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Travel
Information
Season: April to November.
Please
note: that dates between late June and late August can be very hot
for walking.
Arrival: The tour starts in Assisi. From Rome (Fiumicino) airport
shuttle train (half-hourly service)
to Roma Termini station, then by train to Foligno and local
train to Assisi. Buy
one-way through tickets to Assisi at the airport train station.
Combined train fare including inter-city supplement is around 21
Euros (£15). Journey time, from Rome to Assisi around 3
hours. Or from Florence by train to Assisi, changing trains en
route at Terontola. Bus or taxi from Assisi station to Assisi (8
km). The bus service is half-hourly and takes 20 minutes. Or from
Siena by bus direct via Perugia: 2 hours.
Journey from the airport to the first hotel is not included
in the tour price.
End of Tour: The
tour ends after breakfast either at Todi on Day 6 or at Orvieto on
Day 9. From Todi taxi or bus to train station, then train to Roma
Termini, changing trains en route at Terni (journey time approx. 2
hours); or, from Todi by train to Florence, change trains twice en
route at Perugia and at Terontola (journey time approx. 4 hours).
From Orvieto taxi or public bus to station then direct
train to Roma Termini (1 hour 20 mins) or to Florence (1 hour
40mins). From Roma Termini shuttle trains every half hour to Rome
Fiumicino airport. If traveling to Rome, book through tickets to
Rome airport from Todi or Orvieto. None of these transfers is
included in the tour price.
Level of Difficulty
Grade: Moderate. The
walking is not technically difficult, but there are many hills (up
and down) and some rough surfaces. It is especially demanding in
hot weather. Some days are long and there will be some full
walking days, although there are on occasion options for
shortening days by taking public transport, or with the judicious
use of taxis.
There
is unavoidably some road walking on the tour, especially Day 3 and
you should bring comfortable trainers/walking shoes as well as
your normal hiking footware.
Fitness: High standard of fitness is not necessary but clients
should be able to walk at a steady pace for up to 7 hours a day in
hot sun on dusty, hilly terrain.
Waymarking and Maps: There are only a few waymarked trails and in
general it is necessary to follow our specially researched route
descriptions provided together with the maps, which are at
1:50,000 (tourist) and 1:25,000 (military) scales. The military
maps are uncoloured and some of the detail is very out of date.
The tourist maps are more up-to-date but only provide
partial coverage. The
walking route is highlighted on the maps and the accommodations
are marked.
General Information
Baths:
it is not normal for your room to have a bath, the main reason
being that it takes up a lot of space, some hotels/guesthouses may
have a separate room in the house where a bath is available to
guests, but in the main it is showers.
Breakfasts:
in countries such as Italy usually consist of coffee and
croissant; sometimes, bread rolls, yoghurts, ham and cheese as
well. If you want more for breakfast then we would suggest you
purchase some food the night before. It is important for you to
tell us if you have any dietary requirements when you book your
holiday so that we can inform everyone that you are staying with.
Single Supplements:
are payable on most of our tours. 1) The single
supplement guarantees the privacy of your own room, however, rooms
can at times be small and in some places may not enjoy the same
facilities as double/twin rooms. 2) You are not just paying
a supplement on the room but the luggage transfer costs you are
paying in full. The cost of moving 1 bag or 2 bags etc
remains the same. On some
of our trips it is possible to reduce the cost of the single
supplement if you happen to be a 3rd person travelling,
or have chosen a date when other clients are booked.
Language: Note
that you will not necessarily come across people speaking English.
Remember you have left home to find things different bring a
phrase book, try to learn a bit of Italian!
Luggage:
When staying in hotels, sometimes your luggage may have been
taken to you room awaiting your arrival. However don’t be
surprised if your luggage is waiting for you to take it up to your
room please politely ask someone if you need assistance.
Accommodation & Meals
Accommodation
and meal arrangements are on a half-board basis (evening meal, bed
and breakfast) for 4 nights on the 9 day; and for 2 nights on the
6 day tour; bed and breakfast only in the larger towns (Assisi,
Todi and Orvieto) where there is a good choice of restaurants for
an evening meal. Picnic lunches are not included in the tour
price, but materials may be purchased in the towns and villages
where you stay, or a picnic lunch pack can normally be obtained from your hotel. According to Italian Law, all
restaurants, including those in hotels, must close on one night
each week, so it may happen that customers are given a voucher to
eat dinner at another nearby restaurant. Please note that
on occasion when we cannot get you into our
normal accommodations
as listed below, we will offer you
hotels/agriturismos
of a similar standard to our original choice.
q
Night 1:
Assisi. A small family-run 3* hotel in a quiet back street just off
the town's main square, Piazza del Comune.
There is a
wonderful view over the town and the Umbrian plain from its pretty
terrace garden.
q
Nights 2
& 3: Spello. A 3* hotel in the historic old town near the
Augustus Gate. It is an elegantly restored building from the 18th
Century. The hotel's terrace has a fine panorama over the Umbrian
plain.
q
Night 4: Montefalco.
Here there are two possibilities.
Our first choice is normally an agriturismo (country guest
house). It is only a short walk (800m) from this small historic
town. Most of our customers stay here and it has been well praised
by previous clients. As an alternative (supplement payable) there
is a 3* hotel in the historic centre of the town. The hotel shares
its structure with the medieval church of the village. All the
rooms are modernised and well-appointed.
q
Night 5:
Todi. When available (it is normally) our first choice in Todi is
a small but particularly well-appointed
residence d'epoca (period town house) in the historic centre.
Otherwise we use a 3* hotel with a swimming pool 15 minutes
walk from the Porta Romana
(Roman Gate).
q
Night 6: Asproli.
Our first choice is very comfortable accommodation with full en
suite rooms and its own attached restaurant in a restored country
house dating from the 16th century. An idyllic situation in the
hills west of Todi; the attached farm includes olive groves and
cereal fields. Produce includes oil, wine, truffles, honey and
preserves. When
fully booked our second choice is another well-appointed farm
guesthouse in the same rural area, also close to the village of
Asproli.
Note: it is not always possible to secure
accommodation in Asproli due to the very limited accommodation
here. If this is the case then you will walk as normal to Asproli
and we will organize for a taxi to collect you at a certain point
and time, you will then return to Todi for the night. The
following morning the taxi will collect you and drop you in
Asproli so that you can continue your walk as normal to Montecchio.
Sherpa will cover the additional taxi transfers. More details of
this arrangement will also be given in the route notes
q
Night 7: Montecchio.
One of two small agriturismo (farm guest houses, both of them
on working farms) set at around 350m above sea level in quiet
countryside near the village of Montecchio. One of the farms
produces grapes, olives, cereals, sunflowers, truffles and other
fruits and vegetables as well as goats and pigs! 'A quiet and
peaceful oasis surrounded by 36 acres of wood, olive trees,
vineyards, truffle grounds and green pastures.'
The other is slightly larger and has a wide range of
produce, including jams and honey.
q
Night
8: Orvieto.
3* hotel on the main street of the historic town Corso Cavour.
The rooms have private bath, TV, radio, mini-bar and direct dial
phone. Buffet breakfast served in a pleasant breakfast room. |
Outline Itinerary
q
Day 1:
Arrive Assisi. You should take the opportunity to explore the
medieval city of Assisi. You can join the crowds to visit the
upper and lower Basilicas of St Francis, although you can normally
visit the lower shrine of St. Francis early tomorrow from 06:30 if
you want a more quiet time. However there is plenty more to see,
including the Duomo (cathedral) on Piazza Rufino and the Temple of
Minerva on the Piazza del Commune.
There are numerous other churches of which San Pietro
(13thC) and the Basilica of Santa Chiara are perhaps the most
interesting. The interiors of some of these buildings may not be
accessible at certain times.
Overnight Assisi.
q
Day 2:
There is a choice of two walking routes from Assisi (420m)
to Spello (220m): either an easy-to-moderate traverse of the
farmed and forested lower slopes of Monte Subasio, following lanes
and tracks (8 miles/13km/4 hours), or a more strenuous route, much
of it on footpaths (12 miles/19km/6 hours), which crosses the open
summit area ( 1290m) above the trees within the confines of the
National Park. Both routes start very steeply. You should have
some very fine views across the Val di Spoleto to the Martani
Hills which you will cross later in the week.
On arrival in the medieval town of Spello there are more
antiquities including the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which
contains frescoes by Pinturicchio and two Roman gates and a Roman
arch. Overnight Spello.
q
Day 3: As
you have 2 nights in Spello, today we advise that you take the
train to the nearby town of Spoleto and then do a circular walk starting
from the church of S.Pietro, rising up to the monastic church of
S.Giuliano, passing the small hamlet of Monteluco, finishing at
the Roman bridge below the fortress of Spoleto. Before you start
and at the end there is a suggested walk throughout Spoleto
visiting the several sites and the narrow roads. Apart from the
first ascent to S.Giuliano the walk is not that difficult and will
take you about 3 hours. A good combination is to visit the town
and the surrounding forests. Take a torch with you as you need to
go through a dark tunnel.
q
Day 4:
The first part of today's walk is relatively gentle as you cross
the low ground of the Val di Spoleto, which is largely agrarian
fields, orchards and vineyards.
Around lunchtime you reach the medieval village of Bevagna
(225m) on the ancient Via Flaminia, described by The Rough Guide
as 'even more serene and handsome a backwater than Spello, with a
central piazza of austere perfection...two of Umbria's finest
Romanesque churches'. If lunch in Bevagna turns out to be too
filling there is a bus service on to the hill town of Montefalco
(472m) - otherwise it's a gradual uphill walk with a bit of a
sting in its tail. Montefalco,
the 'Balcony of Umbria', is celebrated for its panoramic view over
vineyards and olive groves back over the Val di Spoleto, for its
14th century ramparts and for its famous local dry red Sagrantino wine (but note: Sagrantino
Passito is a sweet
wine!). 12.5
miles/20km/6 hours. Overnight Montefalco.
q
Day 5:
After breakfast you will have a transfer southwards across the
undulating plateau of farmland and wooded hills to the remote hill
village or borgo (fortified
hamlet) of Giano dell' Umbria (546m), surrounded by olive groves
and pastureland. Then walk
across more delightful hilly Umbrian countryside today as you approach
Todi. Today you will come out onto high moor and grassland before
descending through the forests once again, this time to the town
of Massa Martana, from where there is a bus service to Todi. Todi
is, like many other Umbrian towns, built on a hill. There are
Etruscan and Roman walls, medieval streets, Renaissance palaces
and the magnificent Renaissance church of Santa Maria della
Consolazione. There is plenty to see here. Overnight Todi. (7.5
miles/12km/4 hours) walking to Massa Martana.
q
Day 6: Either
(6-day tour) Depart Todi by taxi to train station, then train to
Roma Termini, changing trains en route at Terni. Journey time 2
hours. Book through tickets from Todi to Rome airport. Or (on the
9 day tour) Todi to Asproli. Today's walk is relatively short, so
there is time for some sightseeing in the morning. An easy walk
into the hills west of Todi. Overnight Asproli. Your accommodation
is in a delightful rural setting tonight amongst the Almond and
Strawberry Trees. (8miles/13km/4.5 hours walking).
Note: it is not always possible to secure
accommodation in Asproli due to the very limited accommodation
here. If this is the case then you will walk as normal to Asproli
and we will organize for a taxi to collect you at a certain point
and time, you will then return to Todi for the night. The
following morning the taxi will collect you and drop you in
Asproli so that you can continue your walk as normal to Montecchio.
Sherpa will cover the additional taxi transfers. More details of
this arrangement will also be given in the route notes
q
Day 7:
Asproli to a farm guesthouse near Montecchio.
A day's walk through the hilly countryside between Monte
Croce di Serra and the Corbara reservoir (138m) which now occupies
the valley of the Tiber. Overnight
on a farm near Montecchio (377m). 9.3 miles/15km (to Poggio Volara)
or 12 miles/ 19km (to Podere Casette).
Add 2.5 miles/ 4km if including the diversion to Civitella
del Lago.
q
Day 8:
Today you descend from the hills to approach the River
Tiber at Baschi (165m). We recommend using public transport (bus
and/or (on weekdays) train; not included in tour price) from
Baschi to Orvieto Scalo to shorten the latter part of the day's
walk. The distance walked varies between 12 and 16 km (7.5 miles
– 10miles) according to where you start the day and whether you
make the diversion to Montecchio village. It is also possible (but
considerably further) to walk all the way to Orvieto Scalo. From
Orvieto Scalo there is a funicolare
(cable railway) to take you up to Orvieto itself. Overnight
Orvieto, a real gem of a city with several beautiful piazzas and
churches. On the one hand there is the magnificent Gothic
cathedral with some alabaster lights and the amazing (newly
restored) frescoes by Signorelli. On the other hand try to find
the beautiful small church of St. Lawrence with its Etruscan
(sacrificial slab) alter and the sky light fashioned in the form
of Christ crucified.
q
Day 9:
Depart Orvieto. Taxi to station then train to Roma Termini (1 hour
20 mins) or to Florence (1 hour 40mins). From Roma Termini
shuttles train every half hour to Rome Fiumicino airport.
Book through tickets to Rome airport from Orvieto.
Extra nights
For
those who would like more time to explore any of these fascinating
towns & cities, you could consider an extra night in Assisi,
Todi or in Orvieto.
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