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Umbria is the green heart of Italy. |
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Umbria is the green heart of Italy. |
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Below are some guidelines that can be useful for your stay in Umbria. We also have a lot of information and pictures about Umbria (culture, art, history ecc.) organised per area.
Ambulance: 118 Take a detailed map and study it well before driving somewhere, as the road signs in Italy are very badly done and finding the right road, only following signs, is often impossible. Italians are, on average, no gentlemen on the road. Don't be surprised if they flash their lights agressively behind you (a sign that they want to surpass), while you are sticking to the speed limit. Try to remain calm and keep driving the speed you think is best. When traffic from the opposite direction is flashing their lights, you will likely run into a police check point, or a road accident, so lower your speed and be extra careful. The highways in Italy have very short entrance and exit lanes. On the main highways (indicated with A) you will have to pay a toll. Entering the toll way, you will take a ticket (important not to loose this). Some booths are automatic and only for subscribers to that system, these will have to be avoided. Choose the ones that indicate a manual transaction. You can pay with credit card almost everywhere.
In the hills and mountains, many drivers hoot in the curves. When you
hear hooting, do hoot back so they know you are also going to be in
the same curve. Most cities and towns have a parking area close to the old town centre. Don't try to avoid paying for parking as you will loose a lot of time and risk fines. Most parking is cheap, reasonably well indicated and close to where you want to go. Everywhere with the possibility to park, you will find indications of the local parking rule.
Do not leave anything in display inside the car (money, sunglasses, bags, leather jackets, etc.).
When parking in a closed and/or covered car park, please read their
closing times carefully, as some do not remain open throughout the
night. You will have to leave before the closing time, as otherwise
they close your car inside for the night. How to behave in a thunderstorm The Umbrian summer can have some heavy thunderstorms occasionally. Please note that it is very common that the electricity stops working during such a storm. After the storm, if it does not come back automatically, look for the 'ENEL' fusebox because often the switch in there trips.
Do not swim during a thunderstorm. The lightning can strike in the
pool and this happens frequently.
In Umbria you will have to collect your own rubbish and bring it to
the big containers you can find in many places around towns or along
roads. It is appreciated if you separate the rubbish (bottles from
the general rubbish), but not necessary yet. Most towns and cities still have the small shops stocked with almost anything one can need, in the centre of towns. Visiting these types of shops provides a nice Italian experience, but you often need time and have limited choice. Supermarkets are for that matter easier, although I am very sorry to say so as I would love these small shops to survive. The biggest supermarket chains in Umbria are: Coop, Conad (Margarita), Sidis, A&O, Despar and PAM. Cheaper supermarkets are Eurospin, Lidl and VIP (where you find all goods still in boxes). Around Perugia there are two shopping malls. One is Collestrada, on crossroads with Assisi (you can easily see it from the E45) with an IperCoop and many other shops. The other one is Gherlinda in Corciano (from Perugia in the directions of Lake Trasimeno) and has a huge Warner Bros cinema (all films are in Italian). Supermarkets here usually have the following systems: Take your shopping cart from outside, inserting a coin (one or two euro usually) Weigh the fruit and vegetables where you take them (read the number from the box the vegetables are in and punch this number after putting the vegetables on the scale, the label with price comes out and you stick this on the plastic bag). Often the counter with fresh products (cheese, bread and meat) have a queuing system with numbers, so check this out and when needed, take a number. Italians hardly drink water from the tap and you have a huge choice of 'acqua minerale'. 'Frizzante' is sparkling. 'Leggermente frizzante' is a bit sparkling and naturale is plain (not sparkling).
Umbrians eat non-salted bread. It takes a lot of getting used to
(after four years here, I still do not really appreciate it). Ask for
'pane salato' to avoid disappointment, or check on pre-packed bread
to make sure that one of the ingredients is 'sale' (salt). Try the
'Pugliese' bread. This is excellent. Going to a restaurant in Italy is nothing special. Most younger Italians eat out at least once a week. Unless you go to a special restaurant (with a few stars or listed in restaurant guides), usually the restaurants are rather informal. Children and babies are welcome and often stay until late Do not go before earliest 19.30 hrs. and better only after 20.00 hrs. When eating pizza, most Italians drink beer. With other meals they usually drink wine. You can get the house wine (often good quality), ask for 'vino della casa' or 'vino della spina' and choose between red and white ('rosso' or 'bianco'). Almost all restaurants also have a wine list. Do note that beer is a lot more expensive than wine, unless you select a special wine. Restaurants charge 'coperto' or 'servizio', a fixed amount for sitting down and getting served. Tipping is therefore not necessary and is only done when you really appreciate the service more than usual. When taking the order, the waiter will always ask what type of water to bring (frizzante (sometimes indicated as 'gassata') or naturale), as they drink wine and water with their meals. The menus have antipasti, primi, secondi, contorni and dolci. Antipasti are hors d'oeuvre. Primi are pasta, rise or gnocchi. Secondi means the main course, but are not served with vegetables, these are listed under 'contorni' and have to be ordered separately. Dolci are the sweet course at the end and of course after that you can order coffee with grappa or any other 'digestivo'. Italians think it is very strange some foreigners drink capuccino after their meal, as capuccino is only for breakfast and during the morning. However, there is no problem ordering capuccino, they will still bring it, if they have the machine to make capuccino. It is not at all strange to order only an antipasto and primo, or only a primo and dolce. Feel free to order what you want to eat, not following the menu.
Few restaurants in Umbria have vegetarian meals. In Italy a new law makes it strictly forbidden to smoke inside bars and restaurants. Please stick to this rule because the owners of public places (and you) will be severely fined if you are found smoking inside. All Italians adhere to this rule and even in winter you see everybody smoking outside all public buildings.
You are really only allowed to smoke outside, anywhere. There are cinema's in most bigger towns in Umbria. However, all films shown are always in Italian. In the centre of Perugia is one cinema (Pavone, a beautiful theatre) where, every Monday evening, films are shown in original language. You can pick up their programme from the Pavone ticket office attached to the theater.
In summer several towns organise films in the open air. These are
again all Italian spoken. Do ask around where you are based where and
when these open air movies are organised.
In Italy most dancing places are open in the weekends and sometimes
also Thurdays. In summer it happens disco's are opened also on other
days. They usually open around one at night (01.00) and you often pay
an entrance fee where you get one drink for free. Some places have a
system where you buy drinks on a card and pay when you leave for
everything. It is not cheap to go dancing, so do bring enough cash to
avoid an embarassing situation. The Umbrian summer is full of life. Every village organises at some point a 'festa' or 'sagra'. In most cases you can eat here very well for not a lot of money. They play music and you can dance in the open air (hardly ever disco). In order to find out what is on, you can check the local newspaper (to be found in every bar in every town). I strongly recommend these small local happenings if you are interested in the Umbrian cuisine. The food is usually very good, made by the housewives of the towns and not by professional cooks. The children and men serve and you sit at long tables. It is simple but with great atmosphere and the prices are usually excellent.
Most sagra and festa have a theme. Each village has a special product
they are proud of and the food eveolves around this. For example,
there is the sagra della polenta, del pesce (fish - around the Lake
Trasimeno), della cipolla (onion), dell'oca (goose), della birra
(beer), del bosco (products from the woods) etc., etc. Then there are
also the festa organised by a political party. This is done to earn
some cash for the political party to organise future events.
Everybody is welcome also here and the food usually is of the same
excellent quality. |
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Agritourism and farm holidays in Umbria Italy:
Three apartments on organic farm Agritourism
Organic farm; Six apartments on a truffle farm Agriturismo
Massa Martana; Four apartments on Deruta farm Agritourism
Umbria; Agriturismo on Umbria Tuscany border Borgo
Trevine; Apartment Umbria: Locanda
Paradiso; Umbria
nature holiday: Il Podere; Olive oil
farm close to Assisi: Agri Uliveto; Holiday
home between Magione and Castel Rigone: La Pergola; Agriturismo
Gubbio - farmholiday close to Gubbio;
Agriturismo Tuoro - Agritourism
between Tuoro and Passignano; Il Belvedere - holiday
home close to Orvieto with view on Lake Corbara; Agriturismo
Pietralunga - holiday farm on walking distance from Pietralunga; Agriturismo
Fabro - small scale organic farm near Fabro. La Vigna - small
scale agriturismo at wine maker in central Umbria; Il Frutteto - agriturismo
in Umbria with 3 apartments and pool
Private holiday houses/villas with pool:
Umbria cottage La Casella; Umbria villa La
Stesi; Umbria holiday villa La Torre;
Umbria villa rental La Tufaia; Rent
private villa in Umbria La Villa; Holiday
in Umbria villa San Savino; Umbria villa
rental: Umbrian villa;
Beautiful private villa close to Spoleto Villa
Spoleto; Two private villas sharing a pool: Umbertide
holiday rental; Private vacation home on one hour from Rome: Casale
Penna; Deruta villa for rent: Villa Pino;
Northern Umbrian vacation villa: La Lavanda;
Holiday rental Niccone: San Martino;
Luxury vacation home
Umbria-Tuscany border: Badia; Private
accommodation in centre Umbria: Casale Cipresso; Country
house in Central Umbria: Villa Serena; Luxury
private villa in central Umbria: Villa Carsulae; 17th
countryhouse for 10 in central Umbria: Countryhouse Chianina; Private
holiday home for groups up to 24 guests: Agri Massa; Terrazza di
Preci: Spacious townhouse in centre
of antique village of Preci, with use of a pool on 3 minute walk; Ecological
villa with view on Spoleto: Villa Ecologica; Spacious
villa with private pool on Umbria-Tuscany border: Villa Sanna; Spacious
holiday villa in Northern Umbria: Villa Bazzarri; Casa Svedesi: holiday
villa with private pool in central Umbria; Casale Marsciano: 3
bedroomed holiday rental with private pool in Umbria; Il
Campello: nice antique holiday rental in
Umbria, Campello sul Clitunno; Villa Foligno: luxury
villa with snooker near Foligno, Umbria; Centrally
located private villa in Umbria: Colle Arponi; Private
holiday rental with pool: La Camilla; Bungalow
for 4 in Tuoro: Trasimeno Bungalow; Lovely
holiday rental with lush garden: Vista Orvieto; Casa Lago
Trasimeno: Dutch owned holiday home
with private pool in Tuoro sul Trasimeno; Villa Pascoli: private
villa in Tuoro, on Umbria-Tuscany border; Holiday
Villa Fratta Todina: luxury villa near Todi; I Gemelli: luxury
holiday rental with snooker and private pool; Casa del Papa: lovely
vacation home with private pool in Todi area; Il Camino: Farmhouse
in Northern Umbria for 14 guests; La Dunarobba: Comfortable
country house for 10 with private pool in Southern Umbria; Casa
Lippiano: boutique style holiday rental
sleeping 6+2 on Tuscany-Umbria border; Casale Padronale: luxury
and modern villa for holidays on Umbria-Tuscany border
Apartments with pool in Umbria:
Four spacious apartments with pool Casa Cortona;
Lovely holiday rental apartment in Northern Umbria Casa
Porcospino; Umbria vacation rental Il Ranco;
Umbria apartments: Casa Paciano; Todi
holiday house with 3 apartments: Todi
house; Old convent with holiday apartments: Il
Convento; Umbrian estate with apartments for rent: Il
Borgo; Accommodation in 5 big apartments and 20 meter swimming
pool: Il Mulino; Borgo
Spoleto luxury houses with garden sharing a pool; Spacious
holiday apartments in Northern Umbria: Villa Bazzarri; Holiday
rentals with tennis and pool close to Montone: Montone Rentals; Holiday
rental in Tuoro sul Trasimeno: Holiday rental Tuoro; Il Riccio: two
bedroom apartment in Northern Umbria; Casale Trasimeno: two
bedroom apartments on Tuscany-Umbria border; Bellissima Locanda: luxury
apartments in centre Umbria; Restored
farmhouse with 3 apartments near Todi: Bellavista;
Apartments with pool, walking distance to town:
Casa Paciano: Umbria apartments;
Agriturismo Niccone: apartments
in Lisciano Niccone; Casa Preci: holiday
rental in the centre of Preci; A Montefalco: holiday
rental on walking distance to Montefalco
Accommodation in Umbrian town centre:
Terrazza di Preci - big townhouse
with two private panoramic terraces; Luxury rental in Perugia city
centre: Perugia Townhouse; Excellent
vacation rental in Spello centre: Casa
Spello; Holiday rental Preci (with pool): Casa
Preci
Other:
Private holiday home La Chiusa, walking
distance to Tuoro;
General holiday in Umbria information:
Detailed
information about Umbria
General information
about Umbria; Frequently Asked Questions FAQ;
Links with Umbria info Umbria links;
Maps of Umbria Maps;
Airports and train schedules Fly
and drive; Reasons to Spend
your holiday in Umbria; How to
Contact Villa in Umbria; the weather
in Umbria today;
Special umbria rental pages:
Holiday in an agritourism Agritourism
Italy Holiday; Holiday around Lake Trasimeno Lake
Trasimeno; Luxury villa
rentals in Umbria; Holiday
rentals around Spoleto; Holiday
homes in the Upper Tiber Valley; Umbrian holiday
rentals for wheelchair users;
Informazione per i proprietari delle strutture ricettive
Buying a house in Umbria?
Real Estate for sale in Umbria
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Villa in Umbria 2003 - 2010
Partita IVA: 02781540543 (Italian VAT number)
