Perugia - Tastes and Sights

We were in Perugia for almost a week and got to know it as well as we could. The people in Perugia were nice, not as warm as they were in the South. I definitely noticed that the further north we traveled it became colder not only in temperature but in people's demeanor. I don't know why that is, I mean the North should be used to more foreigners considering it's closer to most of the rest of Europe; however, I noticed people were friendlier in the South. That being said, nobody was rude to us during our voyage, I think that has to do with our attempt to speak the language and try to enjoy Italy.

While we were in Perugia, we found probably one of the best pizzeria's during our stay. Aside from Da Michele's in Naples, Da Maurizio (by the way, the name is not on the storefront, only on the receipt) was the best deal in all of our travels! One slice and a Coke for 3 Euros. And the slice was not some little sliver like they gave us in Siena, which is a Sienese specialty (I guess, tasty, but not the same).

Ok, enough about Maurizio's, as I've probably mentioned it on this site several times. But it definitely deserves the props!















Fontana Maggiore

If you're planning on staying in Perugia for a while, consider staying at Hotel Fortuna. That's where we stayed and we really enjoyed the stay. It's a centrally located 3* hotel. We had considered some 1 or 2* hotels, but decided to splurge in Perugia, since it was going to be one of our longer stays -- and were glad that we did. Breakfast was ok - some days were better than others, hey it's Italy. (We reserved via Venere.com, I think the people who had bad luck with it or other hotels reserved through other online reservation companies.)

I'd also consider buying a Perugia Museo Card, which you can purchase at the Tourist Information (TI) Office located near the COOP in downtown. It says on the tourism website that you can purchase the card at any of the participating museums, but we couldn't (remember, this is Italy) - they told us that we had to first buy it at the TI. I think it allowed us entrance into the museums for free for 1 day (although there are some museums that have special exhibitions that won't allow you to enter). There are 4 different passes, costing anywhere from 7 to 35 Euros, it's up to you how much you want to spend and see. The 7 Euro pass allows access to 4 museums in one day -- I think this is what we purchased -- don't worry there are some free museums!

Your museum choices in Perugia:
Cappella di San Severo
Centro Servizi Museali della Rocca Paolina
Galleria Nazionale Dell'Umbria
Ipogeo dei Volumni
Museo Archeologico Nazionale dell'Umbria
Museo Capitolare
Museo delle Mura e delle Porte Urbiche
Nobile Collegio del Cambio
Nobile Collegio Della Mercanzia
Palazzo Baldeschi al Corso
Palazzo della Penna
Pozzo Etrusco

Mind you, when visiting many of the sights in Perugia some of the staff in Umbria may not speak English or another foreign language. I find that unlike Rome or Milan, even though there are many foreign students coming to study Italian, many Italians in Perugia do not speak English (or at least feign speaking it). Which is a relief. But, if you don't speak Italian, bring a phrasebook.

The first day my sister and I were in Perugia, we unpacked and walked around. We did a little mini-tour of the town. It's not that large, snapping photos along the way. We noted the neat Christmas decorations. One hotel had a ferris wheel in front of it, it must have been a five-star, just for its paying customers. Then, we scurried into a pasticceria and looked into the display cases and pointed at the chocolate covered biscotti (biscotti = twice cooked = "cookie"). Afterwards, we walked into COOP -- it was packed full of Italians and Americani (obviously attending the Universita' degli Stranieri a Perugia) and bought water and snacks to hold us over until dinner (perhaps that night we found Maurizio's?)... afterwards, we walked back to Fortuna, showered and slept like babies.















Perguia at Night

Map of Perugia
Accomodations in Perugia (including private rooms)