Umbria and its restored houses
Umbria is the green heart of Italy, the one region with no coast and no border with another country.
Umbria is the green heart of Italy, the one region with no coast and no border with another country. From the castle of Reschio above Lake Trasimeno to the three villages of Piegaro and the bishop's house of Civita di Bagnoregio, its hills of olive and oak run between Tuscany and Rome, with hilltop towns that have kept their walls and a light that painters crossed the Apennines for. Its luxury is not the grand hotel but the restored estate — a castle, a farmhouse, a bishop's residence — where the owners live nearby and the table comes from the land. Three houses hold the region for us. Reschio, a tenth-century castle on a vast estate near the Tuscan border above Lake Trasimeno, restored over more than a decade by an architect and an artist; I Borghi dell'Eremo at Piegaro, three villages in a contemporary-classic key with the border hills at every window; and Corte della Maestà, the old bishop's house of Civita di Bagnoregio — the hilltop village once called the dying city, just over the Lazio line and a short drive from Rome. Spring and autumn are the seasons; summer is for the pools.
Luxury hotels in Umbria
3 hotels
Reschio & Lake Trasimeno
The hills of north-western Umbria above Lake Trasimeno, at the Tuscan border, with the castle of Reschio. Its estate lies at Lisciano Niccone; the zone takes in the lake shore at Castiglione and Passignano and Cortona across the line, about an hour from Perugia airport.
The neighborhoods
Reschio & Lake Trasimeno
The hills of north-western Umbria above Lake Trasimeno, at the Tuscan border, with the castle of Reschio. Its estate lies at Lisciano Niccone; the zone takes in the lake shore at Castiglione and Passignano and Cortona across the line, about an hour from Perugia airport.
Piegaro & Città della Pieve
The border hills south of Lake Trasimeno, farmhouse villages with Tuscany at the horizon. Here are Piegaro and its glassmaking past and Città della Pieve of Perugino on its ridge, about forty minutes from Perugia.
Civita di Bagnoregio
The hilltop village on its crumbling tufa spur, reached by a long footbridge. It lies just over the Lazio line in the south-west, with Bagnoregio below, Orvieto forty minutes away and Rome about an hour and a half.
Good to know
Which are the five-star hotels in Umbria?
Two, and both are restored houses rather than hotels built as such. The five-star houses we list in Umbria are Reschio Hotel, the tenth-century castle of a vast estate near the Tuscan border above Lake Trasimeno, and Corte della Maestà, the old bishop's residence of Civita di Bagnoregio, a guesthouse of a handful of rooms with frescoed ceilings and no official restaurant. Beside them we keep one four-star address, listed exactly at the standing it holds: I Borghi dell'Eremo at Piegaro, three villages on the border between Tuscany and Umbria with a hilltop spa booked whole for each treatment.
Where should I stay in Umbria: Reschio, Piegaro or Civita di Bagnoregio?
Reschio and Lake Trasimeno in the north-west, near the Tuscan border, for the castle estate and the lake, about an hour from Perugia airport and an hour and a half from Florence; Piegaro and Città della Pieve, south of the lake, for the farmhouse villages and the border hills, about forty minutes from Perugia; and Civita di Bagnoregio, in the south-west just over the Lazio line, for the hilltop village and its footbridge, about an hour and a half from Rome and forty minutes from Orvieto.
When is the best time for Umbria?
Spring and autumn: April to June for the green and the long evenings, September and October for the harvest, the olive picking of late October and November and the clearest light over Trasimeno. July and August are hot and the pools earn their keep. Winter is quiet and the houses keep their own calendars — Reschio and I Borghi dell'Eremo run most of the year, Corte della Maestà keeps a handful of rooms and closes on its own dates — so each house's page has the details.
How do I get around Umbria?
By car: the three zones sit in their own hills, forty minutes to an hour and a half apart, and the houses are on estates outside the towns. Perugia airport serves Reschio and Piegaro in under an hour; Florence serves Reschio in about an hour and a half; Rome Fiumicino serves Civita di Bagnoregio in about an hour and a half and the rest of the region in about two and a half. Orvieto is the nearest train station to Civita, on the Rome–Florence line. The houses arrange airport transfers on request.
How do I reserve a stay?
Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm.
