Rome to Assisi: How to Take the Train or Tour for a Day Trip!
TRAVEL GUIDE: ROME TO ASSISI, ITALY
A day trip from Rome to Assisi in Italy is a great idea, any time of year. You’ll find winding stone streets, restaurants, and shopping in the medieval hilltop city.
Key Info about a Day Trip to Assisi
- It’ll take about two hours to get from Rome to Assisi on the train.
- From the station, you’ll have to take a bus or taxi up to the hilltop city.
- Assisi’s top sites include pedestrian-friendly cobblestone streets, which are lined with stores and restaurants, plus its famous basilica and cathedral, and a 12th century fortress.
Rome to Assisi Tours: Hire a Driver or Guide
If you’re not into navigating Italy’s train system or driving yourself, it’s easy to hire a driver or guide to do all of the navigating for you! It’s easier, especially if you’re traveling with a lot of luggage or maybe someone with a mobility challenge.
➡️ Click to Book: Private Day Trip & Driver
- For under $400 per couple, a driver will pick you up at a hotel in Rome early in the morning, for a 9 hour day trip to Assisi. It’ll include a 2 hour 30 minute drive through the Italian countryside in Umbria. You’ll go to a few basilicas, and have time to walk around Assisi.
➡️ Click to Book: Private Driver: Rome to Assisi
- For around $350 per couple, a driver will take you from Rome to Assisi. You’ll get to choose your departure time, and it’ll take around 2 hours 30 minutes to get between the cities.
➡️ Click to Book: Rome to Assisi & Orvieto in One Day
- Visit both amazing towns in a single day trip!
Things to Do in Assisi on a Day Trip
It’s easy to spend a full day in Assisi, walking its winding, hilly streets. You’ll find a main square, lined with restaurants and shops.
Assisi is easy to navigate on your own, but if you’d like to learn more about the history and culture of the area, there are several tour options to choose from.
➡️ Book a Walking Tour of Assisi
- This is a three-hour walking tour of Assisi which gets excellent reviews.
➡️ Private Tour of the Basilica of Saint Francis
- You’ll learn about Saint Francis’ wealthy upbringing, to his visions to his dedication to the poor and sick. Inside the basilica, you’ll tour both the Upper and Lower Churches, where Saint Francis is buried. This is about a 90-minute tour in Assisi.
Assisi’s Duomo (Cathedral)
The Assisi Cathedral was built in the 1100s, and is where the baby who would become Saint Francis was baptized. Officially known as Saint Rufinus, the cathedral in Assisi is simpler and not as ornate as others you’ll find in Italy. Still, it holds a prominent spot in the Catholic faith.
Rocca Maggiore
The Rocca Maggiore is an ancient castle or fortress, which sits on the hill above Assisi.
You’ll see signs in town, leading you up cobblestone streets, eventually to a path which goes up to Rocca Maggiore.
The view of the Italian countryside from Rocca Maggiore is beautiful. You’ll see for miles in several directions across Umbria.
Inside the fortress, you can learn about the weapons, armor, and more, which were used a thousand years ago to defend the castle.
Truffles in Umbria
Truffles, known as tartufi on menus in Italy, and featured in a lot of meals.
This is something I missed out on during our day trip to Assisi, but plan to book for next time (maybe mostly to watch the dog work 😀):
➡️ Truffle Hunting Tour in Assisi
- A guide will meet you in the piazza, and take you on what’s described as a “meander” through “secret paths” in the the Umbrian woods nearby. It’s about a two-hour truffle hunting tour, and yes, the guide will bring his specially-trained truffle-sniffing dog!
Truffles are seen as a delicacy, but it’s not a taste appreciated by all. They can really overpower a meal! Italian olive oil, on the other hand, is loved by all. And the Umbria region is home to great olive oil.
- This tour will take you from Assisi to the hillsides of Umbria, where olives are grown for oil. It includes a tasting, and a lesson on how to spot high-quality olive oils.
Food in Assisi
You’ll find no shortage of restaurants and cafes to choose from in Assisi. I’d suggest wandering off the main streets to find a restaurant that caters to locals, rather than tourists. Many of them have their own traditional brick ovens for pizza, along with homemade pasta dishes.
Plus, even during the winter months, it’s usually mild enough for restaurants in Assisi to keep their patios open for dining outside. We enjoyed a few glasses of wine and Prosecco at different cafes as we walked around town through the day.
Shopping in Assisi
Like many of the hilltop towns in Italy, you’ll find a mix of big international brands, and local touristy shops in Assisi.
You’ll find a lot of ceramics and art stores, along with olive oil and lavender shops.
The Train From Rome to Assisi
The train from Rome to Assisi will take two hours if you get a direct route. Having to stop and change trains in the city of Foligno will add an extra 30 minutes to the trip.
I’ve been using Trainline to book trains in Europe. It’s simple to search the train schedules and fares, and you avoid having to use the kiosks in the train stations. They send you a QR code to your text and email, which you have scanned at the station to board.
Trains depart from the Roma Termini station, from Rome to Assisi. Get to the station a minimum of 30 minutes before your departure. This way, you’ll have time to figure out the Trenitalia ticket kiosk (if you didn’t book ahead on Trainline) and walk to your platform.
Rome to Assisi Train: The Cost
The cost of a train ticket from Rome to Assisi will be 12 Euros in the main seats, sometimes known as “Ordinary Class.” First Class is offered on some trains, and those seats cost 18 Euros.
The difference in classes is minimal, and really boils down to having an assigned seat (versus having to search for an empty one). Plus, First Class seats usually come with a small table between them. Still, the seats themselves and the amount of legroom are the same.
Keep in mind: these are regional Trenitalia trains, not the speedy trains which are used to bring people from Rome to farther cities in Italy.
Once you arrive at the Assisi train station, you still have to get up the mountain to the city! You can wait for the C bus (Carducci 1, which runs every 30 minutes) or take a taxi.
You’ll find taxis right outside the train station. The drivers will charge between 15 – 18 Euros for a ride each way. It’s somewhat expensive, but efficient.
Drive From Rome to Assisi
The drive from Rome to Assisi will take about two hours and 30 minutes, depending on traffic. One route will take you up through the nearby city of Perugia. Once you arrive in Assisi, you’ll find around 10 public parking lots on Google Maps to choose from.
Hotels in Assisi
This post is focused on taking a day trip from Rome to Assisi, but the city has many options for travelers who’d like to spend the night. You can plug your dates into this interactive map to check prices and availability of both rentals and hotels:
Accommodations in this part of Italy are very reasonable. These three options come highly recommended:
- This is a great option, right in the historic city center of Assisi.
- Hotel Cenacolo is a gorgeously-restored history property, near the train station in Assisi.
- Il Palazzo is a beautiful, historic property right in the city center of Assisi. As for one of the rooms with an amazing view of the valley!
Assisi or Orvieto?
If you’re trying to decide whether you should take a day trip to either Assisi or Orvieto, I’d suggest trying to do both!
Personally, I think each city is worth a day for itself, but this tour will bring you to both in a single day:
While both Assisi and Orvieto are similar, in that they’re both hilltop towns in the Umbria region of Italy, there are a few main differences.
Assisi is larger in size and population than Orvieto. When it comes to tourism, you’ll encounter larger crowds in Assisi, too. The city is equipped with large lots for tour bus parking. Both have pedestrian-friendly streets, lined with shops and restaurants, but Orvieto feels more quaint.
While Assisi and Orvieto both have famous cathedrals, Assisi is more prominent in Catholicism because it’s the birthplace of one of Italy’s patron saints: Saint Francis.
Again, it is possible to visit both Assisi and Orvieto in a day trip from Rome. While it’s not possible to see both in the same day by train, you can certainly drive a car to both towns in the same day trip.
Christmas in Assisi
Assisi is known for its nativity scenes. Saint Francis is credited with creating the first one ever, so you’ll see nativity scenes setup all over the city.
The whole city is festive, with lights and garlands in the stores and restaurants.
Assisi’s Christmas Market website details the events to expect each December.
Winter in Assisi is still mild, with temperatures reaching the 50s and 60s (Fahrenheit) during the day. It’s been known to snow on occasion over the years, but for the most part, a winter visit to Italy will provide great weather for walking around and exploring new towns.
Here’s a chart of the average temperatures in this part of Italy during the winter months:
In general, much of central and southern Italy is still mild in the winter months, and you’ll find big cities like Rome and Florence lit beautifully for Christmas!
Wrap: Is Assisi Worth a Trip from Rome?
Assisi is definitely worth a day trip from Rome, if you’re in this part of Italy. There’s so much to do in Rome itself, but you won’t regret taking a day to get out of the city, and venture off into Umbria and everything Assisi has to offer!
Depending on your timeframe, I’d also suggest taking the train from Rome to Florence for a few days.
Using Florence as a base, you can take even more great day trips to cities and towns in Tuscany, from Pisa to Siena to San Gimignano (pictured below).
