Travel in Umbria this Spring

[Iacobuslex]

My wife and I and a friend will visit Umbria for a week in mid-April. We are staying in Spoleto and traveling, by train or bus, to places within an hour or so of Spoleto. I have tentatively identified Assissi, Spello, Norcia, Terni, Perugia, Narni, Montefalco and Foligno as possible day trips. I'd love any suggestions about places to see and/or eat in these or other towns within an hour's train/bus ride from Spoleto. We are all septuagenarians, but still active and plan to do a lot of walking. I speak enough Italian to get by and have a basic level of comfort with the use of Italian trains and busses.

 

[GailS]

We enjoyed seeing the Roman ruins at Carsulae when staying in Spoleto.

 

[California Go Girl]

My sister-in-law and I stayed in Spoleto several nights as a base and we really enjoyed going to Il Piccolo Bar there in Spoleto for our daily Aperitivo. Our daily Aperol Spritz turned into Aperi-cena, since the snacks were so cheap and delicious. It was just across the street from our apartment and we ended up going every single night. Very basic, so maybe not worth going across town for, but it was friendly, cheap, and good. Outdoor seating.

 

[Sandrac]

Sounds like a great itinerary, but maybe a bit tricky without a car.
Perugia is easy to reach and from the train station you can take the wonderful minimetro right up the historic center.
It's an easy walk from Spello's train station into its historic centre and same with Foligno. I love Montefalco and Bevagna, but you will need a bus to reach either of them, and the bus schedule can make things tricky and eat up a lot of time.
Same with Narni.
Assisi is, of course, wonderful and I think there are frequent buses (or even a taxi) from the train station in the village below up to Assisi proper.

I wasn't really charmed by Norcia and would drop it in favour of Gubbio, which is really a fascinating hill town.

Umbria is brilliant; I'm sure you will have a wonderful time!

 

[artnbarb]

When we lived in Umbria we quickly realized that the bus schedules were primarily to take kids to school in the morning and bring them home in the afternoon. Larger cities may have more options, just check carefully.

 

[Alpinista]

Go to the abbey in Gubbio and enjoy the funivia ride.