SIGHTSEEINGUmbria is the undiscovered heart of Italy. It is rich in art and history as well as landscape. There is a great variety of sculpture, painting, architecture, and religious heritage to explore.
In each villa, we provide a comprehensive welcome pack with directions and suggestions for days out in Umbria.
Gubbio: One of the most beautiful, well preserved medieval towns in Italy (25mins)
Perugia: The regional capital, home to Umbrian art (35mins)
Assisi: The most visited place in Italy, birthplace of St Francis. (35mins)
Spello: A charming medieval walled village with great views of the valley.
(40 mins)
Spoleto: A beautiful traditional old Umbrian town rich in history and architecture (50mins)
Orvieto: A magnificently positioned town built on a precipitous 315m high tufa crag (60mins)
Montone: A charming well-kept hill town with fine panoramic views. (45 mins)
Within travelling distance of your rental villa in Umbria:
Florence: The birthplace of the Renaissance (2.5 hours)
Siena: Home to the famous Palio (1.5 hours)
Rome and Vatican City: By train, (2 hours), by car (3 hours)
CLICK HERE FOR MORE TOURIST INFORMATIONFESTIVALSUmbrian towns are famous all over Italy for their many summer festivals (festas) and autumn harvest festivals (sagras). Perugia hosts the world famous Perugia Jazz Festival (beginning of July), the International Music festival in September and the Chocolate Festival at the end of October.
Most villages and towns host their own food related festa in the summer and autumn. A few of the better known celebrations worth visiting are:
The Festa del Bosco, Montone (end of October-2nd November), the annual Chamber Music Festival, Citta Di Castello (end of August, beginning of September) also in Citta, the Truffle Festival (the first weekend in November), the Slow Food festival in Orvieto (October), The Teatro Nuovo theatre festival in Spoleto (end of June-beginning of July), and the medieval festival at Narni (the second Sunday in May).
CLICK HERE FOR MORE TOURIST INFORMATIONTHE GOURMET'S UMBRIAUmbria is a gourmet’s paradise. The eastern part of the region has the peaks of the Apennine mountains and the forests and dales below are rich with truffles, one of the signature flavours of the Umbrian kitchen. Norcia, the region’s food capital excels in superb ingredients and talented cooks that have few rivals anywhere. Highlights of the regional cuisine are rich grassy olive oils, fragrant white and black truffles, delicious cheese, ham, salami, pasta, meat, game and of course wine.
At Pian Di Cascina, we have a local Umbrian cook who can be available to prepare and serve you traditional Umbrian meals.
We also offer a short menu of freshly prepared local food for you to enjoy in your proeprty. Our range includes handmade lasagne dishes, fresh salad and delicious homemade desserts.
LA TAVERNETTA
La Tavernetta, our small family run restaurant is available exclusively to guests of the villa. At La Tavernetta, you can enjoy home-cooked traditional Italian meals made with delicious organic ingredients grown on our farm. We produce our own olive oil, organic fruit and vegetables. (La Tavernetta is normally open on Sunday and Friday evenings in high season (advanced booking required) and on other occasions by arrangement.)
Please ask us for a copy of our menu.
ITALIAN COOKING LESSONS AT PIAN DI CASCINA
By popular request we now offer tutored cooking lessons to guests of the villa. Menus can be tailored to suit your tastes and interests or provided for you. Lesson are in English – so language isn’t a problem!
All menus use seasonal ingredients (from our garden when available), our own hand-picked olive oil and fresh herbs from the organic herb gardens that surround the villa.
Cooking lessons are fun, sociable and very hands- on – there is a short demonstration of dish – then it’ s up to you to create- with the guidance of our tutor if needed!
Most menus, are based on traditional Italian/Umbrian cuisine, feature regional recipes, pasta making courses and offer you the chance to try your hand at making real Italian food like’ Nonna ‘used to make. Please see 'Cooking Lessons' on the facilities page for further information.
MEDIEVAL SPORTSAncient sports are a chance for the local neighbourhoods to compete and demonstrate the traditional skills of the region. The crossbow matches in Gubbio, held on the last Sunday in May (the Palio della Balestra) and the 14th of August (The Torneo dei Quartieri) in full medieval dress with processions and feasts are spectacular, as is the annual horse race in Siena.
RELIGIOUS CELEBRATIONSGubbio is famous all over the world for its candle carrying ceremony, the Festa dei Ceri. Held once a year on May 15th, the vigil of the feast day of St Ubaldo the town’s patron saint and bishop.
The whole town participates in the day long ceremony. The highlight is the race to get the three ceri, or giant candle sticks, up the steep cobbled streets of Gubbio into the church at the top. The race is followed by a candle lit procession with the statues of the three saints to the church of the Muratori.
On Good Friday there is a traditional procession, and at Christmas there are local food fairs and special masses when the hillside is illuminated in the form of a giant Christmas tree.
Many of the other towns and villages stage celebrations and processions in medieval dress to celebrate various victories or religious events of the past. Noteworthy are the Easter processions in Assisi for St Francis, and the Calendimaggio, held the first Thursday, Friday and Saturday after the 1st of May in Assisi to celebrate the arrival of Spring and the festival of the Corpus Domini held in early June in Orvieto.
SHOPPINGMade in Italy’, has long been a byword for style and quality, especially in fashion and leather goods, but also in ceramics, lace and linens, antiques, hundreds of liqueurs, wine, aperitifs and gastronomic specialities.
Perugia is famous for its chocolate, Perugina, which can be found all over the world. Shopping in Italy is a delight, as Italians don’t like department stores, so each shop is a specialist boutique. The service and quality are unique and world-renowned.
RESTAURANTSThere are many restaurants in the area surrounding Pian Di Cascina and plenty of opportunities to sample the local cooking and produce.
There are three traditional Umbrian restaurants within 5-15 minutes drive of the house. The local restaurants serve typical Umbrian food such as: 'affettati' -plates of superb ham, salami and cheese, simple rustic pasta dishes with 'sugo' or truffles and roast meats and game.
The medieval town of Gubbio (25 mins drive away) has some of the best restaurants in Umbria and a lively night life. There is plenty of choice for all budgets and tastes. The speciality is rich truffle dishes made with local black and white truffles. Gubbio also has several bars and pubs, which are great fun and rather lively during the long summer evenings.
The nearby picturesque hill town of Spello has one of the top 18 cantina's (wine tasting cellars) in Italy. You can sample the best of Umbria's wine and produce in a lovely medieval courtyard setting. The tutored tastings are in Italian or English and each food course is matched with a local wine.
There are many other great restaurants in the local area. When you arrive, we provide a welcome pack with details and directions to the many of the restaurants we recommend. We also suggest places of interest to visit along the way. You could spend weeks enjoying sampling all the local food and wine!
PUBS AND BARSThe local towns of Carbonesca and Casa Castalda both have several bars, where you can drink into the small hours with the locals.
You can walk to the bars in Carbonesca (15 mins walk). They are both typical Umbrian bars, with beer on tap and lively banter.
The local village of Casa Castalda (5 mins drive or 45 mins walk) has three bars in the centre of the town and a pizza-pub on the outskirts of town. The largest of the local bars (in the centre of town) is the hub of local activity, serves a variety of beers and aperitifs and is busy day and night.
Gubbio, 25 minutes drive away, has lively night life. There are 5 pubs with English and Italian beers on tap and many bars. In the summer Gubbio is alive into the small hours. The balmy nights encourage late opening and much fun is to be had by all!
CYCLINGThere are a variety of options for cyclists.
For experienced riders, there are various off road mountain bike routes available locally and maintained tracks in the nearby national parks.
We have mountain bikes for hire. There are various shorter routes mapped around the local area. These are suitable for the leisure cyclist and who can meander around the local countryside and villages.
For the serious cyclist we can cater for specialist cyclist training groups (except during peak season). These training weeks are available to groups of cyclists wishing to improve their stamina and ability.
There are many challenging routes in the local area. We can help plan your training with you to include a variety of different rides to suit you. We are located in the Apennine mountains, the location for stages of the Giro in past years and various Grand Fondos. Please contact us for further information.
WALKINGA network of ancient walking routes fan out in all directions in the valley of Valfabbrica. The farmstead is even rumoured to have one of the original pilgrim trails running across its land. There are over 100 miles of track and path through forests, mountains and open countryside in the surrounding areas and National Park land. Our guest book offers comprehensive walking itineraries with suggested routes, maps and directions.
There are shorter ring walks around the local forests and farmland. The local town, (1.5km away) Casacastalda is in a pretty wooded valley and has medieval walls and a triptych by Matteo Da Gualdo in its church.
There are many more adventurous day walks in the surrounding area, which take in both the lush scenery and the local history. One such walk is the Gubbio ring walk. This walk has a dramatic start, a trip up the Funivia, (cable car) with stunning views of the town, then a days walk through the high pastures, woods and old farmsteads in the Apennine. The walk ends back in the medieval walled city of Gubbio, an ideal place to relax and enjoy a traditional Umbrian meal.
Another walk not to be missed is the Assisi-Monte Subasio walk. This starts at the top of the town and takes you through the old city gates on to a cypress-lined stone track that leads to a steep climb above the town. The walk around the sacred mountain of St Francis (Part of the Monte Subasio National Park) takes in the pretty grassy downland and panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. You can also view the summit of Monte Subasio and visit the hermitage where St Francis used to go on retreat to commune with nature. The walk returns you to Assisi, a perfect opportunity for some sight-seeing and food, or a luscious Italian ice cream.
There are many other good walks, some of which visit Norcia, Spoleto, Castelluccio, Orvieto, Montone and Sibillini.
There are two National Parks, Monte Sibillini, Monte Subasio and one regional park that have a wide variety of walking routes and all are within 30 minute driving distances of the house.
Maps and walking routes are available to all guests. If you would like further information about the many other walks around the area, please contact us.
OTHER OUTDOOR ACTIVITIESGliding and hang gliding are popular in Umbria, where the hills provide the proper updraughts. The centre for hang gliding is at Sigillo, near Gualdo Tadino (20k from the house).
There are several caves in Umbria worth visiting, especially if you enjoy potholing, the most important of which is near Monte Cucco, at Gualdo Tadino.
BIRTHDAY & ANIVERSARY CELEBRATIONSPian Di Cascina is the perfect location in which to celebrate with your friends and family. We now offer great value long weekend packages for up to 30 people.
Why not celebrate in sunny Italy – you can relax by the pool, have a BBQ, visit Assisi or Gubbio, shop in the designer boutiques, take part in a tutored wine tasting, or enjoy a gourmet meal.
We offer delicious 4 or 5 course gourmet celebration meals complete with a handmade celebration cake from €40 a head. Organic ingredients are often sourced from our farm and all our menus are home cooked to modern Italian recipes. We also offer carefully sourced Umbrian wines that complement each course.
Perugia airport is only 30 minutes drive and there are several low cost flights a week from London. Ancona airport has daily flights with the low cost airlines from London and is less than 1 hour from the villa.
We offer first class accommodation that is conveniently located, luxury comforts, delicious food and the perfect place to celebrate!
THE POOLWe have a fantastic 16 metre by 8 metre pool with stunning views of the surrounding countryside. The pool is set into the hillside, surrounded by countryside, in a sheltered south facing location. The pool has Roman steps and is 1.4 m depth throughout- perfect for swimming! There are 3 large terraces with ample space and shade and sun loungers for all our guests.
AROUND THE VILLAWe have a large outdoor swimming pool with terraces and pool furniture.
You can enjoy strolling around or relaxing in the olive groves, garden, and grasslands surrounding the house, or just sit, relax and admire the stunning views.
The surrounding countryside and grounds of the house are ideal terrain for bird watching.
The mystical Umbrian light, (sea-like) morning mists, rolling hills and mountainous terrain are the perfect setting for water colourists and painters.
You can find the following activities locally: Tennis (1.5km), golf, horse riding, help with tickets to music festivals.
Register with us and receive a free 'Discover Umbria' information pack
luxury villa rental near Assisi, Gubbio, Perugia
we are happy to help - call us to discuss your stay +39 3383068307 e-mail: info@avillainumbria.com.
