8 notable places within an hour's drive.
photogenic
Castelluccio di Norcia
Hilltop hamlet at 1,452 m above the Piano Grande plateau, where lentil fields erupt into a patchwork bloom of red, blue and gold each June-July (La Fiorita). The drive up from Norcia across the karst plain is one of the Apennines' great reveals.
15 km · about 30 min drive
landmark
Norcia
A walled mountain town in Umbria celebrated as the birthplace of St. Benedict and as Italy's capital of black truffles.
16 km · about 30 min drive
landmark
Spoleto
An ancient Umbrian town famous for its towering Roman aqueduct bridge, the Ponte delle Torri, and its annual arts festival.
36 km · about 40 min drive
cathedral
Assisi
The birthplace of St. Francis, featuring the magnificent Basilica with Giotto's frescoes set against the slopes of Monte Subasio.
40 km · about 45 min drive
cafe
Caffè Meletti
Art-nouveau café of 1907 on Ascoli Piceno's travertine Piazza del Popolo, home of the anisetta liqueur the Meletti family still distils. Hemingway and Sartre drank here; order the anisetta 'con la mosca', with a coffee bean afloat.
41 km · about 50 min drive
cathedral
Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi
A 13th-century basilica housing Giotto's frescoes and the tomb of St. Francis, a major pilgrimage destination.
42 km · about 50 min drive
waterfall
Cascata delle Marmore
A 165-meter man-made waterfall created by the ancient Romans in 271 BC, now one of Italy's most impressive cascades.
52 km · about 60 min drive
natural wonder
Frasassi Caves
One of Europe's largest show-cave systems, discovered in 1971: the Ancona Abyss entrance chamber could swallow Milan Cathedral. Guided routes wind past 1.4-million-year-old stalagmites deep under the Marche's Genga gorge.
53 km · about 60 min drive