AND SO MUCH MORE
Rome is an easy 45 minute train ride from Poggio Mirteto station.
WITHIN AN HOUR’S DRIVE
Bomarzo is a lush Renaissance park hiding vast sculptures of monsters carved from volcanic rock. In cooler weather, don’t miss the thermal baths at the Terme dei Papi spa just outside Viterbo: a huge, outdoor steaming pool where Popes once cavorted. Nearby Viterbo is a sophisticated walled Renaissance town with good shops and restaurants. Experience Europe’s most impressive waterfall, the Cascata delle Marmore, which generates electricity for much of Umbria. And designer shopping is on the doorstep at the retail village known as ‘Outlet’: clothes, shoes and kitchenware, all at a discount.
AN HOUR TO TWO HOURS’ DRIVE
Orvieto, Spoleto, Assisi and Perugia lie to the north/north-east; also the perfect little Umbrian hilltops towns of Narni, Spello and Todi. North of Narni on the Perugia road is the impressive Roman town of Carsulae with its ampitheatre, temples, forum etc in a delightful grassy setting. The Palazzo Farnese with its Renaissance frescoes and impressive ornate gardens is set at the base of the Monti Cimini volcanic mountain range. Sutri boasts a Roman ampitheatre and Etruscan tombs. Lake Bracciano, to the west, is one of the cleanest in Italy with beaches, water sports and lakeside restaurants. More peaceful is the small sister lake Martignano, with pedalos for hire and hammocks slung between trees. To the east is the man-made Lago del Turano, where you can swim from the pontoons of floating restaurants.
Useful linkS:
Private Tour Guides
www.johnnymadge.com - Johnny Madge's olive oil tours
www.secretrome.it - Ginevra Lovatelli's 'secret Rome'