Spello

Spello in one unhurried day from Porta Consulare to Vallegloria

One full day is enough to see Spello on foot. Arrive by train, enter through the Roman Porta Consulare and climb the single main street past Santa Maria Maggiore and Pinturicchio's Cappella Baglioni to the Vallegloria church at the top. Stay for dinner, or sleep over and continue to Assisi, about 10 km away.

Morning. Step off the train and walk to Porta Consulare, the Roman gate at the base of the town. Climb to Santa Maria Maggiore and spend time with Pinturicchio in the Cappella Baglioni. Next door, the Pinacoteca Civica holds paintings and objects gathered from Spello's churches and palazzi.

Midday. Continue to Sant'Andrea, then up to Piazza della Repubblica and the medieval Palazzo Comunale, which keeps Roman and medieval stone pieces, including an edict of Constantine. Lunch nearby.

Afternoon. Keep climbing to San Lorenzo and the Vallegloria church at the top. Then find the Belvedere, which looks down on the Roman amphitheatre and across the plain. On the way out, walk the outside of the walls to see the Porta Urbica and the gate beneath the Torre di Properzio.

Evening. Stay for dinner on a terrace and catch a late train to Foligno or Perugia, or overnight and take the short hop to Assisi the next morning. If you have an extra day, Perugia is about half an hour north by train.

Olive oil, strangozzi and Spello's terrace tables

Spello's cooking starts with the olive oil pressed on the slopes of Monte Subasio. Order bruschetta with new oil in autumn, then strangozzi pasta with black truffle or tomato, Apennine lentils and roast pork. La Bastiglia at the top of town is the best-known modern kitchen, and Sagrantino from nearby Montefalco is the local red.

The slopes of Monte Subasio are covered in olive trees, and the oil pressed here is the base of almost everything on the table. Order bruschetta with new oil in autumn, straight after the olive harvest.

Umbrian classics fill the menus: strangozzi, a hand-rolled pasta often served with black truffle or a simple tomato sauce, lentils from the Apennines, roast pork and game. The town's trattorie range from simple places to a few ambitious kitchens; La Bastiglia, a hotel restaurant at the top of town, is the best known of the modern Italian kitchens.

For something cheaper, Spello has take-away pizza shops and food stores that make fresh sandwiches, and a traditional bakery on Via Giulia. In summer, eat outdoors: several restaurants have terraces looking over the plain, and the bars on Piazza Kennedy, Piazza della Repubblica and Piazza Vallegloria fill in the evening.

Drink local. The Sagrantino of Montefalco, grown just south of Foligno, is the big red of this part of Umbria, and simpler Umbrian whites go well with lunch.

Petals on Corpus Domini and days out to Assisi

Spello's big date is the Infiorata: on the night before Corpus Domini Sunday (30 May in 2027) teams cover the streets with carpets of petals that the procession walks over the next morning. Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons, and Assisi, Foligno, Montefalco and Bevagna are each a short train ride or drive away.

The town's calendar turns on the Infiorata Festival. On the night before Corpus Domini Sunday, teams lay out carpets and images made of petals and herbs along the streets; by dawn the route is complete, and the procession walks over it later that morning. In 2027 Corpus Domini Sunday falls on 30 May. Come the evening before to watch the work in progress.

Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons on the hill. Summer afternoons are hot, but the evenings are long and cool enough for dinner outside. Winter is quiet, with some places closed.

For day trips, Assisi is ten kilometres up the road, with the Basilica of San Francesco. Foligno, one stop south, is a flat, working Umbrian town with good train links. Montefalco, known for its wine, and Bevagna, a small walled town in the valley, are short drives away. Orvieto is further but reachable by train; see our Orvieto guide.