Piazza della Signoria suspended halfway up the hill, medieval frescoes, white truffle, and the Ceri race, Gubbio is one of the most beautiful medieval towns in Italy.
Plan your trip →Gubbio is the most intact medieval town in Umbria, perhaps in Italy. It's no exaggeration: the Palazzo dei Consoli, Piazza della Signoria, the cathedral, the Roman theater, the medieval quarter, everything has a temporal coherence that Assisi, Perugia, and Spoleto don't have in equal measure. If you want to understand how an Umbrian town lived in the 14th century, Gubbio is the right place. And the spectacle of the town perched on the steep slope of Monte Ingino, with the medieval houses climbing vertically up to the Consoli square hanging halfway up the hill, is one of the most extraordinary views in central Italy.
Gubbio: tours & tickets
Compare guided tours, skip-the-line tickets and day trips for Gubbio.
See availability & prices →We may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.Gubbio is also famous for the Ceri: the Ceri race of May 15 is one of the oldest and most deeply felt folk events in Italy, with roots going back at least to the 12th century.
The heart of Gubbio is Piazza della Signoria, a medieval terrace suspended over the town, built halfway up the hill by the will of the Consoli in the 14th century. It's not a square at street level: it's an artificial terrace held up by arches under which the market and the commercial activities took place. The Palazzo dei Consoli that dominates the square is the masterpiece of medieval Umbrian civic architecture: towers, battlements, large Gothic windows, and inside the Civic Museum with the Tavole Eugubine, seven bronze tablets inscribed in the Umbrian language of the 3rd-1st century BC, the most important epigraphic text of pre-Roman Italy.
The Roman Theater, from the 1st century BC and well preserved, is in the lower part of the town and is still used today for summer performances. The Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo on the summit of Monte Ingino is reachable by cable car from Via della Funivia, the view from the top is extraordinary.
In a day in Gubbio: the morning at the Palazzo dei Consoli and the Tavole Eugubine, a walk in the medieval center, lunch with local truffle, the afternoon at the cable car to Monte Ingino and the Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo with its panoramic view, the late afternoon at the Roman Theater. It's enough to see the best of the town without too much rush.
Gubbio (Iguvium to the Romans, Ikuvina to the pre-Roman Umbrians) is one of the oldest towns in Umbria. The Tavole Eugubine, the seven bronze tablets kept at the Civic Museum, document the religious practices of the Umbrian community between the 3rd and 1st century BC in a pre-Latin language of extraordinary linguistic importance. After Romanization Gubbio became a Roman municipium. In the Middle Ages it was a free commune, then a lordship. The period of greatest artistic splendor coincides with the rule of the Montefeltro of Urbino (15th century), Federico da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, built the Ducal Palace here as a "minor residence" complementary to the palace in Urbino. Today Gubbio is considered one of the best-preserved medieval towns in Italy, recognized by the Ministry of Culture as a "Town that deserves it".
Gubbio doesn't have a railway station, the medieval town is far from the main railway lines. It's reached by bus from Perugia (about 1h10, the Sulga service), from Fossato di Vico (30 min, a station on the Rome-Ancona line), or by car from the E45, Gubbio-Scheggia exit. By car from Perugia about 40 minutes. The car is the most convenient way to visit Gubbio, especially if you want to explore the countryside and the surrounding truffle areas.
Yes, absolutely. Gubbio is one of the most authentic experiences in Umbria, a lived-in medieval town, not an open-air museum. The Palazzo dei Consoli, the Tavole Eugubine, the cable car to Monte Ingino, the local cuisine with truffle and wild boar, the tradition of the Ceri, everything contributes to creating a high-quality experience off the more beaten tracks.
The Corsa dei Ceri of May 15 is the most important folk event in Gubbio, and one of the oldest in Italy. Three enormous wooden structures (the Ceri, about 5 meters tall and weighing over 200 kg each) are carried at a run through the town's streets up to the Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo at the top of Monte Ingino by teams of men in traditional dress. The race is actually a ritual procession: the order of arrival is predetermined by tradition (Sant'Ubaldo always arrives first), but the speed and intensity of the run are real. The town stops completely for this festival.
How do you find a quality hotel in Italy without spending too much? Book ahead for the main cities. Consider B&Bs and agriturismi, often of higher quality than hotels at the same price. Always check the reviews in Italian for a more balanced perspective. What to do in an emergency in Italy? The single European number 112 for all emergencies. Police: 113. Ambulance: 118. It works from any SIM, even without credit. How do Italians behave with tourists? Generally welcoming. An attempt to speak Italian, even just buongiorno, grazie, is appreciated. The intention counts more than the result. How do you handle the Italian heat in summer? July and August exceed 35°C in many cities. The museums are air-conditioned refuges in the central hours. Drink plenty of water from the public fountains (drinkable and free). What are the Italian national holidays to know? January 1, January 6, Easter/Easter Monday, April 25, May 1, June 2, August 15 (Ferragosto, Italy stops), November 1, December 8, December 25-26. Museums and shops reduce hours or close on these days. How do you dress to visit churches and religious sites in Italy? Cover shoulders and knees. Carry a light scarf in your backpack. The most-visited churches (the Vatican, Assisi) have attendants who enforce the dress code at the entrance. What about tipping in Italy? Not mandatory. At the restaurant, rounding up the bill or leaving €1-2 per person is enough. The service added to the bill (if shown on the menu) doesn't require an additional tip. How do you use the taxi app in Italy? itTaxi is the main app for licensed taxis throughout Italy. It works like Uber, booking, tracking, and payment in the app. Uber is available only in some cities (Rome, Milan) with limited coverage. Do you need internet in Italy without roaming? Italian SIMs: TIM, Vodafone, WindTre. €15-25 for 10-30 GB. European tourists use their own EU plan at no extra cost. In the historic centers the WiFi of bars and hotels is generally good. How do you find a public toilet in Italy? Public toilets are rare on Italian streets. Bars are required by law to have toilets accessible to customers, order a coffee and use the facilities. Railway stations and museums always have toilets.
1. The "abandoned" Italian villages or those on sale for 1 euro really exist, dozens of towns in Sicily, Molise, Abruzzo, and Sardinia have launched programs to sell houses at symbolic prices to attract new residents. The conditions vary: some require investment and actual residence. 2. The most ignored road sign in Italy is the "one way" in the historic cities. If you drive, always check the direction of the blue signs at the entrance of every alley, many are one way and the ZTL cameras are everywhere. 3. In Italy there's a "ghost booking" system in very popular restaurants: some call to book with no intention of coming, leaving empty tables. Many restaurants now ask for the credit card at booking, a sign of quality and seriousness. 4. The difference between "house wine" and "bottled wine" in an Italian osteria isn't necessarily one of quality, the loose house wine in a good Tuscan or Umbrian osteria can be better than many bottled wines at the same price. 5. Italian pharmacies are museums of the local health culture: every region has its own herbal specialties, traditional preparations, and supplements that aren't found outside that area. A look around a pharmacy in Sicily, Sardinia, or Alto Adige reveals very interesting products.
The rule of three: No more than three big tourist sites a day. The human brain can meaningfully process about three intense experiences per day. Those who try to see five museums in a day tend to remember less than those who see two calmly. The perfect Italian itinerary favors depth over quantity. Mornings for the sites, afternoons for the town: In Italy the mornings are for museums, churches, and ruins, cool and with the best light. The afternoons are for the stroll, the market, the coffee, the aperitivo. The evenings for dinner (never before 19:30 in quality restaurants). A day with no plan: Every three or four days of intense visiting, take a day with no agenda. Walk with no destination, go into the open churches, sit in a square. The unplanned experiences are often the most memorable. Buy perishables last: Italian food products to take home (cheeses, cured meats, artisan pasta) are best bought in the final days of the trip to ensure freshness. Many producers vacuum-pack on request to make transport easier. Learn at least twenty words of Italian: Buongiorno, buonasera, grazie, prego, scusi, dov'è, quanto costa, il conto, acqua naturale/frizzante, un caffè, per favore, mi piace, non capisco, parla inglese?, aiuto. These twenty words radically change the quality of the daily interactions in Italy.
Italy has 58 UNESCO sites (the country with the most sites in the world). It has over 4,000 museums. It has about 40,000 historic churches open for worship. It has 5,500 km of coast with 7,600 km of shoreline. It produces 20% of the world's DOP/IGP wine. It has 55 cheeses with a protected designation. It has 43 DOP/IGP cured meats and fish products. It has 300+ documented pasta shapes. The number of medieval bell towers exceeds any other European country. 70% of the world's artistic heritage (paintings, sculptures, frescoes) is in Italy according to some estimates.
State museums: museiitaliani.it, the official portal with a complete list and bookings. Trains: trenitalia.com and italotreno.it for high speed; trenitalia.com for regional trains. Weather forecasts: meteo.aeronautica.difesa.it, the most accurate for Italian territory. UNESCO heritage: whc.unesco.org, the official list with maps and descriptions. Regional tourism: Every Italian region has its own official tourism portal, look them up for local insights the general guides don't cover. Restaurants: The Michelin, Gambero Rosso, and Touring Club Italiano guides are the most reliable sources for quality restaurants. TripAdvisor is useful but should be filtered for the Italian language of the reviews. Wines: The Gambero Rosso (Vini d'Italia), Slow Food (Slow Wine), and AIS (Italian Sommelier Association) guides are the main reference sources for Italian wine. Safety: The State Police website (poliziadistato.it) has useful information on tourists' rights and reporting procedures in English.