How to Get Around Umbria

Umbria has no major airport and a limited rail network, and its towns are on hilltops. A car is close to essential.

Arriving

Perugia San Francesco d'Assisi is a small airport with a handful of European routes. Most visitors arrive through Rome Fiumicino — about two hours by road — or Florence. Direct trains run from Rome to Perugia, Orvieto, Spoleto and Foligno; Orvieto is on the main Rome-Florence line and is the easiest arrival by rail.

Trains

The state network covers the Tiber valley axis — Orvieto, Terni, Spoleto, Foligno, Assisi, Perugia — reasonably well. A regional operator runs the Perugia-Città di Castello and Terni-Sansepolcro lines. Assisi's station is in the plain at Santa Maria degli Angeli, with a bus up to the town.

Buses

Regional coaches connect the main towns but thin out sharply at weekends and rarely serve the smaller villages usefully.

Driving

• A car is effectively required for Montefalco, Bevagna, Castelluccio, the Valnerina and most agriturismi.
• The E45 runs north-south for free; the A1 motorway passes the western edge near Orvieto and is tolled.
• Almost every hill town has a ZTL and no parking inside the walls. Park in the designated lots below and walk or take the escalators and funiculars — Perugia, Orvieto and Assisi all have them.
• Mountain roads in the Sibillini can close in winter, and some Valnerina routes remain affected by earthquake works.