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Voykit pocket guide · Italy
Perugia
Give Perugia 2 nights as an Umbria base: hill-top centro storico on foot, MiniMetrò up from the station, day-trips by train to Assisi and Spello.
Perugia is Umbria's hill capital: an Etruscan core, a medieval centre strung along the traffic-free Corso Vannucci, a university that keeps it alive year-round, and chocolate money behind it. The station sits in the valley, so every arrival ends with a climb — the MiniMetrò or the escalators through the Rocca Paolina. Two nights covers the centre and one day-trip; three nights adds a second hill town.
- Country
- Italy
- Best months
- Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (heat and festival crowds), late Oct–Mar (many museums on short hours)
- Stay
- 2–3 nights
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- EUR
- Money
- Currency is the euro (EUR, €). Cards and contactless are widely accepted in cities; small cafés, markets and rural places may prefer cash.
- Daily spend
- Budget €55–85 excl. bed · Mid €95–150 excl. bed · High €180+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- TIM, Vodafone, WindTre and Iliad sell prepaid SIMs in shops and at airports; a passport and an Italian tax code (codice fiscale, issued in-store) are needed.
- Emergency
- Europe-wide emergency 112 · Police 113 · Fire 115 · Ambulance 118
- Plugs
- Types C, F, L · 230 V · 50 Hz · Italian type L plugs have three pins in a row; most sockets also take two-pin Europlugs (C), and bivalent sockets take Schuko (F).
- Tipping
- Bar: Leave €0.10–0.20 of change on the counter if you like.; Restaurant: Coperto or service may already be on the bill; leave €1–2 a person or round up for good service.; Taxi: Round up to the next euro.; Hotel porter or housekeeping: €1–2 per bag or per night.; Tour guide: €5–10 per person for a half day.
- Water
- Tap water is safe unless signed otherwise; Rome's nasoni fountains run all day. Restaurants serve bottled water (naturale or frizzante) unless you ask for tap (acqua del rubinetto).
- Toilets
- Few public toilets; use bars (buy a coffee), museums and stations, where some charge €1.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Espresso at the bar | €1–1.50 |
| Pizza or a plate of pasta in the centre | €8–14 |
| Fixed-menu dinner, trattoria outside the Corso | €15–25 |
| Glass of local wine (Sagrantino or Grechetto) | €4–7 |
| Museum entry (National Gallery, Collegio del Cambio, Etruscan Well) | €3–8 |
| MiniMetrò or city bus single ride | €1.50 |
| Taxi, station to centro storico | €15–20 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- PEG · Perugia San Francesco d'Assisi – Umbria International
- About 12 km east; AirLink bus to Perugia and Assisi, €5 one wayAbout 7.5 mi east; AirLink bus to Perugia and Assisi, €5 one way
- FCO · Rome Fiumicino
- Long-distance coach to Perugia takes about 3 h (check)
- BLQ · Bologna
- Useful low-cost alternative; train via Florence, about 3 h (check)
Typical fares
- MiniMetrò, station to centre
- €1.50, every few minutes, last run around 21:00€1.50, every few minutes, last run around 9:00 PM
- Bus single ride
- €1.50 from a ticket office, €2 on board
- AirLink bus, PEG airport to Perugia
- €5 one way
Get around
Walk inside the centro storico — it is one hill, and Corso Vannucci is flat and car-free. From the valley station take the MiniMetrò (driverless, every few minutes, €1.50) or the escalators up through the Rocca Paolina from Piazza Partigiani. City buses cost €1.50 from a ticket office, €2 on board. Driving into the centre is a camera-enforced ZTL; park at Piazza Partigiani or Pian di Massiano.
See and do
Known for
- Corso Vannucci and the Fontana Maggiore
- Rocca Paolina and the escalators from the lower town
- National Gallery of Umbria (Perugino, Pinturicchio)
- Umbria Jazz in July and Eurochocolate in October
- Baci and Perugina chocolate
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Assisi | Train from Perugia station, about 25–30 min, then walk up from the station | About 1 h |
| Spello | Train toward Foligno, about 30–35 min, then a short walk uphill | About 1 h |
| Orvieto | Train via Terontola or Foligno, often one change, about 1.5–2 h | 2–2.5 h |
| Gubbio | Bus or train plus bus, about 1.5 h | 1.5–2 h |
| Terni and the Marmore Falls | Train to Terni, about 1 h, then local bus to Marmore | 2–2.5 h |
| Corciano | Bus from Piazza Partigiani, about 30 min | About 45 min |
Sleep
- Centro storico (Corso Vannucci / Piazza IV Novembre)
- Everything on foot; book early for July and October festival dates. Cars cannot enter without a hotel booking.
- Via dei Priori and the north-west lanes
- Quieter streets a few minutes' walk from the Corso; cheaper rooms, more stairs.
- Station and Pian di Massiano (valley)
- Cheaper chain hotels by the MiniMetrò; 10–15 min to the centre, no views.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Good morning | Buongiornobwon-JOR-no |
| Please / Thank you | Per favore / Grazieper fa-VO-reh / GRAH-tsyeh |
| The bill, please | Il conto, per favoreeel KON-to per fa-VO-reh |
| A table for two | Un tavolo per dueoon TA-vo-lo per DOO-eh |
| Where is the MiniMetrò? | Dov'è il MiniMetrò?do-VEH eel mee-nee-meh-TRO |
| Can I pay by card? | Posso pagare con la carta?POS-so pa-GA-reh kon la KAR-ta |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Say buongiorno (until mid-afternoon) or buonasera on entering shops and bars; avoid: Walking in and pointing without a greeting
- Cheek kisses: Two kisses, right cheek first, among friends; follow their lead; avoid: Kissing strangers or in business settings
- Dress: Smart-casual in cities; covered shoulders and knees in churches; avoid: Beachwear, bare chests and flip-flops away from the beach
- Queues: At delis and pharmacies take a number (numerino); avoid: Assuming the crowd at a bar counter is chaos — pay at the till first where asked
- Restaurants: Wait to be seated and ask for the bill; avoid: Splitting a bill item by item with a large group
- Conversation: Food, football and family are safe openers; avoid: Mafia jokes and north–south stereotypes
- Dinner at a home: Bring pastries, wine or flowers (not chrysanthemums, which are for funerals); avoid: Refusing seconds too firmly
Scams and watch-outs
- The MiniMetrò stops running in the evening, around 21:00: plan the last ride up or down.
- The centro storico is a ZTL with cameras; only cars with a hotel booking may enter.
- Many churches and small museums close at lunchtime and all day Monday; the cathedral's archaeological area runs only at set tour times.
- Steep cobbles and sudden steps: wear shoes with grip, not smooth soles.
- July (Umbria Jazz) and October (Eurochocolate) fill hotels and raise prices — book weeks ahead.
Perugia is a safe, walkable university city. The real risks are the steep, uneven lanes after dark, pickpockets around the station and on festival nights, and the evening MiniMetrò shutdown that strands you in the valley.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Perugia yet. Suggested stay: 2–3 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Corso Vannucci and the Fontana Maggiore
- Rocca Paolina and the escalators from the lower town
- National Gallery of Umbria (Perugino, Pinturicchio)
- Umbria Jazz in July and Eurochocolate in October
- Baci and Perugina chocolate
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Comune di Perugia — official site: www.comune.perugia.it/
- Perugia tourism (Comune di Perugia): turismo.comune.perugia.it/
- Umbria Mobilità — MiniMetrò: www.umbriamobilita.it/
- Perugia Airport (SASE): www.airport.umbria.it/
- National Gallery of Umbria: gallerianazionaledellumbria.it/
- Umbria Jazz: www.umbriajazz.com/
- Eurochocolate: www.eurochocolate.com/
- Wikivoyage: Perugia, revision 5329751 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5329751
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Perugia
A questo indirizzo, per favore
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
No embassies in Perugia; the US consulate-general is in Florence, the UK and most others have embassies in Rome. For a lost passport, contact your embassy in Rome first.
112 works from any phone, including mobiles with no Italian SIM.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/perugia). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.