Rome Fiumicino airport and transfer by private minivan to Umbria. Check-in at your boutique hotel/resort in the area of Montefalco, the best of the fascinating villages in the Valle of Spoleto. Get ready for a unique Welcome Dinner, with local dishes prepared with km0 products. Overnight.

DAY 2: ASSISI – SPOLETO

Breakfast at the resort. This morning you will travel through a dream landscape to Assisi, St. Francis was born here in 1182 and spent most of his adult life preaching around this area of Umbria. Meet your local guide at the arrival and have a half day tour, including the Roman remains under the still-standing temple of Minerva, and the Basilica of San Francesco with Giotto’s frescoes which decorate the lower church. Also worth a visit is the Basilica of Santa Chiara, dedicated to Saint Clare of Assisi, a follower of Saint Francis of Assisi and founder of the Order of Poor Ladies, known today as the Order of Saint Clare; the remains of Saint Clare are kept in the Basilica

After lunch (independent) board your minivan and proceed to Spoleto, a town rich in Roman and medieval history; explore the ancient center including the Roman house the Duomo to see Filippo Lippi’s final fresco cycle. You will have some free time, too, wandering the streets, shops, and cafes in this evocative town.

Return to your boutique hotel/resort in Montefalco and enjoy a relaxed dinner in Umbria’s countryside. Overnight.

TOUR ITINERARY DURING HARVEST: ASSISI – GUBBIO

Assisi (same itinerary as before).

In the afternoon, move to Gubbio, a town with a decidedly medieval aspect, which is austere in appearance due to the dark grey stone, narrow streets, and Gothic architecture. Many houses in central Gubbio date to the XIV and XV centuries and were originally the dwellings of wealthy merchants. The hills above the town were already occupied in the Bronze Age and it was an important center of the ancient Umbrian people in pre-Roman times, made famous for the discovery there of the Eugubine Tables, a set of bronze tablets that constitute the largest surviving text in the Etruscan language and transcribed into ancient Umbrian.

DAY 3: PERUGIA – BEVAGNA

After breakfast at the resort depart to Perugia, where you will meet your local guide for a half day guided tour of the Umbria’s largest town, a rich microcosm of medieval and modern. Its highlights include the magnificent frescoes in the Collegio del Cambio and the town’s famous chocolates.  Once an important Etruscan settlement, Perugia has piled up layers of history ever since, turning Renaissance palaces into shops and inserting modern escalators into medieval remains. You will walk through the medieval ghost town under Rocca Paolina. The virtual underground city was a stroke of genius by the architect who was ordered to destroy the area. The tour also includes a visit to an Etruscan well and the extraordinary Etruscan gate from the II century B.C.

Before lunch you cannot miss the visit of Perugia’s chocolate factory and the Chocolate Museum to learn about chocolate production. The museum explains the process of converting cocoa into chocolate and introduces the history of the Perugina chocolate company. Independent lunch.

On the way back to Montefalco, make a stop in Bevagna, one of Umbria’s most evocative towns. In springtime you can view a circuit of medieval artisans in their workshops including Francesco, the artisan paper maker surrounded by shredded fabrics, an enormous water operated pulping mill, and boiling animal hides. 

Part of the guided tour is the visit to a revocation of a Medieval house complete with frescoes, bedlinens, bath, and weaving loom. Also visit the town’s Roman mosaics and the beautifully evocative piazza encircled by Bevagna’s other essential sights; the two Romanesque churches that face each other across Piazza Silvestri, the intact medieval main square. San Michele and San Silvestro (its utter lack of adornment and steeply raised presbytery radiate a stern Romanesque purity). Return to your resort in Montefalco area, dinner and overnight.

TOUR ITINERARY DURING HARVEST: PICKING GRAPES WITH THE FARMERS & SPOLETO

Breakfast at the resort. Today you will have a unique experience by spending the morning with the farmers in the vineyard. This is the time of the year for the grape harvest: you will see and experience all the traditional activities of the countryside. At the end of this hard work, enjoy a delicious picnic lunch in the vineyard, sipping of course a local red wine!

Return to the resort and have some free time to relax before an excursion to Spoleto (same itinerary as before).

There are plenty of restaurants and bars here where you can decide to have dinner (independent).

Return to Montefalco, overnight.

DAY 4: TODI – DERUTA – COOKING CLASS IN MONTEFALCO

Breakfast at the resort. This morning depart for an excursion to Todi, one of the most strikingly situated of Umbria’s famous hill-towns. An ancient Etruscan, and then Roman settlement, it still preserves an uncorrupted medieval air, with several churches, three austere public places and many sleepy corners.

On the way back to Montefalco, you will stop in Deruta, famous in the world for its ceramics. Here you will be able to admire and, if you wish so, to buy, the typical Renaissance inspired ceramics.

Once you reached Montefalco again, get ready for a cooking class with Mrs. Alessandra: in the kitchen, she will teach you the ancient Umbria art of cooking. At the end, of course, you will taste what you have prepared, together with a few glasses of wine! Return to the resort, overnight.

DAY 5: ORVIETO – CITTA’ DELLA PIEVE – TODI AREA

After breakfast at the resort, board your minivan and visit more of Umbria, Italy’s green heart. You will first stop in Orvieto: perched on a 300 m. plateau, Orvieto looks down over a vineyard-spotted plain. Visitors flood into the town to admire the Duomo, among the greatest of Italy’s Romanesque-Gothic cathedrals. In the afternoon, on the way to Todi area, where you will spend the rest of the nights of your tour, make a stop in Città della Pieve, an Etruscan-Roman center, which has a rather troubled past, having been contended between medieval lords and the Church state. Worth seeing here is the Duomo, dedicated to Saints Gervasio and Protasio and which still today holds the masterpieces of the great artist Pietro Vannucci, known as “Il Perugino” (The Adoration of the Magi of the Oratory of Santa Maria dei Bianchi, The Baptism of Christ Cathedral, The Descent from the Cross of the Museum of the Diocese of Santa Maria dei Servi), one of the most important painters of the Italian Renaissance master Raphael. Also, visit the Torre del Pubblico and the church of Sant’Agostino. Nowadays Città della Pieve is made even more attractive by the Palio dei Terzieri, an historical re-enactment of an ancient contest between the town’s neighborhoods, which features a parade with over 700 costumed characters.

Proceed then to your elegant boutique hotel/relais in the countryside out of Todi. Dinner and overnight.

DAY 6: MAGIONE – PACIANO – OLIVE OIL TASTING

Breakfast at the relais. Further exploring Umbria area, getting closer to Trasimeno Lake, you will come across Magione, a castle first mentioned at the time of the Knights of Malta. This town was born as hospital of the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, currently Knights of Malta, and dedicated to St. John Baptist, the original core of the castle was built at mid XII century not far from the important road axe among Perugia, the Trasimeno Lake and Tuscany. 

Currently this property represents the operational center of a wide farm whose products are characterized by a high quality. The different kinds of wine seem almost to enhance their flavor within the ancient castle walls, and they are generally appreciated by those who drink it.

Next stop on the route will be Paciano, a charming village founded around the XIV century, on a spur of Mount Petrarvella, and is definitely worth a visit thanks to its four churches, dedicated respectively to Saint Giuseppe, Saint Borromeo, Saint Maria and to the Madonna della Stella.  The village is enclosed Within its XIV century walls, about 600 meters long, which includes eight towers and three gates, Porta Fiorentina, Porta Perugina and Porta Rastrella. A walk through the narrow streets of the city center will let you feel immersed in an atmosphere from the past.

Finally, before heading back to your relais, you will stop at a local farm for an olive oil tasting; the perfect climatic conditions and the fertile soil at the foot of the Apennines are ideal for a slow ripening of the olives and, hence, their low acidity. These olives are the source of the extraordinarily rich quality of extra virgin olive oil produced in the hills of Trasimeno Lake. Board then your minivan and return to Todi area; dinner tonight will be at the relais, with tasty dishes prepared with local home-grown crops and wine from the territory. Overnight.

DAY 7: CASTIGLIONE DEL LAGO – TUORO SUL TRASIMENO – ISOLA MAGGIORE

After breakfast at the relais you will have a full day excursion to the Trasimeno Lake area. You will first visit Castiglione del Lago, a town owing its foundation to our Etruscan ancestors, as testified by the burial remains uncovered in the area. Very well preserved within Castiglione are the town hall, the ducal palace of the Della Corgna family, and the castle which, enshrined as it is by an impressive wall, constitutes one of the main examples of military art in the region.

Free time for lunch and in the afternoon, you will continue on to Tuoro sul Trasimeno, where the epic battle between the armies of Rome and of Carthage, headed by Hannibal, took place. Do not miss, in the same area, Isola Maggiore, which rises near the north bank of the lake and is haven of typical Mediterranean vegetation, as well as artistic monuments. Final stop will be Passigano sul Trasimeno, one of the most popular and historically interesting villages among those overlooking the lake, is still today encircled by the middle age walls which testify the development the center underwent during the Roman Empire, evolving from a small agricultural village to a castle, which, after the Lordship of Uguccione II in the 917, was constantly aimed at by Arezzo, Perugia and Florence.

Your day will end with an aperitif beside the Lake at the sunset, and you will then have an unforgettable farewell dinner in one of the beautiful restaurants in the lake area. Return to your countryside mansion for overnight.

DAY 8: ARRIVEDERCI ITALIA

After breakfast at the Relais, transfer to Rome Fiumicino airport to take your flight back home. End of our services.

ACCOMMODATION

MONTEFALCO AREA:  Villa Pambuffetti (www.villapambuffetti.it)

TODI AREA: Tenuta di Canonica (www.tenutadicanonica.com)

The rates include:

• 2 nights in HB (dinners, drinks NOT included) at a boutique hotel/relais in Montelfaco area occupying standard rooms NOTA:  the tour itinerary during harvest will include 1 dinner in a typical “osteria” in Spoleto, instead of 1 dinner at the boutique hotel/relais in Montefalco
• 2 nights in BB at a boutique hotel/relais in Montelfaco area occupying standard rooms
• 1 night in HB (dinners, drinks NOT included) at a boutique hotel/relais in Todi area occupying standard rooms
• 2 nights in BB at a boutique hotel/relais in Todi area occupying standard rooms
• 1 chocolate experience and visit to a Chocolate producer in Perugia
• 1 cooking class at a farmhouse in Montefalco area followed by dinner
• 1 olive oil tasting at a local producer
• 1 dinner in a typical restaurant in Todi/Orvieto area
• 1 farewell dinner at local restaurant in Trasimeno lake area
• Private English-speaking driver and car (1-2 pax), minivan (3-6 pax), minibus (7-12 pax) or coach (13-24 pax) at disposal as per the noted itinerary
• Driver’s meals and accommodation if necessary
• Compulsory parking
• Professional English-speaking tour manager at disposal as per the noted itinerary
• Tour manager’s meals and accommodation if necessary
• Compulsory English-speaking local guides for the following walking tours:
• Assisi (max 03 hours)
• Perugia (max 03 hours)
• Orvieto (max 03 hours)
• Italian Value Added Tax (VAT)

The rates do NOT include:

• City taxes (to be paid on the spot)
• Entrance fees if not mentioned in the noted itinerary
• Local guides if not mentioned in the noted itinerary

• Tips and personal extras
• Anything which is not clearly specified in “The rates include”

Contact Us at 800-621-2259 or info@tourcrafters.com to book today!

*Package descriptions and pricing are subject to change without notice.