Umbria Family Tour Itinerary

Day One: Among the Olives
Welcome to Umbria. After our meeting at the Foligno train station, we’ll transfer you to our villa in the hamlet of San Luca where we’ll get you excited for a week of fun & educational activities. After your bike fitting, safety talk and map review, we’ll head out to the hilltown of Trevi, once a Roman municipium, traveling through olive groves and past vineyards. At the base of the town we’ll visit a family owned cheese producer and learn all about the local varieties, not to mention visit with the happy cows that produce the high quality milk.  We’ll sample some freshly made gelato there, as well!  Then we’ll slowly make our way back into the Spoleto Valley and visit with a producer of olive oil to hear about all the different uses of this “golden nectar”: cooking, medicine, skin care, religion, lubricants, soaps, and even lighting!   After some down time enjoying the pool on the beautiful grounds of the luxurious Villa Zuccari, owned for generations by the same noble family, we’ll have our first dining experience in the hotel’s own restaurant.

Meals: Dinner
Destinations visited: San Luca, Trevi
Distance cycled: 21 km/ 13 miles
 

Day Two: The Sagrantino Way
We’ll leave our villa in San Luca and cycle through the vineyards to the town of Montefalco. Once there, we’ll be hosted by our friends, Daniela and Olivio, who will initiate us into the complexities and nuances of artisan olive oils from all over the world. After exploring the town, we’ll continue riding and visit the Antonelli winery. Here we’ll be taught some different cooking techniques by Wendy while we prepare lunch at this beautiful property.   Then we’ll enjoy lunch in DuVine style with Umbrian favorites like bruschetta, cured meats and homemade pasta. Our remaining ride will blow you away, with its stunning panoramas of the Spoleto Valley on seldom-used tranquil country roads. Our final destination, the medieval fortified town of Bevagna, will transport you to another time. From a gourmet dinner in the remains of its Roman amphitheater to an evening passeggiata along its cobbled lanes, you will be enchanted. Our ancient villa, with the original noble family still in residence, and featuring frescoed ceilings, period furnishings and a cloistered garden is a museum in itself, providing a luxury rarely experienced. In the evening, we’ll enjoy a tour of the kitchen and the historic remains of the hallways of the town’s amphitheater, host to some famous Roman actors of the time.  You’ll enjoy the view overlooking the kitchen as the talented cooks are hard at work preparing your scrumptious dinner.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
Destinations visited: Montefalco, Gualdo Cataneo, Bevagna
Distance cycled: 29km / 18 miles

Day Three: The Trail of Saint Francis
Assisi, home of Saint Francis, and the incomparable upper and lower basilicas, basks in masterpieces of the early Italian Renaissance. Once an ancient Roman municipium, the hill town displays architecture ranging from Roman temples to some of the finest churches of Christendom. First, though, we’ll visit the namesake of Los Angeles, Santa Maria Degli Angeli, a magnificent basilica that houses the tiny church known as the Porziuncula, an evocative site where Saint Francis and his followers established his order. Your guide will take you high above the town to a hermitage where St Francis slept  to take a hike through oak and pine forests overlooking the Spoleto valley.  Afterwards you’ll really discover the historic city in a rather unusual way – by  a scavenger hunt! We will visit the upper and lower basilicas of Assisi, where frescoes by Cimabue, Giotto and Simone Martini combine to create one of the world’s finest ensembles of human creative genius and the profoundly moving crypt where Saint Francis’ remains lie. Afterwards, your guides will shuttle you back to the hotel play some games in the hotel lounge before heading out to dine on your own. Your guides will gladly suggest dinner options from formal to informal.

Meals: Breakfast
Destinations visited: Canarra, Santa Maria Degli Angeli, Assisi
Distance cycled: 20 km / 12.5 miles

Day Four: The Road To Rubesco 
Today, mettiamo le mani nel’ impasto, we’ll get our hands in the dough, as the Italians say. We’ll depart Bevagna for our next destination, Torgiano, where we’ll spend our final two nights in the former home of a noble count, and now a luxury hotel and spa, part of the Lungarotti winery’s estate. Upon arriving in Torgiano we’ll work with the chefs at Le Tre Vaselle who will lead us in a cooking class, followed by a lunch where we’ll sample the fruits of our labor. In the afternoon we’ll drive you to an ancient pottery workshop in the village of Deruta. Take a tour where the Grazia family has been creating ceramics for the past five hundred years.  A couple tries at the pottery wheel and you’ll be producing masterpieces of your own!  We’ll dine casually tonight with homemade pizzas and other treats. 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner 
Destinations visited: Torgiano, Deruta
Distance cycled: 22 km/ 13 miles optional 12K ride 
 
Day Five: The Olive Road to Orvieto
Today your guides will shuttle you to the impressive town of Orvieto, an alluring destination. Its world famous Duomo, which melds the architectural epochs of Romanesque and polychrome Italian Gothic, is unlike any other. The town’s medieval quarter, with its markets, ceramics shops and cafes, beckon to be explored. We’ll hike around the base of the town and slowly make our way up to the center passing by ancient roman ruins.  Under Orvieto are complex systems of underground tunnels, wells, buildings, caves, and catacombs containing everything from pot shards to human remains. Up in town, if you’re brave enough, we’ll visit the catacombs of the city and try to imagine what went on there so long ago.  The cave networks alone are an astounding testament to the craftsmanship and ingenuity of the Etruscans. The intricate system carved out for wine cellars, pigeon keeps, grinding areas, and milling areas comprises over 2,000 caves beneath Orvieto. Of those, 640 have been catalogued and mapped and we’ll try not to get lost…  We’ll transfer back to Torgiano for a final dinner with our new found friends.

Meals: Breakfast & Dinner
Destinations visited: Marsciano, San Venanzo, Orvieto
Distance hiked: 3 km/ 1,5 miles

Day Six: Foligno
After a sumptuous breakfast, say goodbye to Umbria in the manner you see fit, perhaps with a morning bike ride, before we transfer you to the train station in Foligno as you head for your next destination.

Meals: Breakfast
 

Total distance cycled: 92 km/ 57,5 miles - Distance hiked: 5kms/3,3 miles
Accomplished: Total Satisfaction!

Please note: We strive to make every tour a unique and personalized adventure. For this reason, your itinerary is subject to slight modifications.