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The provincial capital,
PERUGIA
is the most obvious, if not the most picturesque, base to kick off a tour of Umbria. As usual the centre of town is still medieval, but it's surrounded by miles of fairly ugly suburbs and not a little industry. Buitoni, the pasta people, have a big works, and Italy's best chocolate, Perugino, is made here. Come summer the streets become claustrophobic and exhausting, so if your idea of Umbria is rural peace and quiet and lolling around old hill-towns - and really that's what the region is about - you probably won't want to spend a lot of time here. On the other hand, there's a day's worth of good sightseeing plus some big-city attractions.
The main draw in the summer is
Umbria Jazz
, Italy's foremost jazz event, whose line-ups may well tempt you into staying - past stars have included Sting, Stan Getz, Gil Evans and Wynton Marsalis. Information and tickets are best sussed out well in advance from the tourist office
.
The presence of the
UniversitA Italiana per Stranieri
(the Italian University for Foreigners) is another plus. Set up by Mussolini to improve the image of Italy abroad, it's now run as a private concern and gives the town a welcome dash of style and an unexpectedly cosmopolitan flavour. The big state university also means there's an above-average number of films, concerts and miscellaneous cultural events, which can be somewhat lacking in the rest of the region.
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