Visit Bevagna! If you stay at Villa Bastiola, a day trip to visit Bevagna is highly recommended. Hopefully the photos below will speak for the beauty of Bevagna, a village in the heart of the Vale of Umbra dating back to Roman and medieval times (and before, to the ancient Umbri). The central piazza is […]
holiday villa with pool umbria
Monte Santa Maria Tiberina
Monte Santa Maria Tiberina has an incredibly long name for one of the tiniest hilltop towns in the Upper Tiber Valley! The photo to the left is taken from Villa Bastiola (holiday villa for rent in Umbria) and is the peak in the distance with the castle tower silhouetted against the skyline. It’s worth a […]
Montone
Visit Montone in Umbria! Montone is a gorgeous, medieval hilltop town, just 15 minutes drive from Villa Bastiola. Named one of the 100 most beautiful villages in Italy, you will discover why as you take a walk through this enchanting village. Unlike many of the other small villages in the area, Montone’s medieval history is […]
Gubbio
Gubbio is 30 minutes drive to the east of Villa Bastiola and is well worth a day trip. Steeped in history, this Umbrian town is incredibly old and you can see signs of its Umbri, Roman and medieval history as you walk through the town. Called Ikuvium, it was home to the ancient Umbri (around […]
Vineyards in the Vale of Umbra
So many people have heard of the famous Tuscan wines and super-reds like Chianti Classico DOC, Tignanello and Sassicaia but not so many know of the wonderful Umbrian wines that rival these in quality and taste. A day trip down to the Vale of Umbra (about 45 minutes drive from Villa Bastiola) is worth doing, […]
Voted “most comfortable beds in Italy”!
Just reading back through the guest book for Villa Bastiola, I was delighted by a comment from guests saying that the beds at the villa are the “most comfortable in Italy”! Writing the website, a lot of time goes into making sure that the correct keywords are there for google to pick up like “Villa”, […]
My favourite things… part 2…
Just as Umbria has gorgeous hand-painted pottery, so it has beautiful linens and none more so than the stunning range in Busatti, master linen makers since 1797. The flagship store is in Anghiari, a beautiful medieval hilltop town, just over the border in Tuscany, about 30 minutes drive from Villa Bastiola. I first visited the […]
My favourite things to do in Umbria…
I thought I would start a series of posts about the things that I loved to do when I was living at Villa Bastiola in Umbria. There’s so many it’s hard to know where to start. Just enjoying the culture, the history, the traditions, the food, the wine… It’s endless. But maybe you didn’t know […]
Festa dei Ceri – Gubbio, 15 May 2016
More things to experience in Umbria… Umbria is so culturally rich in tradition that there is always a celebration or re-enactment taking place somewhere. This time it’s the race of the giant wooden candlesticks in Gubbio in May!!! Sounds crazy (indeed Gubbio boasts of its “fontana dei matti” – fountain of the madmen – it’s […]