The Next Place to Go: Umbria & Abruzzo

March 2007
The Next Place To Go is to travel deeper in Italy’s remote regions, exploring the unspoiled beauty of Umbria and the rugged natural wonders of Abruzzo. Our trips to these areas provide a rich travel experience for the curious traveler seeking an authentic experience.

While we delight in the majesty of Tuscany, we also recognize that many of our members have traveled there already or simply want to discover a place with less crowds and new adventures. Our antidote is Umbria. Go back in time to discover Italy during the Medieval Ages in Umbria’s hilltop towns complete with narrow steep stone streets, massive stone buildings, historic palaces and churches. Here you can visit the small spiritual town of Assisi, where St. Francis was born and marvel at the soaring frescos by Giotto. You can almost imagine daily life in the middle ages when you visit Gubbio’s austere ancient feudal castles and walk along the silent steep stone streets.

Go off the beaten path and discover Abruzzo, one of Italy’s little-visited central regions with startling beautiful yet rugged landscape and great culinary tradition. Here, in this mountainous and coastal region, many of today’s top chefs are trained, including professional chefs who have, over the centuries, cooked for royalty, heads of state and even U.S. Dignitaries and Presidents at the White House. In salute to its rich culinary tradition, we’ve added several hands-on cooking classes to our tour in Abruzzo for members to enjoy a deeper appreciation of this rustic region.

Food plays such a vital role in this region that we believe the best time to visit is spring or fall, centered on the planting and harvest seasons. In Abruzzo, members not only get a chance to cook, but also experience traditional Italian markets, shop for seasonal produce and visit local vineyards and olive oil farms. Equally enjoyable are Abruzzo’s fine regional wines like the cool Trebbiano d’Abruzzo, fruity Cerasuolo and full-bodied Montepulciano d’Abruzzo.

Join us this year as we continue to seek out genuine travel experiences for our ever adventurous Club ABC members.

View the details on tours to Abruzzo and Umbria.
10-Day Cooking in Abruzzo with a Taste of Rome
View the day-by-day itinerary for this Italy vacation package

9-Day Fly & Drive Umbria & Tuscany
View the day-by-day itinerary for this Italy vacation package