What to see in Gubbio in 2 days: the stone city suspended in the Middle Ages

Gubbio in 2 days: the living Middle Ages of Umbria

Gubbio is perhaps Italy's best-preserved medieval city. Built against Monte Ingino entirely in grey limestone, it looks like a Trecento miniature come to life. But it is no open-air museum: it is a living city, with millennial traditions still practised and an energy that surprises.

Day 1: The medieval centre

Morning

Start at Piazza Grande, one of Italy's most spectacular squares. Suspended in the void on great arches over the valley, it offers a panorama of the Umbrian plain that leaves you speechless. The Palazzo dei Consoli, a fourteenth-century masterpiece, dominates with its mass: inside, the Civic Museum holds the Iguvine Tablets, seven bronze tablets from the third to first century BC with inscriptions in Umbrian language — the most important pre-Roman Italic document in existence.

Opposite, the Palazzo Pretorio (now town hall) completes the square's harmony.

Afternoon

Descend Via dei Consoli, the main medieval street flanked by stone palaces, to the lower part of the city. Visit the Palazzo del Bargello with the Fontana dei Matti (tradition holds that anyone walking three times around the fountain receives Gubbio's "licence of madness") and the Church of San Francesco with frescoes by Ottaviano Nelli.

Hidden gem: climb Via Galeotti to the Church of Santa Maria Nuova. Inside, the Madonna del Belvedere by Ottaviano Nelli is a fresco of supreme grace, in a church almost no tourist visits. The silence amplifies the beauty.

Continue exploring the "parallel streets": Gubbio is built on horizontal terraces connected by vertical staircases. Getting lost among Via Baldassini, Via Savelli della Porta and the side alleys is the best way to understand the medieval urban structure.

Evening

Dine at one of the centre's trattorias: strangozzi with black truffle (Gubbio is truffle country), crescia (Gubbio flatbread), scottadito lamb. Sagrantino di Montefalco or local Grechetto accompany dinner.

Day 2: Monte Ingino, Basilica and surroundings

Morning

Take the cable car (open-air metal cages, an experience in itself) to Monte Ingino. At the top, the Basilica of Sant'Ubaldo holds the remains of the patron saint and the three Ceri, 4-metre wooden structures carried at a run up the mountain every 15 May in the Festa dei Ceri, one of Italy's most spectacular and ancient traditions.

From the mountain, panoramic trails offer views across the entire Gubbio basin and Apennines.

Afternoon

Back down, visit the Roman Theatre at the city's foot (first century BC, still used for summer performances) and the Mausoleum of Pomponius Grecinus along the Via Flaminia.

Hidden gem: the Church of San Secondo, outside the walls in the green, preserves a fifth-sixth century early Christian crypt with fresco fragments. It is barely signposted, but those who find it discover one of Umbria's oldest places.

If you have time, reach the Bottaccione Gorge (2 km outside the city): this limestone ravine is famous in geology for the iridium layer marking the dinosaurs' extinction. A trail runs its entire length.

Evening

For your last evening, sit in Piazza Grande at sunset. The orange light on grey stone, the valley's silence and swallows wheeling between medieval palaces are a perfect finale.

Recommended walking routes

• Medieval centre: Piazza Grande → Via dei Consoli → Palazzo del Bargello → San Francesco → return via staircases (2 km, 2 hours)
• Upper loop: Piazza Grande → Via Galeotti → Santa Maria Nuova → Porta Romana → return via Cathedral (1.5 km)
• Bottaccione Gorge: from centre, 2 km on easy trail through the ravine (1 hour)

Practical tips

• On 15 May the Festa dei Ceri attracts thousands: book well in advance
• The cable car closes in strong wind and has reduced winter hours: check beforehand
• Gubbio is compact and walkable, but the climbs are demanding

Further reading

For your stay, see where to stay in Gubbio, where to eat in Gubbio and how to get to Gubbio.