Bradt's Umbria & the Marche is the most detailed guide to combine these two small central Italian regions, which offer all the beauty, history and culture of neighbouring Tuscany only without the crowds, the traffic or eye-popping prices. Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls (authors of the original Cadogan guide to the area) lived in Umbria in the 1980s and have been returning regularly and writing about it ever since. They are the perfect guides to the region's landscapes, hill towns, food and wine, and art and architecture.
The superb art cities of Umbria and the Marche steal the limelight - Perugia, Orvieto, Urbino, Assisi, Spoleto, Loreto, Todi, where art fills every church and palazzo. But never far from these centres wait unspoiled countryside of rolling olive groves, forests and meadows, long walks and towns and tiny villages, nearly all with a masterpiece or two to show off and a great little family-run restaurant. The Bradt guide covers them all, along with the republic of San Marino.
The Apennines rule here. The Marche's geography is dominated by a series of east-west river valleys - the Metauro, Esino, Tronto, etc - twisting down to the Adriatic and often ending in long sandy beaches, from the historic towns of Senigallia and Fano through Ancona's Cornero Riviera to the Riviera delle Palme at San Benedetto del Tronto. Landlocked Umbria, where rivers flow into the mighty Tiber, has exceptional water features as well: Italy's fourth largest lake, Trasimeno; the Tiber Valley; Clitunno springs (once sacred to the Romans); and Italy's most beautiful waterfall, the Cascata delle Marmore.
Featuring superb photography and expert recommendations to suit all budgets, Umbria & the Marche - the fifth in Bradt's increasingly highly regarded series of Italian regional titles - is a timely guide to a more authentic corner of Italy.
Italy: Umbria & The Marche
Description
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Introduction
PART ONE GENERAL INFORMATION
Chapter 1 Background Information
Geography, Climate, Natural history and conservation, History, Government and politics, Economy,
People, Language, Religion, Education, Art and architecture, Music, Literature, Cinema
Chapter 2 Practical Information
When to visit, Highlights, Suggested itineraries, Tourist information, Tour operators, Red tape,
Embassies, Getting there and away, Health and safety, Women travellers, LGBTQ+ travellers,
Travelling with children, What to take, Money and budgeting, Getting around, Accommodation,
Eating and drinking, Festivals and annual events, Opening times, Shopping, Sport and activities,
Arts and entertainment, Media and communications, Cultural etiquette, Travelling positively
PART TWO THE GUIDE
Chapter 3 Perugia
History, Getting there and away, Getting around, Tourist information, Where to stay, Where
to eat and drink, Entertainment and nightlife, Shopping, Other practicalities, What to see and
do, Around Perugia
Chapter 4 Lake Trasimeno and Surrounds
Getting there and around, Tourist information, Where to stay and eat, What to see and do, Citta
della Pieve
Chapter 5 Northern Umbria
Citta di Castello, The Upper Tiber Valley, Umbertide and around, Gubbio, Parco Regionale del Monte Cucco, Gualdo Tadino
Chapter 6 Assisi and the Valle Umbra
Assisi and around, Spello, West of Spello: Cannara and Urvinum Hortense, Foligno, Nocera Umbra, Up the Menotre Valley, Bevagna and around, Montefalco and around, Trevi and Clitunno, Spoleto
Chapter 7 Down the Tiber Valley
Todi and around, Orvieto and around, Amelia and around
Chapter 8 Up the Valnerina: Narni to Norcia
Narni and around, Terni and around, Upper Valnerina, Norcia
Chapter 9 Ancona and Its Province
Ancona, Riviera del Conero, South of Ancona: 'Hills of Infinity', Jesi, Around Jesi, Parco Naturale Regionale della Gola della Rossa e di Frasassi, Sassoferrato, North of Sassoferrato, Fabriano and around
Chapter 10 Northern Marche and San Marino
Pesaro, Urbino, Montefeltro, South of Urbino, Fano and around, Up the Via Flaminia and the Candigliano, Senigallia and inland, San Marino
Chapter 11 Macerata Province and the Sibylline Mountains National Park
Macerata, Recanati, Macerata's coast, South of Macerata, North and west of Macerata, Tolentino, West of Tolentino, The Sibylline Mountains
Chapter 12 Fermo and Its Province
Fermo, Fermo's coast, South and west of Fermo
Chapter 13 Ascoli Piceno and the Southern Marche
Ascoli Piceno, Riviera delle Palme and the Tronto Valley, North of Ascoli Piceno, West towards
Umbria
Appendix 1 Language
Appendix 2 Glossary
Appendix 3 Further Information
Index
Author Description
Back in the 1980s, Dana Facaros spent three of the best years of her life with her family in a tiny hamlet (pop. 52) in Umbria's Valnerina, without a car or telephone, but where she and her husband Michael Pauls were instant celebrities by the mere fact of having two cute little kids, who went to the local school and immediately learned all the parolaccia (swear words) in Umbrian dialect. Along with acquiring in-depth experience of Italy's public transport system, developing an expensive taste for truffles, having long Sunday picnics in the Piano Grande and learning how to tell one 14th-century painter of Madonnas from another, Dana and Michael have been writing about the region and the next-door region of Le Marche ever since, and go back to visit as often as possible.