A week in Umbria
for two.
A small stone house, a table outside, the wood-fired jacuzzi lit for the evening. All around, the wineries and hill towns between Umbria and Tuscany — whenever you feel like it.
At Borgo Santa Maria a couple rents a stone house entirely to themselves — Scuderia, Limonaia or Forno are the smallest — from €115 a night: a week costs about €690 in low season, where 7 nights are charged as 6, and €805 in high season. Each house has a kitchen, a bathroom and a private outdoor space. Pool, park, Wi-Fi, washing machine in the common area, final cleaning and linen are included; the Finnish sauna and the wood-fired jacuzzi are on request, with a surcharge, to be booked the day before. We are in Monteleone d'Orvieto, Umbria, on the Tuscan border: Orvieto 25 minutes away, Città della Pieve 25, Montepulciano and the Val d'Orcia an hour.
The smallest,
and the finest.
The houses for two to four guests were carved out of the hamlet's working buildings — the stable, the bread oven, the lemon house. Thick walls, low ceilings, and a piece of outdoors that is only yours.
Scuderia
Forno
Limonaia
Fienile
Torretta
The best part
comes after dinner.
Dinner is yours to make
Every house has a kitchen, and the weekly market in Città della Pieve has everything. You lay the table outside, under the pergola, with a bottle picked up at a winery that afternoon. If you would rather not cook, two village trattorias are a kilometre and a half and three kilometres away.
The sauna, booked the day before
A natural wood cabin, six places — though usually there are two of you in it. It has to be booked the evening before because it takes a couple of hours to heat. It is on request, with a small surcharge.
The wood-fired jacuzzi, under the stars
Outdoors, heated with wood the old way: the bubbles are modern, the smell is pine. This is booked too, and it is extra too. In winter, with the cold all around, it is the best thing in the hamlet.
Then everything goes quiet
There is no street lighting here and no traffic: in the evening you see the stars and hear the crickets. It is the reason many people come back — not the pool, the silence.
Six trips,
pick yours.
Three or four of them are plenty in a week. Leave the other days empty: that is the reason you came to the countryside.
Orvieto
25 minutesThe Duomo, the medieval quarter, the underground city carved into the tufa. Lunch in the centre, and in the afternoon a stop at an Orvieto Classico DOC winery.
Read the guide →Montepulciano and Pienza
60-70 minutesThe Vino Nobile cellars dug beneath the town, the pecorino of Pienza, the Val d'Orcia opening up at every bend. The finest trip of the week, if you only make one.
Read the guide →Bagno Vignoni
about 1 hourThe square that has a steaming pool of thermal water instead of paving stones. Go in the late afternoon, when the vapour rises and the coaches have already left.
Read the guide →Civita di Bagnoregio
45-60 minutesThe suspended village you can only reach on foot, across the bridge. Best early in the morning or at sunset, and Lake Bolsena is right there for a swim.
Read the guide →Città della Pieve
25 minutesPerugino's town, red brick and the narrowest alley in Italy. There is a weekly market: the perfect short trip for the day you don't want to go far.
Read the guide →Assisi
1 h 15The Basilica of St Francis and the mountain above it. The furthest of them all: it deserves a full day, and an early start.
Read the guide →What you ask us
before booking.
Is Borgo Santa Maria suitable for just a couple?
Yes. Besides renting the entire hamlet to groups, we rent the individual houses: Scuderia, Limonaia and Forno are the smallest and are made for two, each with a kitchen, a bathroom and a private outdoor space. Prices start at €115 a night for the whole house, with a 2-night minimum.
Are the sauna and jacuzzi included?
No. The Finnish sauna and the wood-heated jacuzzi are available on request with a small surcharge and must be booked the day before: the sauna takes about two hours to heat up and the jacuzzi is wood-fired. Both are available year-round. The pool, on the other hand, is included in the stay.
Can you eat at the hamlet or do you have to go out?
Every house has a full kitchen, and in our organic garden you can pick seasonal fruit and vegetables; we also sell the hamlet's own olive oil, wine and jams. We have no in-house restaurant, but two traditional trattorias are a kilometre and a half and three kilometres away. On request we organise tastings of regional wines and produce, or a cooking class.
When is the best time to come as a couple?
May, June and September: the countryside is green, the pool is open and there is nobody about. July and August are the months of the pool and of families. From November to March the hamlet is almost empty, the fireplaces are lit and it is truffle and new-olive-oil season: in low season we also accept one-night stays.
How much does a week for two cost?
In low season a week is charged as 6 nights instead of 7, so a small house for two starts at around €690 for 7 nights, against €805 in high season. The price is for the whole house and includes final cleaning, linen, Wi-Fi, a washing machine in the common area, parking, pool and park. Sauna, jacuzzi and heating (about €1 an hour) are extra.
One house,
and no hurry.
Send us your dates and we'll tell you which house is free, what it costs exactly, and whether it's worth adding the sauna or the jacuzzi for an evening.