The 6 best small towns that eat well in the province of Perugia
The province of Perugia eats on wood smoke and pork fat. Lentils grown on the high plain, farro from the valley floor, black truffle grated over hand-rolled strangozzi, cured shoulder hung in cellars cut into the stone the houses themselves are built from. Autumn is the season the kitchens wait for, when the truffle comes in and the olive presses run and the new oil goes on grilled bread with nothing else. The wine is Sagrantino and Grechetto, and it is poured by the person who made it more often than not.
Almost everyone eats in Perugia itself, or in Assisi, where the restaurants sit along the pilgrim route to the Basilica and turn tables all day between coach arrivals. The food can be good. It is also priced for a crowd that will not come back, served in rooms where the menu is translated into four languages and the kitchen has learned to cook fast rather than long. Umbria's reputation as the green heart of Italy has funnelled a great deal of traffic into a very short list of addresses.
The hills do not stop at the edge of the famous towns, and neither do the kitchens. The same valley that feeds Assisi feeds the smaller walled towns further down it, and the same mountains that produce the truffle and the lentils sit above villages where the butcher and the restaurant are often the same family. Every town in this list has a table named by a national or international dining guide, and fewer people go to any of them. They are worth the detour, and the drive between them is part of the point.
Of the 37 communes we have mapped in the province of Perugia, 22 qualify as towns that eat well: a national or international dining guide has named a table in each. This list is the small ones, 6 in all, ordered smallest first. The smallest, Preci, has 681 residents.
Elsewhere in the catalogue: The best small towns that eat well in Umbria and The prettiest small villages within 90 minutes of Perugia.
Preci
Why visit Preci
Preci sits at 596 meters in the Castoriana valley, inside the Monti Sibillini National Park and within driving distance of both Spoleto and Norcia. The walled borgo is crossed by the Campiano river and surrounded by mountain pasture.
The Abbazia di Sant'Eutizio, just outside the walls, is one of the oldest monasteries in Italy, founded by Syrian Benedictine monks in the fifth century. Their accumulated medical knowledge gave rise to the Preci school of surgery, which from the thirteenth to the eighteenth century supplied surgeons to royal courts across Europe; the local specialists worked in extraction of kidney stones, cataract surgery and hernia repair.
Noble palaces of the surgeon families still line the centro storico. The town was nearly destroyed by the 30 October 2016 earthquake, magnitude 6.5, which heavily damaged Sant'Eutizio; reconstruction is still in progress.
The Borghi più belli, Cittaslow and Parco Nazionale recognitions were retained through the rebuild.
Guaita Sant'Eutizio have been named by a guide.
What to see in Preci
- Abbazia di Sant'Eutizio. Benedictine monastery of 5th-century foundation, considered a place of origin for the Benedictine Order, heavily damaged in 2016 and under reconstruction.
- Centro storico fortificato. Walled medieval borgo on a hillside in the Castoriana valley, with noble palaces of the 16th-18th centuries built by the surgeon families.
- Museo della Scuola Chirurgica. Surgical school museum inside the Sant'Eutizio complex documenting the work of Preci surgeons from the 13th to 18th centuries.
How to get to Preci
There is no station we could confirm here, so this one means driving. Terni is roughly 90 minutes away by road.
Our tip
May through October is the working season at this elevation in the Valnerina. The Sibillini trails open in late spring and the Castoriana valley stays green through October. July and August are the months for the high trails to Piano Grande and Monte Vettore; the borgo itself stays cool in the upper twenties.
Sellano
Why visit Sellano
Sellano sits at 641 meters on the eastern edge of Umbria, looking over the Vigi stream toward the Marche border. The Vigi feeds the Nera; the valley is the upper Valnerina, one of the most isolated stretches of the Umbro-Marchigiano Apennines.
The 1979 and 1997 earthquakes hit the commune hard. The 1997 quake destroyed the sixteenth-century Palazzo dei Collicola at Montesanto and emptied most of the surrounding hamlets.
Reconstruction took two decades. In March 2024 a new structure opened: a 517-meter suspension footbridge across the Vigi gorge linking Sellano to the Castello di Montesanto, 175 meters above the valley floor, 1,023 steps, claimed as Europe's highest tibetan bridge alongside Portugal's Arouca 516.
Funded by NextAppennino, 1.6 million euros from PNRR earthquake-area development money. The bridge has become the visible decision of a small commune to bet its future on something other than waiting out emigration.
La Casa Rosa del Castello di Postignano have been named by a guide.
What to see in Sellano
- Ponte tibetano. 517-meter suspension footbridge opened March 2024, 175 meters above the Vigi gorge, 1,023 steps linking Sellano to Castello di Montesanto.
- Castello di Montesanto. Medieval fortress hamlet across the Vigi, depopulated after the 1997 earthquake, reachable on foot via the new bridge.
- Borgo medievale di Sellano. Compact walled centro storico looking east toward the Marche, partially rebuilt after the 1997 quake.
How to get to Sellano
There is no station we could confirm here, so this one means driving. Perugia is roughly 66 minutes away by road.
Our tip
May through October is the working season at 641 meters in the upper Valnerina. The new bridge runs full schedule, the trails along the Vigi gorge are open, and the temperature stays in the low twenties through summer afternoons. June and September are the best months for walking: long light, dry trail, late wildflowers. Sagra della Fojata e dell'Attorta falls in August.
Montone
Why visit Montone
Montone sits at 482 meters on a ridge above the upper Tiber valley, thirty kilometers north of Perugia. The walled centro storico is small enough to circuit in fifteen minutes and steep enough that the route is the climb.
The town is the cradle of the Fortebracci, the condottieri family whose most famous member, Braccio da Montone, was made Count of Montone in 1414 by Antipope John XXIII. The Rocca di Braccio at the top of the hill and the Rocca d'Aries six kilometers out are both Fortebracci works.
The Gothic Chiesa di San Francesco, built around 1300 where the family had its houses, holds the Pinacoteca with a Bartolomeo Caporali altarpiece. The Donazione della Spina, a relic-thorn from Christ's crown given to the town by Carlo Fortebracci after the Venetians thanked him for naval service against the Turks, is processed twice a year, on Easter Monday and during the August week after Ferragosto.
Since 1997 the Umbria Film Festival has run here every July, founded with Terry Gilliam.
Tipico Osteria dei Sensi, Tipica Osteria dei Sensi, Locanda del Capitano & Tipico Osteria dei Sensi have been named by a guide.
What to see in Montone
- Chiesa di San Francesco. Gothic church of around 1300 with a fourteenth-century convent, picture gallery and cloister, on the hill where the Fortebracci had their houses.
- Rocca di Braccio. Fortress at the top of the borgo rebuilt under Oddo III Fortebracci in the late fourteenth century, now a panoramic ramparts walk.
- Rocca d'Aries. Castle six kilometers from the centro storico, the first Fortebracci stronghold according to tradition, restored and reopened to visit.
How to get to Montone
There is no station we could confirm here, so this one means driving. Perugia is roughly 47 minutes away by road.
Our tip
April through June and September into October are the steady months. The Umbria Film Festival runs in mid-July under Terry Gilliam's patronage, and the borgo doubles for that week with screenings in the piazze and the Rocca. The August Donazione della Spina pageant, the week after Ferragosto, fills the streets with medieval costumes and a Rocca di Braccio banquet.
Massa Martana
Why visit Massa Martana
Massa Martana is here for the Roman road. The Via Flaminia (the original 220 BC consular road from Rome north over the Apennines to Rimini, the spine of Roman Italian infrastructure for 500+ years) passes directly through the village — and Massa Martana sits at exactly the point where the road begins climbing into the Apennine pre-massif, with sections of the original Roman paving still visible in the surrounding countryside.
This made the area an important late-antique Christian community: the Catacombe di Villa San Faustino (3-4 km north of the centro) are the only Roman-era Christian catacombs in all of Umbria — discovered 1968, in continuous use from the 3rd to the 6th c AD, with 200+ tombs, original frescoes, and Latin inscriptions. The Abbazia dei Santi Fidenzio e Terenzio (9th-c Benedictine, on the hill above town, with surviving Carolingian elements + 12th-c restorations) is the other major monastic-era survivor.
The town itself is 3,613 residents at 351m altitude in central Umbria, 17 km southeast of Todi, with a medieval-Renaissance centro that was severely damaged by the 26 September 1997 Marche-Umbria earthquake (the same event that brought down the vault of the Basilica di San Francesco in Assisi). The reconstruction was completed in stages through 2010, and the town was re-inscribed on the Borghi più belli d'Italia list after restoration.
Today the centro reads as a meticulously restored small medieval ensemble — the Porta Santa Maria, the Chiesa Madre di San Felice (rebuilt), the Palazzo Comunale, the Torre Civica. Surroundings: the Monti Martani limestone massif (the prehistoric source of the Martana name) rises immediately east, with marked hiking trails, the Lago di Corbara just south, and the Todi UNESCO-fortified town 17 km away.
The food is Umbrian: strangozzi with truffle (Umbria's signature pasta), porchetta, salumi, Pecorino, the local Sagrantino di Montefalco 25 km west. The Festa di San Felice (25 January) and the Sagra del Tartufo (October) are the year's main events.
Fontana delle Pere have been named by a guide.
What to see in Massa Martana
- Via Flaminia Roman road. Original 220 BC consular road from Rome to Rimini passes directly through. Sections of Roman paving visible in the surrounding countryside — the spine of Roman Italian infrastructure for 500+ years.
- Catacombe di Villa San Faustino. The only Roman-era Christian catacombs in all of Umbria — 3-4 km north of the centro, in use 3rd-6th c AD, with 200+ tombs, original frescoes, Latin inscriptions. Guided tours.
- Abbazia dei Santi Fidenzio e Terenzio. 9th-c Benedictine abbey on the hill above town. Surviving Carolingian elements + 12th-c restorations. The most important monastic survivor in the comune.
How to get to Massa Martana
There is a railway station in the town, so you can arrive without a car and never need one while you are here. Terni is roughly 32 minutes away by road.
Our tip
Massa Martana is best April–June and September–October. The Sagra del Tartufo in October is the year's culinary highlight. Festa di San Felice (25 January) is the winter patronal event.
Norcia
Why visit Norcia
Norcia sits at 604 meters on a high plateau on the Umbrian side of the Monti Sibillini, ancient Nursia of the Sabines, fortified in the 3rd century BC by Rome. Saints Benedict and his twin sister Scholastica were born here in 480; the Benedictine Order and the Ora et Labora motto that shaped Western monasticism began on this piazza.
The Basilica di San Benedetto rises on the traditional birthplace, built between 1290 and 1338 over a pre-existing crypt. On 30 October 2016 a magnitude 6.5 earthquake destroyed the nave; only the façade was left standing.
Reconstruction completed on 30 October 2025, nine years to the day, with the original stones and earthquake-resistant technology. The town gave its name to norcineria, the Italian word for quality pork delicatessen, after centuries of Norcia butchers specializing in wild boar and pork.
Black truffle from the Valnerina, lentils from Castelluccio, and ricotta from the high pastures complete the table.
Vespasia, Granaro del Monte, Casale nel Parco have been named by a guide.
What to see in Norcia
- Basilica di San Benedetto. Built 1290-1338 over the traditional birthplace of Saints Benedict and Scholastica, rebuilt with original stones after 2016, reopened 30 October 2025.
- Castellina. Fortified papal stronghold designed by Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola in 1554, on Piazza San Benedetto, now the Museo Civico e Diocesano.
- Piazza San Benedetto. Civic and religious heart of the centro storico, with the Palazzo Comunale, the basilica, the Castellina and the statue of Benedict at the center.
How to get to Norcia
There is no station we could confirm here, so this one means driving. Terni is roughly 93 minutes away by road.
Our tip
April through June and September into October are the months for Norcia. The plateau holds its color, the lentil fields of Castelluccio bloom from mid-June into July, and the high pastures are open for hiking. July and August stay cooler than the Umbrian valleys at 604 meters, but the town fills with festival crowds for the Mostra Mercato del Tartufo Nero on the last weekend of February and again for sagras through the summer.
Bevagna
Why visit Bevagna
Bevagna sits on the floor of the Umbrian valley at 225 meters, where the Clitunno meets the Timia. Ancient Mevania, the name means she who stands in the middle, was a Roman mansio on the Via Flaminia, listed in the Antonine Itinerary.
A black-and-white mosaic of the 2nd century AD survives almost intact in the frigidarium of the Roman baths, twelve meters by seven, octopuses and dolphins in the center, tritons and sea-horses on the short sides. Piazza Silvestri at the heart of the centro storico holds two Romanesque churches that face each other at odd angles, San Michele Arcangelo and San Silvestro, built within years of each other in the late 12th century.
The Mercato delle Gaite each June turns the town into the year 1300 for ten days, four quarters competing on medieval trades and tavern menus, no anachronisms allowed. The Sagrantino slopes of Montefalco are nine kilometers up the road.
Serpillo, Ottavi Mare have been named by a guide.
What to see in Bevagna
- Piazza Silvestri. Twelfth-century civic square ringed by the Palazzo dei Consoli, the churches of San Silvestro and San Michele, and the fountain of 1896.
- Chiesa di San Michele Arcangelo. Romanesque collegiate church built by Binello and Rodolfo at the end of the 12th century, on the main square.
- Chiesa di San Silvestro. Romanesque parish church across the piazza, signed and dated 1195 by Binello, the same builder as San Michele.
How to get to Bevagna
There is no station we could confirm here, so this one means driving. Perugia is roughly 39 minutes away by road.
Our tip
April through June and September into October are the months for Bevagna. The valley fills with green, the Sagrantino vines run on the slopes above town, and the rose festival fills the gardens around the walls in May. The Mercato delle Gaite runs the second half of June and is the single most concentrated weekend on the Umbrian medieval calendar. Sagra della Lumaca falls in August.
More from Anywhere Italy
- The best small towns that eat well in Umbria
The prettiest small villages within 90 minutes of Perugia- The best hidden towns with a serious restaurant in the province of Perugia
- The best hill towns with a serious restaurant in the province of Perugia
- The prettiest villages that eat well within 90 minutes of Terni
- The best hidden towns you can reach by train that eat well in the province of Perugia