Hotels

Book ahead, book ahead, book ahead. Never show up in Assisi, especially from Easter to fall, without a reservation. If you do, you'll spend half your morning at the tourist office calling hotels, only to find yourself stuck overnight in one of the hideous large constructions 4km (2 1/2 miles) away in Santa Maria degli Angeli. If you plan to visit at Easter or the first weekend in May, book at least 6 months in advance. Behind only Rome and Bethlehem (tellingly, Assisi's sister city) as a Christian pilgrimage site, Assisi fills up for any religious holiday. On the bright side, it has more guest beds per square meter than any other town in Umbria. The official central booking office is Consorzio Alberghi ed Operatori Turistici, Via A. Cristofani 22a (tel. 075-816-566; fax 075-812-315).

Besides the larger, more standard hotels, dozens of smaller board-rated one- and two-star outfits offer 6 to 10 rooms each. Additionally, families often have a few rooms to rent (affittacamere; ask at the tourist office), and many of the religious orders in town will let you play at being a nun or a monk for a few nights at a very low price (usually with many rules about curfew, noise, and bunkmates).

At Fontemaggio, hidden in the woods about 1.6km (1 mile) east of town at Via Eremo delle Carceri 8 (tel. 075-813-636; www.fontemaggio.it), are a campground, a hostel, and a hotel complex with one of the best countryside restaurants in Umbria (La Stalla). The campground has 950 sites and costs 6€ per person, plus 5.50€ per tent and 3€ per car. The hostel has 16 rooms, 6 of which are doubles, costing 20€ per person. There are 15 rooms in the hotel portion, with bathroom, phone, and views of the valley, costing 52€ per double with breakfast.

Cheap Sleep! -- Long a pilgrim destination, Assisi is accustomed to travelers on a tight budget and is consequently one of the few places in Central Italy where you can easily spend under 30€ per person on accommodations. Of the simpler hotels, the Hotel Il Duomo, Vicolo San Lorenzo 2 (tel. 075-812-742; fax 075-812-803), above the cathedral, offers the basics without amenities. The large accommodations go for 49€ double; breakfast is 4.50€ per person. The family who owns it also has two other, ever-so-slightly ritzier hotels called the San Rufino, just around the corner on the main street at Via Porta Perlici 7 (tel. 075-812-803), where doubles go for 55€ plus 5€ per person for breakfast, and Hotel La Rocca, Via Porta Perlici 27 (tel./fax 075-812-284; www.hotelarocca.it), in the dizzying heights of town on the road to the castle. Prices there run around 55€ for a double, and 43€ for a single.

For a stay with a religious order, St. Anthony's Guesthouse, Via G. Alessi 10 (tel. 075-812-542; fax 075-813-723; atoneassisi@tiscalinet.it), is run by the Franciscan Sisters of Atonement, an American order of nuns. They offer hotel-like rooms with bathrooms from 50€ double with breakfast. They're open March through October, have a minimum stay of 2 nights, and usually require a deposit in advance.