Umbria, Perugia & Assisi - The Heart of Italy

Tour Itinerary

• Day 1 • Arrival in Italy

  Fly to Rome or Perugia, and transfer to your hotel in Perugia.

• Day 2 • Perugia & free afternoon

  After breakfast, enjoy a guided tour of Perugia, exploring the pedestrian-friendly Corso Pietro Vannucci, Piazza IV Novembre, the San Lorenzo Cathedral, Palazzo dei Priori, and the ornate Fontana Maggiore. Discover the atmospheric underground streets of the Rocca Paolina fortress before enjoying a free afternoon to explore Perugia’s medieval lanes, cafés, shops, and local cuisine at your own pace.

• Day 3 • Assisi

  Visit the UNESCO-listed hill town of Assisi, best known for the magnificent Basilica of St. Francis. On a guided tour, learn about the life of St. Francis of Assisi and admire the basilica’s stunning frescoes, including works attributed to Giotto, before visiting the saint’s crypt. Enjoy free time to explore Assisi’s charming medieval streets, churches, cafés, and local shops, with the opportunity to sample traditional Umbrian cuisine such as strangozzi pasta with black truffles.

• Day 4 • Lake Trasimeno & Cortona

  Travel to Lake Trasimeno, Umbria’s largest lake, and take a ferry from Passignano to Isola Maggiore, enjoying views of the lakeside scenery and Guglielmi Castle. Continue to Castiglione del Lago to admire the Castello del Leone, then visit the Tuscan hill town of Cortona, where you can explore its medieval streets and enjoy panoramic views from Piazza del Duomo.

• Day 5 • Spoleto & wine tasting

  Enjoy a guided tour of Spoleto, exploring its medieval streets, Roman ruins, the impressive Rocca Albornoziana fortress, and the beautiful Romanesque Cathedral in Piazza del Duomo. In the afternoon, visit a local winery for a tasting of Sagrantino di Montefalco wine, made from Umbria’s indigenous grapes, along with the region’s renowned olive oil.

• Day 6 • Frasassi Caves

  We drive east this morning to the Marche region that lies between Umbria and the Adriatic. Here we delve deep underground to explore the Frasassi Caves, considered to be among the most impressive in Europe. Our tour of these stunning karst caves, which can easily trick the eye with their glistening snow-white walls and icicle-like stalactites and stalagmites, takes us into the Great Cave of the Wind – large enough to house the Milan cathedral. As we learn more about their 1971 discovery by local speleologists and their formation over a million years ago, it's impossible to remain unmoved by our magical and beautiful surroundings. This afternoon we return to Perugia to allow you more time to explore this town at your leisure.

• Day 7 • Orvieto & Agriturismo lunch

  This morning we end our journey of Etruscan discovery at another of this mysterious civilisation's 12 key cities, Orvieto, whose ancient ruins lie in eerie underground caves. A glimpse of this sparse subterranean city can be had from the family owned Well of the Cave, a secret passageway leading to nine caves underneath a traditional pottery shop! With the city built from the precipitous chunk of volcanic rock on which it sits, Orvieto looks almost at one with the red-hued rock – although the cathedral is a stand-out feature. After a ride up the tree-lined funicular tracks to the old town, we marvel at the intricate façade of this incredible Gothic building, featuring gilded frescoes that give it the appearance of being illuminated from within. After our discovery of Orvieto we stop at a rural restaurant, known locally as an agriturismo, to sample a menu of traditional fare grown in this fertile land at the heart of Italy.

• Day 8 • Return home

  Transfer to the airport for your return flight.