ahotelinitaly.com blog

The Umbria region is in central Italy. Completely landlocked (unusally for an Italian region) it is bordered by Tuscany to the north and west, Lazio to the south and Marche (Le Marche or the Italian Marches) to the north and east. A very pretty region, popularly dubbed ‘the green heart of Italy’ this is a land of valleys, rolling hills, streams and woodland. It’s also noted for hill towns, possessing a dozen or so classics.

It has an area of 8,456 square kilometres and has a population of 834,000 - so 16th in area and 17th in terms of population; population density is 99 people per square kilometre. Its capital is Perugia, and Umbria has just two provinces, Perugia and Terni. Umbria is largely rural; though similar in geography to Tuscany it is much less discovered, and being landlocked tends to greater extremes of weather than its western neighbour - Umbria can get very hot in the height of summer. The towns of Umbria include Acquasparta, Assisi, Citta di Castello, Deruta, Foligno, Gualdo Tadino, Gubbio, Montefalco, Narni, Orvieto, Perugia, Spoleto, Terni, Todi and Trevi.

Umbria is predominantly mountainous, with the Apennines forming its eastern fringe. The highest point in the region is in the Apennines, Mount Vettore reaching 8123ft at the border with Le Marche.

The only airport is Perugia, which offers mainly internal flights (to Milan and Rome), and you are more likely to fly into one of the Rome airports, Ancona Airport in Marche, or Florence Airport in Tuscany (depending on where in Umbria you’re staying). There is an excellent rail network (with hubs at Perugia, Terni and Foligno), and all the towns we mention either have a station or have one nearby. The main A1 highway runs up the western border of the region, linking Orte, Orvieto and Citta di Pieve before heading up into Tuscany. Southwards, it joins the region to Rome. Perugia is a road hub too, sitting at the rough centre of the region.

ahotelinitaly.com’s Umbria hotel listings

Official Umbria tourism site