Umbria

Often referred to as ‘the green heart of Italy’, Umbria is a profoundly beautiful and largely unspoiled region of forested hills, lakes, valleys, olive groves and vineyards. It’s also home to a dozen or so classic hill towns, each resolutely individual and crammed with enough artistic and architectural treasures to rival bigger and far more famous cities. The Duomo in Orvieto, for example, is one of the greatest Gothic buildings in the country – a riot of columns, spires, bas reliefs and sculptures that caused Pope Leo XIII to call it “the Golden Lily of Italian cathedrals”, adding that on the Day of Judgement it would float up to heaven, carried by its own beauty. The town itself sits on a tabletop plug of volcanic lava known as tufa and rises 300 metres straight up from the valley floor.

Sharing top billing with Orvieto are Perugia, known for its chocolate and jazz festivals, and Assisi, birthplace of St Francis and famous for the extraordinary frescoes by Giotto in the Basilica di San Francesco. To truly get a feel for Umbria, however, it’s essential to leave time for its more understated charms, such as Todi, an increasingly chic but still unspoiled hill town; Gubbio, arguably the most picture-book pretty of Umbria’s medieval towns; and Lago Trasimeno, the largest lake in the Italian peninsula, with plenty of opportunities for swimming and watersports. Two exceptional estates, Reschio and Tenuta di Murlo, both north of Perugia near the Tuscan border, make wonderful bases for exploring the area.