What other tourists will I find in Norcia?
| Title: | What other tourists will I find in Norcia? | |||||||
| Category: | Expectations & Planning for Our Norcia Vacations | |||||||
| Author: | Daniele Pintaudi | Updated: | Jan 30, 2019 | Views: | 3,579 | |||
| Tags: | tourist in norcia who travel to norcia norcia umbria | |||||||
Norcia is a very interesting place when you look at the tourists that are there. When you look at the place, it has many of the qualities you would expect in a tourist-heavy place. The buildings are all maintained to perfection. There are tons of shops, cafes, flower-lined streets. You will see hotels, restaurants, bars, etc. All of this, when you consider that it is a town of just about 3,000 people screams that there are tons of tourists.
But you won't see crowds of foreigners with cameras. You won't see big groups of tourists, and you won't see signage all over town in English.
Norcia has every quality that makes the traditional "Tuscan Dream Towns" so popular, but it has gone largely unnoticed by foreigners for one huge reason: Access.
Norcia is deep in the hills of central Italy in the region of Umbria, just a few miles from the Tuscany border. There are no major freeways running near it, and the closest train station is 45 minutes away. Until World War II, there WAS a train, and Norcia was, in fact, a bustling tourist destination. But once the train was gone, it was difficult for travel planners to arrange for people to go there, so it fell out of favor.
This didn't deter Italians. Norcia is considered by Italians to be paradise. For Italian foodies, it has been one of Italy's main culinary hotspots since the middle ages. Their cold cuts are known to be the best of the best. When one shops in Italy, Norcia prosciutto, salami, etc. is always the most exclusive. But it goes way beyond just cold cuts. They are known for the best Black Truffles in the world, plus their lamb, lentils, trout, porchetta, and much more. When any Italian visits Norcia, they invariably go with a shopping list for their friends.
But Norcia is by no means just about food. It is an area of striking natural beauty. People go here to get away from it all. To get into a mountain paradise. It is a place of amazing trails, incredible biking, rock climbing, paragliding, river rafting, etc.
Add to that the surrounding area of Montefalco is home to one of Italy's most exclusive, yet internationally unknown, wines: Sagrantino. The olive oil here is considered to be among the best in all of Italy. The list is endless.
Because of this, Norcia has fallen off of international tourist maps, but Italians will drive hours on end to visit this wonderland. So despite their loss of the train lines and lack of highways, they have not only survived, but thrived.
To add to their fortune, in 1997 a day a great misfortune has served to make Norcia even better. A major earthquake hit nearby Assisi. Norcia suffered significant damage, but with that came a period of rebuilding. The entire town was completely restored. So millions were poured into the local economy to restore every building in town to an absolutely pristine state, adding to the incredible charm of this place.
All of this makes Norcia the ultimate jewel. The tourists you encounter here will be largely local Italians. You will see some foreign tourists, but not many. And those you see are truly "in the know". It is a secret that cannot last forever, but for now, it is more or less ours.