The 6 best olive oil towns you can reach by train in the province of Perugia
Six towns: what each is best for, what a home costs, and the catch. A square meter runs from €590 in Campello sul Clitunno to €1,550 in Spoleto.
We've written about 5 of these 6. From the 1,000 towns picked by Peter Benei.
92 towns written about, 908 to go. Follow along, free: Subscribe on Substack
Umbrian olive oil tastes of cut grass and black pepper, and it is at its best in the weeks after the November harvest when the frantoi run late and the new oil goes onto bruschetta still cloudy. The olive belt here climbs the slopes above the Valle Umbra in silver terraces held up by dry stone walls, with towns of pale limestone and pink Subasio stone set into them. Below, the plain grows the celery, onions and farro that end up in the same kitchens. Autumn is the season, though the groves are worth walking in spring too, when the ground between the trees turns to wild fennel and poppies.
Most visitors to this part of Umbria go to Assisi, and with good reason, but the basilica draws coach parties by the hundred and the town above it can feel like a corridor for much of the year. Perugia takes the rest, filling up for its chocolate festival and its jazz week. Both are on the railway, both are properly served, and both are where the queue is.
The same groves, the same soil and the same presses carry on down the valley and around the lake. These are smaller places, with fewer people in them, and each is a member of the national association of olive-oil towns, which is a claim about presses and pruning rather than about scenery. We have checked that each can be reached without a car, on the lines running from Perugia toward Foligno, Spoleto and Terontola.
Of the 37 communes we have mapped in the province of Perugia, 6 qualify as olive oil towns you can reach by train: each belongs to the national association of olive-oil towns, and we have confirmed each is reachable without a car. The smallest, Campello sul Clitunno, has 2,316 residents.
If you are still choosing, we have also written The best olive oil towns that eat well in the province of Perugia and The best hidden olive oil towns you can reach by train within 90 minutes of Perugia.
All the towns within a day trip: day trips from Perugia.
1. Spello
Best for a slow weekend. The Touring Club gives it its orange flag for small inland towns.
31 min from Perugia · homes €1,000 to €1,450 a m² in the center · 8,210 people
Why visit Spello
The centro storico climbs the lower southern flank of Monte Subasio, still contained within the circuit of walls raised when the town was renamed Splendidissima Colonia Julia by Augustus. Before that it was Hispellum under the Umbrians.
The Roman gates and stretches of wall from the Augustan period were not rebuilt over, so the line of the ancient town is still readable in the streets that climb from them today. The same streets carry the Infiorata each June and the fresco Pinturicchio completed for the chapel he painted in Santa Maria Maggiore, two things separated by roughly fifteen centuries but occupying the same short stretch of the old town: the chapel's Annunciation, Nativity and Christ Among the Doctors sit near the piazza the petal pictures are laid across.
A Roman villa with ten mosaic floors, found only in 2005 and left in place under cover, adds a third layer beneath the town that is still being uncovered rather than one that was always on view. The town's Roman skeleton, its painted chapel, and a floor uncovered within living memory all sit within the same small radius, which is unusual: most places show one era at a time, Spello keeps three in view at once.
What to see in Spello
- Cappella Baglioni. The Cappella Bella, commissioned by Troilo Baglioni, with four sibyls ranged across the vault above the painted scenes below.
- Santa Maria Maggiore. Twelfth-century church on Piazza Matteotti, its interior built around the fresco cycle and the later panel it houses.
- Porta Venere e Torri di Properzio. First-century BC gate flanked by two dodecagonal towers, still standing at close to full height with the stonework legible course by course.
How to get to Spello
It has its own railway station. Perugia is about 31 min away by road. The full route from Florence.
Our tip
April through June and September into October are the months for Spello. The slopes of Monte Subasio above town carry wildflowers, Cammino di San Francesco walkers pass through, and the Infiorata weekend on Corpus Domini in late May or June is the most concentrated day on the calendar. July and August touch the mid-thirties on the valley floor; the centro storico at 280 meters stays a few degrees cooler in the upper streets, but most visitors come early or wait until after seven.
2. Campello sul Clitunno
Best for a World Heritage site. UNESCO lists a site in the comune.
48 min from Terni · homes €590 to €820 a m² in the center · 2,316 people
Written about. No. 77. Read the letter →
Why visit Campello sul Clitunno
Campello sul Clitunno sits at 290 meters along the Clitunno river, a few kilometers north of Spoleto. The name comes from the Counts Campello, originally Champeaux of Reims, who founded the hilltop nucleus of Campello Alto in the mid-10th century under the Burgundian noble Rovero.
The Fonti del Clitunno, the springs that form the river, produce 1,300 to 1,500 liters of water per second; Pliny the Younger wrote about them, and Lord Byron and Giosuè Carducci returned to the place in poems centuries later, the latter with the ode Le fonti del Clitumno. A kilometer downstream from the springs, in the frazione of Pissignano, the Tempietto del Clitunno is a 4th- or 5th-century pagan sacellum reworked by the Lombards in the 7th and 8th centuries; the interior frescoes have parallels with Santa Maria Antiqua in Rome.
The Tempietto entered the UNESCO World Heritage List in June 2011 as part of the serial site The Lombards in Italy: Places of Power. The Castello di Pissignano above the temple covers the medieval layer.
What to see in Campello sul Clitunno
- Tempietto del Clitunno. Small temple-shaped chapel of the 4th-5th century reworked by the Lombards in the 7th-8th, with frescoes of the Saviour, Peter and Paul; UNESCO World Heritage.
- Fonti del Clitunno. Springs producing 1,300-1,500 liters per second, forming the source of the Clitunno; visited by Pliny, Byron and Carducci.
- Castello di Pissignano. Eleventh-twelfth century hilltop castle just above the Tempietto, founded by Benedictine monks who enclosed the settlement with walls.
How to get to Campello sul Clitunno
It has its own railway station. Terni is about 48 min away by road. The full route from Rome.
Our tip
April through June and September into October are the months for Campello sul Clitunno. The springs run cold and full, the willows along the lake at the source hold the morning light, and the trails between the Tempietto and Campello Alto are walkable in shade. July and August touch the mid-thirties in the Spoleto valley; the Fonti basin runs a few degrees cooler at the water's edge.
3. Trevi
Best for a walk through the old town. It is on the list of Italy's most beautiful villages.
45 min from Perugia · homes €690 to €960 a m² in the center · 7,927 people
Written about. No. 90. Read the letter →
Why visit Trevi
Trevi sits at 412 meters on a conical hill above the Spoleto valley, the centro storico still inside the Roman walls of the 1st century BC. The town stood on the Via Flaminia, the consular road from Rome to the Adriatic, and grew into a Guelph commune by the 12th century.
Olive oil is what people come for. Over 200,000 trees blanket the slopes below the walls on near-ideal calcareous, well-drained soils, and the Olivo di Sant'Emiliano, at Bovara by the abbey of San Pietro, is about 1,700 years old, identified with the tree the bishop of Trevi was tied to in 304 before his martyrdom.
The Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime, built in 1487 to mark a miracle, holds a fresco by Pietro Perugino. The centro storico runs in concentric rings up the hill, each ring older than the last, with the Palazzo Comunale and the Pinacoteca holding works by Lo Spagna at the top.
What to see in Trevi
- Santuario della Madonna delle Lacrime. Built in 1487 after a Marian apparition wept tears of blood in 1485, with a fresco by Perugino in the Cappella dell'Adorazione.
- Chiesa di Sant'Emiliano. Romanesque parish church at the top of the centro storico, dedicated to the bishop martyred in 304, the patron saint of the town.
- Olivo di Sant'Emiliano. About 1,700-year-old olive tree near the eponymous church, nine meters tall, traditionally the tree to which the bishop was tied before martyrdom.
How to get to Trevi
It has its own railway station. Perugia is about 45 min away by road. The full route from Rome.
Our tip
April through June and September into October are the months for Trevi. The olive groves are in leaf or in harvest, the hill is green or silver-gold depending on the half, and the valley below holds the morning light. The Festa di Sant'Emiliano runs the last week of January with the Palio dei Terzieri, when the three quarters of the town compete.
4. Magione
Best for a day out from Perugia. It is 20 min by car.
20 min from Perugia · homes €820 to €1,050 a m² in the center · 14,680 people
Written about. No. 60. Read the letter →
Why visit Magione
Magione sits at 299 meters on a hill east of Lake Trasimeno, fifteen kilometers from Perugia. The name comes from the Knights Hospitaller, who built a hospital here in the mid-twelfth century dedicated to Saint John the Baptist and called their convent Maison in their own language.
The original nucleus stood on the Perugia-Tuscany route and grew into the fortified base that still anchors the town today. The lower town is organized around two medieval poles: the castle complex near the old route, and the quadrangular tower rising thirty meters over the settlement, built in the same period by the same Order.
The vineyards on the surrounding hills lie between 250 and 350 meters above sea level, and the town's territory extends down to the lake's eastern shore. In October 1502, the castle hosted a plot against Cesare Borgia: his own captains and allies conspired against him inside its walls.
Niccolò Machiavelli, sent by Florence to offer Borgia its support, watched him dismantle the conspirators within months. A hospital, a tower, and a plot against a Borgia: the town's history reads as a sequence of episodes gathered around the same fortified point on the road between Perugia and Tuscany.
What to see in Magione
- Castello dei Cavalieri di Malta. The fortified complex built by the Knights Hospitaller stands as the town's anchor, its walls the setting where the Conspiracy of Magione was plotted against Cesare Borgia.
- Torre dei Lambardi. Thirty-meter quadrangular tower built between the twelfth and thirteenth centuries by the Gerosolimitani Knights, three floors and a summit terrace.
- Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista. Chapel inside the castle walls, dedicated to the saint of the original Hospitaller foundation.
How to get to Magione
It has its own railway station. Perugia is about 20 min away by road. The full route from Florence.
✷ We have written about Magione
“The lake is like a sanatorium compared to the sea. It’s relaxed. It’s calm. It’s silent. To find this level of almost disturbing quietness, you either go up into the mountains, or you really need to know your way around the sea to find that particular spot not overrun by vacationers and beach people. In Trasimeno, this is easy. Even the most popular towns like Castiglione or Passignano sit in quiet harmony with the stillness of the water.”
Read our piece on Magione →Lago Trasimeno | Never Compete with the Sea
Our tip
April through June and September into October are the working months on the eastern Trasimeno: clear lake light, olive groves on the hills above, evenings cool enough to walk between the Castello and the Torre. July and August reach the low thirties in the basin; the lake helps but weekends fill with Perugia and Florence day-trippers and the lakefront frazione of San Feliciano runs heavy. The olive harvest in late October and November turns the territory busy with frantoi at full capacity.
5. Spoleto
Best for truffle season. It belongs to the national association of truffle towns.
39 min from Terni · homes €970 to €1,550 a m² in the center · 35,983 people
Written about. No. 87. Read the letter →
Why visit Spoleto
Spoleto sits at 396 meters at the southern edge of the Valle Umbra, the Apennines rising behind it toward Monteluco. The town was Roman Spoletium from 241 BC, then capital of one of the two great Lombard duchies of Italy from 576, controlling Umbria, Sabina, Picenum and the Pescara valley for more than five centuries.
The Rocca Albornoziana on the Colle Sant'Elia was built between 1363 and 1367 by Matteo Gattapone for Cardinal Albornoz, both a papal fortress and a residence, now the Museo Nazionale del Ducato. From the Rocca the Ponte delle Torri, 230 meters long and 80 meters high, crosses the Tessino gorge to Monteluco, an aqueduct of the 13th century built over Roman foundations.
The Duomo holds a Byzantine mosaic of 1207 across its façade and Filippo Lippi's last fresco cycle in the apse. Gian Carlo Menotti founded the Festival dei Due Mondi in 1958; the Roman theater, the Rocca courtyard and Piazza del Duomo still carry the program each year from late June into mid-July.
What to see in Spoleto
- Rocca Albornoziana. Papal fortress built 1363-1367 by Matteo Gattapone for Cardinal Albornoz, now the Museo Nazionale del Ducato di Spoleto.
- Ponte delle Torri. Aqueduct bridge 230 meters long and 80 meters high, crossing the Tessino gorge to Monteluco, 13th-14th century on Roman foundations.
- Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta. Twelfth-century Romanesque cathedral with Byzantine mosaic of 1207 on the façade, Renaissance portico, and Filippo Lippi frescoes in the apse.
How to get to Spoleto
It has its own railway station. Terni is about 39 min away by road. The full route from Rome.
✷ We have written about Spoleto
“It was the seat of the Lombard Duchy of Spoleto, which ruled much of central Italy for centuries and shaped how Umbria looks today. The historic center is amazing, quite a walk up though, but this is Umbria, and you’ve probably gotten used to it by now. Spoleto is one of the stops on our Umbrian Circle road trip.”
Read our piece on Spoleto →The Umbrian Circle | Town Tasting in a Day
Our tip
April through June and September into October are the months for Spoleto. The town opens its gardens, the Rocca courtyard fills with sun, and the long walks along the Giro dei Condotti above the Ponte delle Torri become bearable again. The Festival dei Due Mondi runs from late June into mid-July, when Spoleto doubles in population and the Roman theater carries opera into the small hours.
6. Foligno
Best for a stage of a long walk. The Cammino di San Francesco passes through.
40 min from Perugia · homes €840 to €1,300 a m² in the center · 55,303 people
Written about. No. 79. Read the letter →
Why visit Foligno
Foligno sits on the left bank of the Topino where the river leaves the Apennines and meets the plain of the Clitunno, the point at which the mountains give way to the Umbrian Valley. The town was called Fulginium in antiquity, and Cicero mentions the prefecture in two surviving fragments.
The Trinci ruled the town from 1305 to 1439, and the palace that carries their name still stands at its center, with the cathedral facing the same square where the town's tournament has run twice a year since its revival. The city's oldest church predates the Trinci period by centuries, its site going back to an 8th-century chapel, while the abbey in the hills above town was founded in 1084, its cloister finished in 1229.
Between the ancient prefecture, the medieval abbey, the Trinci court, and the print workshop that put Dante into type, Foligno reads as a valley crossing point where successive centuries each left a building rather than displacing what came before.
What to see in Foligno
- Palazzo Trinci. Seat of the Trinci signoria 1305-1439, frescoed by Gentile da Fabriano and Jacopo Bellini, now holding the Pinacoteca and archaeological museum.
- Cattedrale di San Feliciano. Romanesque cathedral on Piazza della Repubblica, built over the tomb of the bishop-martyr buried here in 251 AD.
- Basilica di Santa Maria Infraportas. Oldest church in the city on the site of an 8th-century chapel, frescoes by Nelli, Ugolino di Gisberto, Alunno and Mezzastris.
How to get to Foligno
It has its own railway station. Perugia is about 40 min away by road. The full route from Rome.
Our tip
April through June and September into October are the months locals prefer. The Quintana runs twice a year, the June and September editions filling the rioni for a week each. April through October is also the season for the Topino river paths and the climb up to Sassovivo.
If you only pick one
Which town is yours
One town for each kind of trip, and the reason in a line.
Without a car
Foligno
The train stops in the commune, so you can arrive and leave without a car.
For a short trip
Magione
23 min by car from Perugia, the shortest drive from a city on this list.
For a small town
Campello sul Clitunno
2,316 people, the smallest town on this list.
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