Umbria · Perugia
Gubbio
Pre-Roman Ikuvium of the Umbri, where seven bronze tablets carry the longest text of the Umbrian language.
- Best time
- Apr–Oct
- By car
- 46 min from Perugia
- Population
- 30,479
Known for
CORSA DEI CERI
Millennial race held every 15 May, three teams carry wooden statues of Sant'Ubaldo, San Giorgio and Sant'Antonio Abate from Piazza Grande to the basilica on Monte Ingino.
TAVOLE IGUVINE
Seven bronze tablets of the 3rd-1st century BC, the longest text in the Umbrian language, found in 1444 and sold to the commune in 1456 for 40 florins.
CERAMICS
Gubbio is a Città della Ceramica for the gold and ruby lustreware perfected by Mastro Giorgio Andreoli in the early 16th century.
- J8°
- F11°
- M12°
- A15°
- M20°
- J26°
- J30°
- A29°
- S23°
- O19°
- N13°
- D9°
- Best
- Hot or crowded
- Quiet
- Mostly closed
Daytime averages, 2020–2024. Weather data by Open-Meteo.com.
Why come
Gubbio sits at 522 meters on the lower slope of the mountain, the old town stacked in four parallel terraces against it. The settlement was Ikuvium, one of the most important towns of the Umbri before Rome arrived. In 1444 a peasant woman named Presentina found the bronze tablets in the area of the Roman theater and sold them to the commune in 1456 for 40 florins, a transaction that kept them in the town where they were unearthed rather than scattered to a museum elsewhere.
The terraces order the town's life by elevation: the Roman theater and lower ground below, the civic square and cathedral stacked on the upper terraces of the centro storico, the patron saint's basilica set apart on the summit above all of it. The Corsa dei Ceri each 15 May draws that vertical order into motion, three teams carrying wooden statues of Sant'Ubaldo, San Giorgio and Sant'Antonio Abate from the square at the town's center up to the basilica at its height, filling the town from dawn to dusk. The layout is not incidental: a settlement that predates Rome, a civic archive kept where it was found, and a race that each year retraces the climb from town to summit all point to the same fact, that Gubbio's history has stayed stacked on its own mountain rather than dispersed from it.
How to get there
From Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 26 min by car.
Rimini (RMI) is about 2 h 4 min away.
By car from the center of Perugia 46 min or Ancona 1 h 38 min.
Coming by train into Perugia? Gubbio is about 49 min away by road.
Every town within reach of Ancona airport.
First time driving in Italy? Read our complete manual.
What to see
Palazzo dei Consoli
Built 1332-1349 by Angelo da Orvieto and Matteo Gattapone, the Gothic civic palace holds the Tavole Iguvine and the civic museum, its vertical pilasters dividing the façade across the square.
Tavole Iguvine
Displayed on the ground floor of the palazzo, the tablets were recovered near the Roman theater and record the religious rites of the pre-Roman western world in detail.
Piazza Grande
Suspended civic square between Palazzo dei Consoli and Palazzo Pretorio, hanging on substructures against the slope of the mountain.
Basilica di Sant'Ubaldo
On the summit of Monte Ingino at 908 meters, reached by cable car, holds the body of the patron saint and the three wooden Ceri after the May race.
Teatro Romano
First-century BC Roman theater in the archaeological area of Guastuglia, rusticated limestone arches of the lower order still standing.
Duomo di Gubbio
Thirteenth-century Gothic cathedral with single nave, on the upper terrace of the centro storico across from the Palazzo Ducale of Federico da Montefeltro.
The slow-trip planner
Building a trip? Find where Gubbio fits in a slow Italy circuit.
Answer six questions. We will shape a geographically coherent slow trip from the 1,000 Italian towns most travelers skip. Yours to save and share.
From the guides
Where to eat
Not our picks, but places the guides put their name to: a Michelin star, a Gambero Rosso fork, a Slow Food snail, a Michelin Key for the hotels. Worth a table, a counter, or a night when you pass through.
La Fornace di Mastro GiorgioRistorante
La Fornace di Mastro Giorgio holds two Gambero Rosso forks (80/100).
Officina dei SaporiRistorante
Officina dei Sapori carries one Gambero Rosso fork (77/100).
Ristorante Taverna del LupoRistorante
A place on Italy's historic-locali register, at Ristorante Taverna del Lupo.
Tenuta Borgo Santa CeciliaAgriturismo
A Gambero Rosso listing, at Tenuta Borgo Santa Cecilia.
Before you sit down: how to order at a restaurant, how to spot a tourist trap, what aperitivo is and how the Italian bar works.
Living here
- Population 30,479, down 6.6% since 2015
- Remotei
- Pharmacy in town
- High school within a 30-minute drive
- A national health service hospital in the comune · how healthcare works in Italy
- Full fibre reaches 87% of homes
- Primary school in the comune
- Earthquake zone 2, medium hazard
- Ancona airport, 1 h 26 min drive, the closest of the 15 airports we time
- Regional capital Perugia, 46 min drive
Could you live here?
Gubbio meets 1 of our 2 rules for a small town.
- 30,479 people, above our sweet spot of 5,000 to 20,000: big enough that it can split into neighborhoods.
- Perugia, a city of 161,748, is 46 min by car. Inside our 30 to 60 minutes: close for the services, far enough to keep its own life.
The rules come from our series Where to Move in Italy, written from the places we have lived: Part 1, The End of the Road · Part 2, The Small Town · Part 3, The City · Part 4, The Postcard · Part 5, The Other Half. The towns we would pick are in Part 6, The Best Towns.
The button takes you to the letter's own page on Substack, where you leave your email. About the letter
Common questions
- What is Gubbio known for?
- Pre-Roman Ikuvium of the Umbri, where seven bronze tablets carry the longest text of the Umbrian language.
- Where is Gubbio?
- Gubbio is a comune in the province of Perugia, in Umbria, at 522 meters above sea level.
- Which of the airports we measure is closest to Gubbio?
- Of the 15 airports we time the drive to, the closest is Ancona (AOI), about 1 h 26 min by car.
- How long is the drive from Perugia to Gubbio?
- About 46 min by car.
- When is the best time to visit Gubbio?
- Best in Apr–Oct. July is the warmest month, averaging 30 degrees, and May the wettest, with about 14 rain days.
- Which other towns are like Gubbio?
- Cortona, Fabriano and Bressanone.
- How many people live in Gubbio?
- 30,479 at the 2023 count.
- Is Gubbio a good place to live?
- By the rules in our Where to Move in Italy series, Gubbio is a small town that meets 1 of our 2 rules. The nearest city, Perugia, is 46 min away by car. There is a national health service hospital in the comune. Full fibre reaches 87% of homes.
Tags & datadesignations · numbers · sources
Recognized as
Landscape
The numbers
- Elevation: 522 m
- Population: 30,479
- Surface area: 525.78 km²
These figures were compiled from public directories: ISTAT, OpenStreetMap and Wikidata, and from the official listings of the guides named on this page. Town details change; verify with official sources before you travel.
Similar
Towns like Gubbio
What all six share with Gubbio: inland, away from the coast · over 10,000 people · hill towns
The ranked lists
Lists Gubbio appears in
- The best towns on a walking route that eat well in the province of PerugiaPerugia provinceon a walking routeeats well8 towns · smallest 4,544 residents
- The best hill towns on a walking route within 90 minutes of PerugiaNear Perugiahill townon a walking routewithin 90 min9 towns · smallest 1,984 residents · closest 33 min away
The letter
Gubbio is on our list. Its letter is still to come.
We are writing about all 1,000 of these towns, one at a time, in a free letter: the photo, what is worth eating, and when to turn up. That is our mission. Sign up and you will be there when Gubbio comes up. By Peter & Sophia, from Turin.
The nearest town we have written up is Assisi, 28 km away. Read its letter →
The button takes you to the letter's own page on Substack, where you leave your email. About the letter