PERUGIA

A cute little town with yummy chocolate.
Chocolate lovers flock to PERUGIA’s annual October Eurochocolate Festival. (www.eurochocolate.com) To get into town, take a bus from the train station to Piazza Italia, or get off at the main bus station in Piazza dei Partigiani and ride the escalator through the Rocca Paolina to the top of the hill. Corso Vannucci is the main thoroughfare— be sure to bring home Perugina Baci from number 101! Farther ahead, the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria offers a stellar collection of works by Fra Angelico, Piero della Francesca, Pintoricchio, and Perugino, Raphael’s teacher. You can see Raphael’s early handiwork in the Cappella di San Severo, and a combo-ticket also gets you into the underground Pozzo Etrusco. Take some time to duck into the Duomo and browse the many boutiques nearby.