General description: another tour offered by us, which is done outside of Tuscany is just this: Assisi, Cortona. Heading south first and then bending towards east, a couple of hours of driving is the time to get to Assisi. Skirting the Lake Trasimeno is possible to see where some of the tourists from northern Europe dare to indulge in some swimming when the calendar absolutely forbids us to do it. Already from here you can catch a glimpse of Cortona, but that will be our goal on the way back. Now we are aiming straight towards Assisi. From the road that we are going to drive on is also possible to see Perugia, before to our sight appear Monte Subasio, the enormous mountain where the beautiful village of San Francesco is exactly and candidly set. Before reaching the village, is however recommendable to make a brief stop in Santa Maria degli Angeli, where a very precious treasure in the eyes of everyone is kept inside the main church.
Lenght: 10 hours about
Departure time: recommended 9.00am
Detailed description: as noted above, part of this tour takes place in Umbria, another region of central Italy, where also the green and nature will fill the entire context. Of course among the countless amount of small towns and villages Assisi is the most famous in the world and why it is not difficult to understand. Counting a very large number of churches, abbeys, convents and parishes, Assisi is an important destination for religious tourism, but not only! It is obvious that the main attraction is the Basilica of San Francesco. Its grandeur and elegance make it a monument of unclassifiable beauty, especially after its renovation as a result of the terrible earthquake of 1997. The saint's relics are exhibited on the lower floor while at the ground floor there are masterpieces and embellishments as much interesting. Santa Chiara is the other famous and important church of the village then. In the town below Assisi, at Santa Maria degli Angeli, there is instead the Porziuncola. This is a small church built originally in the wood and then incorporated by the quite impressive church when this was later built. The third stop of this tour is then in Cortona. Set on a hill on the side of the Val di Chiana from here is possible to admire the surrounding area, partly used to raise cows from which is obtained the classic Fiorentina, or the T-bone steak! A part of Lake Trasimeno and then the mountains are the backdrop to a 360 degree view. Under the Tuscan Sun, both the book and the movie, have in the past years significantly contributed to advertise this little village in every part of the world, and if the writer Frances Mayse has actually bought her house right here, she should have had such a good reason!
On request: customization of the tour according to clients' request, Arezzo