Assisi

From the Rocca Maggiore down to the tomb of St Francis

One day in Assisi works best from the top down: the cathedral of San Rufino and the Rocca Maggiore first, then Santa Chiara, Piazza del Comune and Chiesa Nuova. Give the Basilica of San Francesco at least two hours after lunch for the Giotto-school frescoes and the tomb. San Damiano and the Eremo delle Carceri fill a second morning.

Start at the top. Park at Piazza Matteotti or ride bus C from the station, then visit San Rufino, the cathedral, whose facade is the finest in town. Climb to the Rocca Maggiore for the morning view over the rooftops and the plain.

Walk down to Santa Chiara, where St Clare is buried, and on through Piazza del Comune, with its Roman temple front, to Chiesa Nuova, built over what is said to be Francis's family home. Stop at the tiny church of Santo Stefano and look back up the lane.

After lunch, give the Basilica of San Francesco at least two hours, with the audio guide: the upper church for the Giotto-school frescoes, the lower church and crypt for the tomb. If you still have energy, walk down to San Damiano below the walls in the late afternoon, then return for dinner once the day visitors have gone.

With a second morning, walk or take a taxi up the road to the Eremo delle Carceri on Monte Subasio, where the holm-oak woods stay shady even in July and the coach groups rarely bother to go.

Strangozzi, torta al testo and Montefalco Sagrantino

Umbrian food in Assisi is simple and earthy. Order strangozzi, hand-cut pasta often dressed with black truffle, and torta al testo, a griddle flatbread stuffed with greens, cheese or cured meats. Local red wine runs from Assisi Rosso to the Sagrantino of nearby Montefalco. Lunch is the main meal, busiest around 13:00.

Trattoria degli Umbri on Piazza del Comune serves home-style dishes in the middle of town. Osteria Otello, facing Chiesa Nuova, is good value, and Ristorante Basilica, opposite the apse of the basilica, is a reliable choice. Il Baccanale near Piazza Matteotti is a wine shop with bottles from across Italy, coffee and preserves.

For a tasting, call ahead to the Sportoletti winery on the road from Assisi to Spello. Ice cream and pizza shops are everywhere; quality varies, so look around before you buy.

Arrive a little before or after 13:00 if you have not booked.

Calendimaggio, the 4 October feast and San Damiano

Assisi's two main festivals are the feast of St Francis on 4 October and Calendimaggio in early May, a medieval contest between the upper and lower quarters. The key Franciscan sites outside the walls are San Damiano, the Eremo delle Carceri on Monte Subasio and the Porziuncola inside Santa Maria degli Angeli.

On 4 October the feast of St Francis brings pilgrims and official delegations from across Italy. Calendimaggio runs over several days, with costumed parades, music and theatre.

Several of the most moving Franciscan places lie outside the walls. San Damiano, down a lane below the town, is the small church where Francis is said to have heard the call to rebuild the Church and where Clare lived with her sisters. Up on Monte Subasio, the Eremo delle Carceri is a hermitage in the holm-oak woods where Francis went to pray.

On the plain, the vast basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli encloses the Porziuncola chapel. Spello, a hill town along the road towards Foligno, makes a good half-day trip with a stop at a winery on the way.

Pilgrims still walk into town along the Via di Francesco, and in spring and autumn you will pass walkers with rucksacks and credential booklets on the lanes below San Damiano.