About Weather/Climate/Temperature

The average temperature in Perugia, Umbria, Italy is 13.5 °C (56 °F).
The average temperature range is 18.5 °C. * The highest monthly average high temperature is 28 °C (82 °F) in July & August.
The lowest monthly average low temperature is 2 °C (36 °F) in January & February.
Perugia, Umbria's climate receives an average of 893 mm (35.2 in) of rainfall per year, or 74 mm (2.9 in) per month.
On average there are 95 days per year with more than 0.1 mm (0.004 in) of rainfall (precipitation) or 8 days with a quantity of rain, sleet, snow etc. per month.
The driest weather is in July when an average of 46 mm (1.8 in) of rainfall (precipitation) occurrs across 5 days.
The wettest weather is in November when an average of 113 mm (4.4 in) of rainfall (precipitation) occurrs across 10 days.
The average annual relative humidity is 59.2% and average monthly relative humidity ranges from 45% in July to 73% in November.
Average sunlight hours in Perugia, Umbria range between 3.0 hours per day in December and 9.2 hours per day in July.
There are an average of 2007 hours of sunlight per year with an average of 5.5 hours of sunlight per day.

About Golfing

Umbria Golf Courses
Antognolla Golf Club
Strada Antognolla
Perugia, Umbria 06133
Perugia
Italy
( no ratings )
Castello Golf Club
Palazzo Rossi - Castello delle Forme
06055 Marsciano (PG)
( no ratings )
Fattoria Caldese Golf & Country Club
Caldese di Celle
06010 Lerch, Città di Castello (PG)
( no ratings )
Junior Perugia Golf & Country Club
Via XX Settembre, 65/a
06100 Perugia (PG)
( no ratings )
Lamborghini Golf Club
Loc Soderi, 1
Panicale 06064
( no ratings )
Perugia Golf Club
Loc. Santa Sabina
06074 Ellera Umbra (PG)
( no ratings )
Romita Golf Club
Via della Romita, 11
05100 Terni
( no ratings )
Terni Golf Club
Via Sersimone, 2
05100 Terni (TR)
( no ratings )
Veronica Golf Club
località Stradone
06033 Cannara (PG)
( no ratings )

About Scenery/Beauty Spots

If you're looking to find a beautiful countryside escape, you can't get much better than the region of Umbria, Italy.

Although its neighbouring region of Tuscany may be more famous around the world, Umbria can certainly hold its own when it comes to providing breathtaking scenery that will offer you the perfect setting for any countryside retreat.

You will also find in Umbria that there are usually less tourists than in other regions of Italy.

This means that if you are renting a villa in Umbria you are much more likely to get a true experience of the local way of life here. You will have the space and time away from the busy tourist trail to just relax and enjoy your surroundings.

So the question is – where can you find the most beautiful spots in the region?



The surrounding countryside of Assisi

The countryside surrounding the Umbrian town of Assisi is some of the most beautiful you will experience - not just in Italy - but anywhere in the world! Approximately 15 minutes drive from Assisi, through the village of Santa Maria delgi Angeli and onto the road Via San Bernadino da Siena, you will find some stunning views of the Italian countryside!

Picture traditional Umbrian farmhouse buildings, sweeping hills, green fields, sunshine, and no one else around. This is what you can expect from the countryside surrounding Assisi, and it is the perfect place for long walks in the sun.



Hillside views & architecture from Perugia

Perugia is the regional capital of Umbria. It's rich artistic history and location built into the hill tops has provided this city with some stunning Medieval architecture overlooking the rolling hills that surround it. In fact, the drive up into the hills of Perugia allows a fantastic opportunity to stop at various points along the way to take in the mesmerising scenery before you, and to take some stunning photographs. If you are travelling by train around Italy, the route from Assisi to Perugia is also known to be one of the most scenic and beautiful routes the country has to offer.



Orvieto Cathedral & the Underground City

A little further away from Assisi and Perugia, in the Umbrian province of Terni, lies Orvieto. The main reason for stopping in Orvieto is for Orvieto Cathedral. Originally built in the 14th Century, this intricate Gothic façade is a true masterpiece that dominates the hillside skyline of the town. Interstingly, Orvieto is also known as an underground city, because built into the volcanic rock the town is perched on is a labyrinth of caves and tunnels. These secret tunnels were originally built as an escape route from the city palazzo to a safe point a distance away from the city walls, and are now open for viewing as part of a guided tour.



Although somewhat smaller and less well known than its regional neighbours, Umbria is a beautiful location in Italy that has much to offer anyone who visits!

It would be the ideal place for anyone who wants a relaxed countryside villa in Italy to spend with the family, and a holiday with a true Italian feel.

About Family Activities

This is one of the benefits of travelling to Umbria with kids. Adjusting your pace and fitting in activities that will make the trip memorable to your entire family gives you the opportunity to experience this beautiful Italian region in a way that running the usual church/museum relay doesn’t.

Lead them to water

Umbria is known as the green heart of Italy and and its lush vegetation is the result of the ample annual precipitation which falls in this region…so there’s no lack of lakes and rivers to both amuse your kids and cool them off when the temperature starts rising. You can head to tranquil Lake Trasimeno for a swim from one of the beaches, or take the ferry to tiny Isola Maggiore in the middle of the lake.

Consider visiting the beautiful Marmore Waterfall in the south of Umbria; the trail which skirts the falls is so close that at times you get a refreshing natural spray. Also in the south, you can spend a day white water rafting with outfitters on either the Nera or Corna rivers … the last run we did was with a group of people from 5 to 60 years old, and everyone had a blast.

Make them king or queen for a day

On almost every hilltop in Umbria there is a hill town, and above of almost every hill town there is a castle! Nothing is more fun than exploring a castle for aspiring princes and princesses (and nothing prettier than the views from the strategic vantage-points for their parental kings and queens). The best castle in Umbria for kids to conquer is by far the Rocca Maggiore in Assisi. Only partly restored, this stone fortress has tunnels, towers, and turrets galore. More staid, but still fun to visit, are the Castello del Leone in Castiglione del Lago and the Rocca Albornoziana in Spoleto.

Eat, drink, and be merry

If you really want a fun window into Umbria, hit the nearest sagra for dinner. A sagra is a festival organized by a community which centers around a specific food or dish – generally local specialties, e.g. truffles or wild boar or torta al testo (a type of flat bread) and is publicized primarily with the big posters plastered along the roads and in the main squares. A benign pandemonium reigns at these festivals, where you’ll find a booth where you order your food, a big tent where you sit at long tables to eat, a couple of carnival type games where you can shoot cans or play the lottery for prizes, and a dance floor.

It’s the kind of event where anything goes, so until the band starts up let your kids run completely wild with the other roughly hundred children tearing around the dance floor, give them some money to win kitschy crap at the lottery booth, sell your soul to the devil and buy them something God-awful at the confectionary truck, let them ride the two or three rickety carnival rides set up behind the dance floor. Your most memorable experience in Italy will doubtless have to do with art, culture, or food. Theirs will be the night you took them to the sagra.

Go green

Kids can only take so many museums, churches, and historical monuments. Now that I think about it, most of us can only take so many museums, churches, and historical monuments. So as long as you’re in one of the most beautifully green places in Italy, skip the culture for a day and instead head to one of the many parks in the region. You can walk or hike, picnic, swim, enjoy a scenic drive, or just simply relax and enjoy the view while the kids are able to blow off some vacation steam. Some of my favorite places in Umbria are the Piano Grande in the Mount Sibilline National Park (where there are horse and donkey riding excursions), and the Mount Subasio and Mount Cucco Regional Parks. If your kids really have some steam to blow off, you can treat them to a day at ActivoPark near Terni which offers tubing, donkey rides, climbing routes and mounting biking rails, go-karts and rollerblading.

Back to school

Yikes! Not that school — I mean the fun kind. There are lots of opportunities to take day courses in Umbria which can be customized for family groups. Try learning how to make ravioli and tiramisù with a local cook who knows how to get even the young ones rolling out dough. Enroll your family in Perugina’s School of Chocolate (see, I told you I meant the fun kind) for a day of making delectable desserts. Head out with a guide and dog to sniff out truffles in the Umbrian woods. Bring out the artist in everyone by creating your own majolica pieces with a master in Deruta.

With a little creativity, research, and advance planning, in Umbria you can experience one of your memorable — and fun – family trips. Come and discover what Italy’s Green Heart has to offer!

About Local Restaurants

Siro Restaurant is very good and cheap! (Torgiano)

About History

The history of Umbria overlaps somewhat with it’s better known neighbor Tuscany in the eras of the Etruscans and the Romans, but it has also forged it’s own footprints in Italian history throughout the ages. The first two major groups to share Umbria were the Umbri and the Etruscans. Although the Etruscans are better known, the Umbri settled the region first, it is said as far back as 672 BC, which is the date of origin of the town of Terni, which was then called Interamna. At that time, the language was Umbrian, a relative of Latin and Oscan. Archaeological evidence shows that the Umbri can be identified with the creators of the Terramara, and probably also of the Villanovan culture in northern and central Italy, who at the beginning of the Bronze Age displaced the original Ligurian population by an invasion from the north-east. The Apennine civilization occupied Umbria’s hills and mountains and lived off agriculture and animals. There are many remnants left behind from this time including decorated vases, and many tools of stone, bone and metal.
The Etruscans were chief enemies of the Umbri, and the Etruscan invasion went from the western seaboard towards the north and east (lasting from about 700 to 500 BC), eventually driving the Umbrians towards the Apenninic uplands and capturing 300 Umbrian towns. The river Tiber, Tevere in Italian, mostly divided the two populations with the Umbri on the east, and the Etruscan on the west. The Umbri tribe flourished early on in eastern towns such as Spoleto, Gubbio, Città di Castello and Assisi. Etruscans established towns we know today as Perugia, Orvieto and Città della Pieve, eventually creating 12 powerful city-states. Traces of this past can still be seen in the excellent Museo Archeologico Nazionale dell’Umbria in Perugia. What little is known about the Umbri from this time comes from the famous Eugubine Tablets in Gubbio. These seven bronze slabs were written in the 2nd century BC in the Umbrian language. They describer religious rites as well as the political system of that time.
Things seriously changed in Umbria around 300 BC when soldiers from Rome arrived. In 295 BC, Rome conquered the Etruscans, and all of their lands, including Umbria, fell under Roman rule. Despite the legendary Roman plundering and pillaging, the Romans actually had a positive influence on Umbria as they initiated public works that are still visible to this day. Emperor Gaius Flaminius built the Via Flaminia in 220 BC, a road which connected Rome to Ancona and the Adriatic Sea, and passed through towns such as Narni, Terni, Spoleto and Foligno, all of which are still littered with Roman ruins. A minor road branched off to Perugia, whose prominence as the capital of Umbria was growing. In 90 BC, Umbrians were granted full Roman citizenship and, for a handful of centuries, the region thrived.
After Rome fell, invasions by Saracens, Goths, Lombards, Byzantines and the barbarians led to an economic and cultural decline in Umbria. Starvation and disease were rampant, and Umbrians retreated to fortified medieval hill towns such as Gubbio and Todi. Conditions were perfect for the new Roman cult of Christianity to flourish. The church of Sant’Angelo in Perugia, built over a former pagan temple around the 5th and 6th centuries AD, is one of Italy’s oldest extant churches outside of Rome.
The political power gap during the Middle Ages was quickly filled by the Lombard Duchy of Spoleto from the 6th to the 13th centuries, until Umbria became a papal territory. Prominent Umbrian families tended to favor rule by either the pope or the Holy Roman Empire, creating a split between Guelphs, or papal supporters, and Ghibellines, those who followed the emperors. Spoleto and Todi became Ghibelline cities while Perugia and Orvieto, which both benefited initially from Papal rule, became Guelph cities. The remnants of the conflict still dot Umbria today in the form of the rocca, or Papal fortress, examples of which can be seen in Perugia, Assisi and Narni.
Many important saints, such as Benedict of Norcia who became the patron of Europe, had put Umbria on the mystical map, but it was in the 13th century when Umbria’s most famous son, St Francis of Assisi was born, that cemented Umbria’s reputation as a centre for spirituality, which continues to this day.
The province of Umbria was created in 1861 as part of a unified region. At that time Umbria included the current provinces of Terni and Perugia as well as Rieti. At this time though, the economic situation of the region was in grave danger as agriculture was languishing and farmers were forced to move to other areas to feed their families. During the industrial revolution, Umbria began to rebuild once the railway line was built linking Rome, Terni, and Foligno in 1866. World War Two followed this slight economic growth and many industries were bombed resulting in in a slow postwar recovery.
Historians of Umbrian culture like to say that time stopped in 1544 when the pope installed a salt tax, resulting in a Salt War that caused a standstill in Umbrian culture. It is felt because of this, that the Renaissance didn’t flourish in Umbria like it did in neighboring Tuscany. To this day, Umbria still retains much of its ancient history as seen when visiting its many hill towns spread across the region, and time seems to move a little slower here in Umbria, even for visitors.