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| Perugia and its region puts the focus on jazz, chocolate and outdoor adventure |
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One of Italy’s oldest cities of art, the capital of Umbria is also Italy’s jazz and chocolate capital. Within its region, art, architecture, history and landscape combine to form a harmonious heritage, with the highest concentration of medieval towns and villages in Italy, a wide range of charming hotels set in the countryside in restored country houses, monasteries and castles.
 
Perugia sits atop a hill in central Umbria, half-way between Florence and Rome, and is one of Italy’s oldest cities of art: the wall that surrounds it was built by the Etruscans more than 3,000 years ago, and it abounds in buildings and monuments dating back to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. In addition to its artistic and cultural attractions, Perugia has a definite international outlook thanks to the University for Foreigners. Throughout the year, the city hosts popular festivals, including the well-known Umbria Jazz Festival and Eurochocolate, the fair dedicated to chocolate. It has good hotel facilities, including a luxury 5-star (the Brufani Palace) and various medium-sized 4-star properties with meeting rooms: the most original of these, located very close to the historic centre, is the Hotel Giò Wine Area e Jazz Area, with 130 rooms dedicated to wine and 76 to jazz. Next door is the Perugia Conference Centre, which also has a jazz theme, while a little further out, the 3-star Etruscan Chocohotel, with a very well-stocked chocolate shop, completes the range of themed hotels.
Still on the matter of chocolate, Perugia is home to the famous confectioner’s Perugina, which has opened the Casa del Cioccolato [the House of Chocolate], a complex containing a plant, a museum, a gift shop as well as the School of Chocolate, dedicated to chocolate lovers and run by master chocolatiers. It has 15 places and offers a rich and varied calendar of courses that can also be organised especially for groups of around 15-30 people (info: www.perugina.it)
But as well as its traditions, Perugia is also looking to the future: its international airport is to be expanded, increasing the number of passengers from the current 100,000 to 250,000 in 2010.
While Perugia exercises a certain fascination, the same can be said of the surrounding area, with its green hills peppered with spectacular medieval villages and towns dominated by towers: the classic itinerary taking in the must-see places runs through Gubbio, Assisi, Todi, Spoleto and Orvieto, all within 60 km from Perugia. Lake Trasimeno, Italy’s fourth largest, is also very close to the town (25 km) and is ideal for outdoor activities or sailing, giving visitors the chance to discover its two islets.
In keeping with the atmosphere of this largely untouched region, the accommodation offer largely consists of charming hotels set in the countryside in restored country houses, monasteries and castles. |
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 The taste of adventure
According to the Heart of Italy Luxury (the luxury inbound division of DMC Consul’Travel), event programmes can be built around a range of themes based on life’s pleasures. The tastes of traditional local cuisine, for example, can be learned at the course organised as part of a culinary evening conducted by the top chefs of Eatalian Style at the well-equipped kitchen of the magnificent Relais Borgo Brufa in Torgiano. The Cantico wine road also winds through this region, and a visit to the Lungarotti cellar (www.lungarotti.it) is not to be missed: visitors can enjoy a look around the farm, vineyards and Museum of Wine, set within the 18th-century Palazzo Graziani Baglioni (the 5-star Le Tre Vaselle is also annexed to the estate) and also experience the Wine Challenge, with tasting led by a team of sommeliers, during which participants discover the aromas and flavours of various Lungarotti wines and compete with each other using their sensory abilities.
Another sense, that of touch, attracts visitors to Solomeo, a 14th-century village a few kilometres outside Perugia, restored with passion by Brunello Cucinelli, the owner of one of the most prestigious brands of cashmere, silk and linen. The workshops that he installed in these historic houses are now open for visits, there is also an outlet where visitors can pick up some bargains (www.brunellocucinelli.it).
For those of a more adventurous nature, however, the National Park of Monti Sibillini provides the perfect backdrop. One of the most popular tours leaves from Castelluccio di Norcia and takes place over two days; participants sleep in a tent and cross the central section of the mountain range, among the white limestone, the breathtaking steep slopes of the deep valleys and the canyons carved by rivers. River activities (rafting, hydrospeed and canoeing) organised by Rafting Umbria (www.raftingumbria.it) leave from Serravalle di Norcia: participants go along the Corno river, which divides into two sections of the same length, both completely safe to travel down: the first is quiet and charming, and crosses the Biselli gorge, where participants can stop to bathe and drink spring water spouting directly from the rock; the second provides some enjoyable rapids, with a natural diving board from which the bravest can plunge into the foaming water.
The Adventure Park is also in Serravalle di Norcia. It features rope and river bridges, pendulum swings, Tyrolean crossings, aerial ropeways, mobile platforms and much more (www.umbriavventura.com).
March 2009 |
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