Will going to Assisi be worth it?
I'm gonna be in Siena for a month over the summer through a study abroad program and I think going to Assisi for an afternoon would be a pretty cool thing to do but the train ride is over four hours and I'm not allowed to rent a car, and I assume a taxi would be too expensive. There are already overnight trips to Florence and Bologna through the program, as well as a couple other daytime trips, and I plan on using a long weekend to visit Rome.
>>1089888
>Will going to Assisi be worth it?
>an afternoon
There are better towns/cities closer to Siena to visit, but if you really want to go there, I guess you can. It's a day trip kind of town. Take an evening train there (DON'T go on the weekend, you'll be trampled, certainly during summer), walk around late at night when it's calm and quiet, then spend the day walking through the countryside around it and visiting churches, if you're into churches.
>>1089898
I'd mostly just go there to see the Basilica and a couple other things, walk around a bit, maybe eat something then leave, which is why I just want to do it for an afternoon. It'd be hard to go on a weekday since I'll actually be taking classes there. I'm mostly just interested due to the fact that it's such an important pilgrimage destination. But, Siena does have stuff for pilgrimage related to St. Catherine which I'm sure will be cool to see though not as well known or popular.
>>1089908
>It'd be hard to go on a weekday since I'll actually be taking classes there.
Then prepare for a fuckload of tourists. We went there in high school, on a wednesday in June, and even then the entire center village was packed, theme-park style. You might not enjoy it very much if you're going there for the spiritual dimension. But the frescoes inside the basilica were nice, I'll grant you that.
>>1089925
In that case I guess it'd be better to skip it. However, do you have any idea to get their quickly and cheaply without driving there yourself?
>>1089898
What would you suggest? I love tuscany
>>1089979
OP here. Would like some suggestions as well.
>>1089983
Forgot to mention that I'll already be seeing San Gimignano as a day trip through the program.
>>1089979
Not that anon, but other nice cities to visit in Tuscany are Pisa, Lucca and Volterra. A car though is kinda necessary to visit the countryside
>>1089983
I'd suggest >>1090184, except for Pisa, but that's just because I hate niggers hawking wristwatches and bracelets.
You're there in summer, so check out Lago Trasimeno and Perugia. There should also be lots of foreigners there during the summer so lots of [spoiler]dtf[\spoiler] qts. Especially if you know more Italian than they do.
Other than that (and I know this is going to sound like a cop-out, but I'm more at home in the north of Italy than in the center or south), check whether anything here strikes your fancy: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_borghi_pi%C3%B9_belli_d%27Italia#Centro
I'd greatly suggest going there, it's a wonderful place, and won't necessarily be madly overcrowded, even mid-summer.
You'd need to check timetables, but it might be quicker to go by coach from Siena to Florence and pick up the train to Assisi from there, as the railway branch to Siena is slow and indirect. Also in Umbria, Orvieto is amazing, but it's probably v not feasible as a day trip from Siena by public transport
>>1090227
Though in fact, I'm talking rubbish, you can get to Orvieto by train from Siena in around just two hours.
>>1090227
Do you mean bus by coach? I don't know anything about bus travel in Italy. Could you fill me in?
>>1090227
Supporting Orvieto, beautiful town walled up on a hill. Just walk around and get lost, it's a fun place to walk around without a map.
>>1090261
Coach, yes. I found it the easiest and quickest way to travel from Florence to Siena. Should be info online, and probably full timetables. (Have found this recently in other parts of Italy) Search for something like "autolinie siena firenze"
>>1089888
The two basilicas (St. Francis and St. Clare) are lovely They are 1200s as is the medieval town with obvious ruins. Don't need a car. It is considered a very walkable town, for all errands, though you could buy an all day tour, with driver to pick you up ($40ish). Here's some confirmation of the walkability.
http://www.world-guides.com/europe/italy/umbria/assisi/assisi_travel.html
Unique spa built in benedictine monastery with old roman baths at NUN Assisi Relais if you buy a little half day pass (40 euro?). So you can pilgrimage to that too and see some ruins incorporated into the spa while you destress.
https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/roman-assisi
http://www.nunassisi.com/en/Photogallery
OP here again
Now I sorta checked out Volterra and that seems pretty cool too and I'm conflicted between which one I'd rather see. What do?
