Explore Italy: Gubbio
Gubbio is a small Umbrian town, known as the “città grigia” or gray city, for its uniform color and terracotta roofs with lovely views of the Appenine mountains. It’s not overly crowded with tourists which makes it lovely for exploring. It has 5 main streets parallel to each other, with each one sitting up a bit higher than the first and connected by stairs. For all its beauty and medieval charm, Gubbio will forever be known to me as the town with the 1,000 year old man and bird-cage lifts.
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Gubbio in a nutshell
Location: Umbria, Italy
Best known for: Being the medieval town with bird-cage cable cars up Mount Ingino
Days needed to explore: 1+ - Gubbio makes an excellent daytrip, although it’s so charming you may want to stay a few nights or even make it a base from which to see some of the larger and more crowded Umbrian towns
What to see and do:
Piazza Grande - the large, principal piazza of the city, with views of the valley
Palazzo dei Consoli - medieval palace off the main Piazza Grande (paid entrance)
Duomo di Gubbio (Cattedrale dei Santi Mariano e Giacomo) - not the most impressive Duomo of Italy, but still beautiful in and of itself and worth a stop!
Basilica di Sant’Ubaldo - take the funivia (bird cages, but for humans) up Mount Ingino to get even better views of the valley and Gubbio. The funivia ticket will cost you around 6euro there and back. Max 2 people per cage and watch out, like a true chairlift it doesn’t stop! An operator is there to assist you and a partner into the cage. Once at the top, stop in to see the church and the patron Saint, Sant’Ubaldo himself, who died in 1160, entombed in a glass casket for your viewing pleasure.
Established: By the 7th century BC Gubbio, which was then known as Ikuvium, was already becoming an important city. In the 4th century BC Ikuvium came under Roman rule and became known as Iguvium. It was later known as Eugubium before becoming Gubbio.
Typical foods to try:
Anything with white or black truffles
Olive oil
local cheese and meat boards, always
Friccò all’eugabina - a dish comprised of mixed meats including chicken, rabbit, lamb, pork, turkey, duck, or even guineafowl. No, I had never heard of that last one, either. The meats are stewed together in broth, white wine, garlic, rosemary, and sometimes tomatoes.
Crescia eugabina/torta al testo - Umbrian flatbread that can be filled with seasonal vegetables, meats, cheeses, and all kinds of yum.
Why I like Gubbio
Gubbio is a city that had never reached my radar but is now a city I wholeheartedly recommend visiting if you get the chance. A good friend of mine spent time in Italy as an au pair, and on a return trip to Europe we spent a weekend visiting her Italian “family” in Camucia. They were lovely and while we had merely planned on spending time with them and probably eating copious amounts of food, they decided to show us around. In a 3 day span we saw not only Camucia and Cortona, but also Gubbio and Assisi. It was a great time.
Having no agenda and no idea what any of these cities were like, it was enjoyable and quite unusual for me to not know where I was going and not having at least an idea of what I wanted to do/see. Instead, it was in the hands of a local family with a car and I tell you, do I love being a passenger. No, I really do. I don’t much enjoy driving. Especially in Italy. They drove, led us to see all the pretty things, and picked out the restaurants. It was like being a young kid again where you just go wherever your parents take you. And not knowing where you’re going, because you can’t understand your parents. Haha. It was great. I highly recommend you pick out an Italian family and let them take you around.
My favorite favorite part of Gubbio are those bird cage lifts. It’s possible to walk up to the church, about 30 minutes really uphill, but it’s probably a good thing i didn’t know that because I insist on walking places too much (hey, I save a lot of money this way). They’re exhilarating, a little bit freaky, and lead to a neat place. Views and that church with the dead guy. I’m sure he was a lovely man when he was alive, but it's bizarre to think that that was so long ago. Yet his mortal remains are still there and so well preserved. Crazy.
Not many cities leave impressions like Gubbio.