Division 8-day tour:

1. arrival holiday farm Costa di Trex  (8 km from Assisi)

2. to Nocera Umbra  (6 hours)

3. to Gualdo Tadino (5 ½ hours); train to Spoleto 

4. walk on Monteluco (3 hours)

5. walk olive grove path (6 hours) or a short walk on Monteluco (2 hours 45); with the train to Spello

6. walk in surroundings of Spello (5 hours) or to the abbey of Sassovivo and Foligno (7½ hours)

7. walk to Assisi and back to the hotel in Costa di Trex (7 or 5 hours)

8. departure  

Division 10-day tour:

1. see above day 1

2. see above day 2

3. walk in surroundings of Nocera, mount Alago (4 hours)

4. see above day 3 

5. see above day 4  

6. see above day 5

7. see above day 6

8. see above day 7

9. walk to Assisi and back to the holiday farm (5 hours)

10. departure  

Day 1

Arrival

The tour starts in the quiet, hilly countryside near Assisi. Your overnight stay is in a quiet little holiday farm with excellent cookery. 

Day 2

To Nocera Umbra

Today your first stretch of walking is through the natural park of Mt.Subasio; in the valley of the Potenza you continue to Nocera and your hotel is in the centre of this little town.

Day 3

To Gualdo Tadino and Spoleto

The route passes through olive groves and woodland. In Gualdo Tadino you take the train to Spoleto. This town has a long history and is now a tourist centre with its ancient, late-medieval and renaissance monuments. Your hotel is in the medieval centre of Spoleto, close to the Roman theatre.

Day 4

A day in Spoleto

You will visit Spoleto and go for a walk on Monteluco. The name lucus means ’bosco sacro’, and signifies that in pagan times the mountain was considered a holy place. From the 5th century hermits lived  under Benedictine rule on this mountain. During your walk you pass some of the little hermitages. The Franciscans also built a monastery here. The evergreen oak wood has always been very important and was already protected in the middle ages. Some of the animals living here are the porcupine, wild cat, badger and squirrel.

Day 5

To Spello

Today you can choose from two itineraries, both short walks through forest and olive groves. The shorter walk will take you along the old abandoned railway, passing through tunnels and over railway bridges. You can also make a longer walk along the Olive Grove Path (Sentiero degli Olivi), a walking route from Spoleto to Assisi . As the name indicates, you will walk through the olive groves on the slopes of the mountains. You will also pass through several villages, mostly built on hills, like Eggi and Bazzano. After both walks you take the train to Spello (280m.), where you will sleep in a beautiful location in the medieval centre of this town.

Day 6

A day in Spello

Today you can choose again between two walks: a circular route on Mt. Subasio or a longer walk to the Benedictine abbey Sassovivo. The last leg is by  train back to your hotel in Spello.  Spello has lovely little streets to wander around, decorated with plants and flowers. A very picturesque spot is the Via Torre di Properzio, which ends near the Roman ’Porta Venere’. In the church of S.Maria Maggiore you can admire the cycle  of frescoes by the Umbrian painter Pinturicchio.  

Day 7 

Back to Assisi

Spello is situated on the west edge of the natural park of Monte Subasio and the next day you will be walking through this park: their are variations of the route at this point (eight day or ten day trip). You will visit the  Franciscan hermitage, the Eremo delle Carceri. Saint Francis and his companions retreated here often and you can visit the cave where Francis used to meditate. In Assisi many places and monuments are strongly bound with the saints Francis and Clare, who lived here in the 13th century. The medieval character of Assisi is well-preserved and the houses, gates, squares and churches are almost all built in the pink- white stone of Monte Subasio.

Day 8

Departure

Period

Daily from the 1st April  until the beginning of November 

Level 3

For walkers with some experience. Routes middle/high landscapes with some steep climbs. Day distances between 10-22 km with an average of 3 km an hour. Walking over footpaths, mountain tracks, forest trails and little road walking.

Price 2012

8 day tour: per person in double room      € 618,00

8 day tour: single room     € 737,00

8 day tour: travelling alone  € 788,00

10 day tour: per person in double room   € 754,00

10 day tour: single room   € 904,00

10 day tour: travelling alone   € 945,00

On request

extra overnight stays, wine-tastings and cookery course

See also: Medieval towns in Umbria: walking from Assisi to Spoleto