PanicalePacianoExcursionsFurther Reading

In these pages, we have collected resources that will help you plan and prepare your vacation or long term stay, and decide if Umbria, and the area around the Lake Trasimeno is what you are looking for. We have listed our favourite restaurants, activities in the area, as well as articles on the towns we represent. We have contributed articles, but past tenants of ours have written the bulk of them. We plan to expand this section with sections on Christmas and Easter celebrations, feasts and festivals, and other day-to-day town life activities. If you have articles, reviews and activities want to contribute to this page, let us know.

Restaurant Reviews

Here is a list of our favourite restaurants in the area. There is nothing like a free lunch, so I will only give you their names and the town they are located in. It will be then up to you to find them. Do not get scared by our irony and have courage, because they are all worth a visit and the experience. You can start dieting when you get home, because when in Umbria, do like the Umbrians do. Live to eat, and not eat to live... Click for more...

Activities

Why not take a break from exploring the secrets of Umbria and Tuscany using one of our activities to better understand the local culture? Take a cooking course and learn how to make your own pasta or create that complete Italian dinner you've dreamt about. You could take Italian lessons or how about some art classes? We can even help you with getting married! All the activities are close to our rental properties and can be booked in conjunction with your accommodation. Click for more...

Umbria Jazz Inverno

Have you ever been to Umbria Jazz? The winter version in Orvieto? If you need any one single reason to get busy finding plane tickets to Umbria during the holiday season - feel free to use the Umbria Jazz Inverno Excuse. It is truly worth the trip itself. Summer visitors don¹t have to be in Umbria long before they start hearing about the original Umbria Jazz Festival that takes place in Perugia10 days straight, every summer. Umbria Jazz Inverno is its equivalent, but takes place towards the end of December in Orvieto. Click for more...

Ruzzolone, the Easter Cheese Race

Cheese rolling. An Easter classic? Bunnies laying chocolate eggs I almost understand. This very local sport really makes me wonder how it got started. It seems to be the slightly wacky offspring of a marriage between bowling and golf. And it seems to be a sport practiced only in Panicale. It takes place every year on the Monday after Easter, Pasquetta (little Easter), and is by the locals called Ruzzolone. Click for more...

Umbrian Rubble

Renovating a medieval town house in Umbria. By fax and by blind faith. In my spare time, I've renovated my share of buildings. Maybe more than my share. But the real cry for help was probably the time I went for the Italian Momma Of All Renovation Projects: a big, scary, abandoned house - way over on the other side of the ocean. A house that wobbled up and over neighbouring apartments, on a steep and narrow street, in a tiny town in Umbria. Click for more...