La Ciambella

La Ciambella’s front door opens to a quiet village street just below the medieval quarter of hilltop Porano, with a tiny food shop, an excellent butcher, a caffè/bar and a fairly good restaurant (set in a cave) within 200m. But you’d hardly know it from the house’s bedrooms and terraces, which face a tremendous, 180° view of open fields and distant mountains. The landscape here is rolling and lush, a patchwork of vineyards, olive groves and forests irrigated by countless springs and streams, and dotted with 2000-year old Etruscan tombs, Roman watercourses and still active monasteries — in short, wonderful country for walking. Orvieto, one of Italy's most beautiful — and liveliest — hill towns, is a 10-minute drive (or a challenging 1.5 hour walk) and boasts a magnificent cathedral, lovely old streets with plenty of shops, bars and caffès, 40+ restaurants and several cooking schools, a bi-weekly outdoor market, interesting museums, live music and theatre. Given Porano’s location near the meeting point of Umbria, Tuscany and Lazio, the possibilities for excursions are endless. It’s a 20-minute drive to Lake Bolsena, great for lunch and mucking about in boats, or to spectacular, semi-ruined Civita Bagnoregio, or — for something completely different — to a goat or buffalo farm to taste the best and freshest cheese possible. Forty minutes in the car might take you to the Renaissance gardens at Villa Lante or the eccentric Parco dei Mostri in Bomarzo. Within an hour, you could be in Perugia, Todi, or the magnificent Etruscan museum, tombs and beach at Tarquinia on the Mediterranean coast, or Tuscany’s fascinating Pitigliano, or Arezzo with its Piero della Francesca frescoes and fantastic monthly antique market. A day trip to downtown Rome is easily done using the direct rail line from Orvieto Scalo, just over an hour each way.

Getting There

Airports nearby:

Airports: Florence and Rome, under 2 hours.

By Train:

Railway station [for Florence and Rome] and motorway exit at Orvieto, 10 minutes’ drive along a paved, winding road. Parking for three cars.