Autumn Immersive Umbria Tour

Liz and your driver will meet you at Rome Fiumicino airport (FCO) for minibus transfer to Allerona — about a 2-hour drive. Along the way, we’ll give you an introduction to the week ahead. 

• Check into your rooms and find a snack waiting, and have a few hours to rest and chill. This is your home for the week!

• We’ll take an early evening tour of Allerona, where you’ll learn about the history of the village and some of its special places and hidden corners.
• We’ll enjoy a welcome apericena (basically a meal-sized happy hour) and then make it an early night.

On this full day, we’ll get to know Orvieto, the beautiful medieval city with Etruscan roots and a magnificent 14th-century cathedral. On the 20-minute ride to Orvieto, we’ll explain a little of the city’s history (and maybe a little about how Liz and Paolo met here!). 

• We’ll walk around for an hour or so and get the “lay of the land.”
• We’ll head to a magical hidden “laboratory” run by our friend Lamberto. 
• You’ll have some free time to wander before we meet for lunch at our favorite trattoria.
• After lunch, we’ll do a papermaking workshop, followed by a snack-heavy aperitivo.
• Return to Allerona for the evening. 

We’ll stay close to home and get a taste of rural life and traditional Umbrian cooking, family style:

• If the olive gods shine on us, we’ll get an early start to olive picking. If it’s too late in the season for olives, we’ll sub this with mushroom hunting or some other outdoor activity, weather permitting.
• Bring your appetites to a private lunch, prepared and hosted by Paolo’s mom, Franca, and sister, AnnaRita. Friends who’ve visited us recall “lunch with Franca” as the highlight of their stay.
• Free time after lunch to rest and relax.
• Tour of a village palace, the ancestral home of a local family, followed by tasting of local olive oil, wine and other products, including a bruschetta-making lesson.

We’ll dip into Lazio, one of the region’s bordering Umbria, and visit one of the area’s most enigmatic sights.

• Civita di Bagnoregio, la città che muore, or the dying city, sits on a dramatic tufa plateau just a short distance from Orvieto. We’ll walk across the long bridge — the only way to access the nearly-deserted town — and spend some time exploring and taking photos.
• We’ll stop for lunch at an underground restaurant situated in an ancient olive mill.
• On the way back, we’ll stop for a wine tasting at a vineyard specializing in Orvieto Classico, our local white wine. 
• This evening, those who still have some energy and appetite can join us at the bar just outside of town for drinks and snacks (walking or transport provided).

This morning, and weather permitting, those who wish to can join Liz for a ~60-minute walk along the strada bianca, the gravel road that runs through the countryside. You may even get a dog to walk!

• Mid-morning, we’ll head to Franca’s kitchen for a cooking lesson. Handmade pasta and roast chicken are on the menu.
• At lunch, we’ll dine on the delicious food we prepared earlier, followed by a grappa tasting.
• Your afternoon is free to rest and digest.
• In the evening, we’ll dine at a lovely fine dining establishment set right in Allerona and run by a local family.

Weather permitting, we’ll spend most of the day outdoors, learning about the ancient Etruscans, thermal baths and foraged foods.

• This morning we’ll ride about 20 minutes to San Casciano dei Bagni, and get a tour of the major Etruscan and Roman archaeological site that’s recently come to light there. Those who wish to can pack a swimsuit and take a dip in the ancient outdoor thermal baths, where water bubbles from underground at a constant 104F.
• We’ll stop for a foraging lesson in the Umbrian macchia, or bush, and have lunch at a cozy osteria in the woods (bosco).
• Group country walk or afternoon on your own.
• This evening, it’s pizza party time!

On our last day, you’ll have time to shop for souvenirs in Orvieto, and maybe make one of your own.

• We’ll start at our favorite of Orvieto’s many underground caves, carved out over the millennia for storage, shelter and raw materials. 
• After a brief tour, you’ll have a chance to decorate your own piece of Etruscan-style ceramics. We’ll see to it that your item gets shipped to you once it’s been kiln-fired.
• Lunch and the afternoon in Orvieto are on your own.
• This evening, we’ll enjoy a festive cookout and get ready to say arrivederci…

We’ll say our farewells and, depending on your onward schedule, we’ll get you transferred to Rome airport or Orvieto train station.