Hot Italian SUMMER

Bask in la dolce vita with our guide to the top destinations for food, art, culture, landscapes and beaches

- DANA FACAROS

FOR HILL TOWNS AND LANDSCAPES... UMBRIA

WHY GO? This region has much in common with Tuscany next door: exquisite hill towns filled with medieval and Renaissance art, overlooking gorgeous green landscapes, vineyards and olive groves. But there's a difference. Where Tuscany can be frantic and overcrowded, in Umbria, the same lovely things exist in an air of serenity and peace, thanks to the lingering influence of the most famous Umbrian of all-St Francis of Assisi.

SEE & DO Umbria's hilltop capital, Perugia, is one of the most fascinating art towns in Italy, with a mysterious underground city to wander through. It's famous for chocolate, while nearby Deruta is the place to go for ceramics, and Solomeo, near Lake Trasimeno, is headquarters of Brunello Cucinelli, the cashmere king. But Umbria is filled with hill towns that are works of art in themselves: Orvieto, Todi, Spoleto, Gubbio, Spello and Assisi are the most famous.

There's no corner of Umbria that isn't beautiful. On the same day you can visit Europe's highest man-made waterfall, the lush Cascata delle Marmore, and the spectacular Piano Grande plateau in the Apennine mountains, a riot of flowers in early summer under Monti Sibillini.

EAT & DRINK Umbria is best known for its olive oil, lamb and artfully cured charcuterie, and especially for its homemade pasta, topped with wild boar sauce, porcini mushrooms or wild asparagus - or if you're lucky, the region's celebrated black truffles. Experience the tradition at its best at the Ristorante Rossi in Arrone, in the Valnerina (rossihotelristorante.it) with a bottle of local wine - either white Orvieto or red Montefalco Sagrantino.