Freelance Researcher Trip in Perugia

Early February - the Chocolate Festival, a unique opportunity for trying whole meals based on chocolate, and take advantage of the free samples offered by chocolate factories.

All through the summer - Umbria Jazz, international stars performing live in theatres, smaller venues, and on the streets; from Dixieland to avant-garde, the whole spectrum is represented.

All through the year - the National Gallery holds one of the finest collections of Renaissance paintings in the world. All around town, "minor" hot spots of antiquarian interest - from Etruscan to Late Renaissance - are easily accessible.

Quick Tips:

Most museums and art exhibits will provide multiple tickets, allowing access to a number (normally three) of different venues for a reduced fare. Usually, the venues included are to be visited on the same day.

The National Gallery tends to be crowded due to its renowned status. But it closes at 7:30pm, and especially in the off-season, a satisfactory tour of the premises can be done by getting in at 6pm, when most visitors would be getting out.

Best Way To Get Around:

The best way to get around Perugia is on foot.
No bicycles - there's too many steep climbs and stairways.
No cars - this town was built when the donkey was the top of the line in luxury transportation.
Public transportation, in the form of huge nafta-powered buses, can be confusing and does not run at night.

La Locanda dei Golosi (lit. "The Gluttons' Inn") is an "Agriturismo" (in this case, a tourist resort in a refurbished farmhouse) located in a quiet farming community about 10km out of Perugia. It offers a dozen apartments (kitchen/dining area, bathroom, bedroom), elegantly furnished in 19th-century style, for reasonably low rates (about the same as a two-star hotel in town). Bedrooms are normally doubles.

The room price also covers breakfast (home-cooking) and, in the proper season, access to the pool and surrounding park. The homestyle cooking offered by the restaurant is particularly good, being rooted in local peasant tradition, but with some international touches to make it more accessible. The restaurant price list is very reasonable, the wine list is intriguing.

The "Locanda" is open all year, and despite its out-of-the-way position, it's easily located, thanks to strategically placed roadsigns.

Perugia can be reached easily by car or bus.

Also known as the "Pozzo Corbello", this is a relic of the Etruscan presence in the Perugia area. It is open mornings and afternoons to small groups of visitors. Buried under much more recent buildings (Corbello House), the 36 meters-deep structure, built in classical Etruskan red brick with its maze of stairwells, is a well-hidden wonder in a wonder-filled town.