tuoro and castel rigone

 
The rambling village of TUORO , four kilometres west of Passignano and three kilometres' walk from the Trasimeno battlefield, is a quiet, dull little place giving road access into the desolate, beautiful mountains north of the lake - the best of the scenery within easy reach of Perugia. A hard-to-find drive and walkway have recently been laid out, starting and finishing just west of the village on the road to Cortona, that take in salient features of the old battlefield. Accommodation here is restricted to a single hotel , the eight-roomed Volante , at Via Sette Martiri 52 (tel 075.826.107, fax 075.825.088; L60,000-90,000/¬30.99-46.48), plus a campsite , the Punta Navaccia at Via Navaccia 4 (tel 075.826.357; April-Sept) in the nearby hamlet of Punta Navaccia .

The outstanding village of CASTEL RIGONE , 8km northeast of Passignano, sits in the mountains, with superb views and a small, geranium-strewn medieval centre. There are two smart, rather staid, hotels the better of which is the immediately obvious four-star Fattoria , Via Rigone 1 (tel 075.845.322, fax 075.845.197; L150,000-200,000/¬77.47-103.29). Each of the hotels has a cavernous, unatmospheric restaurant, the only places for a bite to eat; neither is terribly good. A little outside the village is the Renaissance church Madonna dei Miracoli , somewhat out of place in the overall medieval context.