To discover nearby

The medieval hilltop towns of Anghiari and Citerna are 10km and 12km respectively from Sansepolcro. Both are on the list of official ‘most beautiful villages in Italy’ and are lovely to wander around and stop for lunch.

Also not far away is Città di Castello (20km), which has a great tradition of crafts, in particular those of textiles and the art of printing. Artists from the Renaissance period spent a lot of time here and some of their artwork can be seen in the Duomo and the various palazzi in the town. There is also a good picture gallery, the Pinacoteca Comunale, housed in the ‘Vitelli alla Cannoniera’ palace, with art from the 13^th to the 20^th centuries, focusing on Renaissance pieces, including some very early works by Raphael.

About 2km from Città di Castello you can visit Terme di Fontecchio where thermal springs have been used since Roman times for their health-giving properties. The tradition continues and nowadays the modern spa centre offers a variety of treatments and therapies.

Day out in Arezzo

Arezzo (35km) is also within easy reach for a day out, a city full of art and culture with a long history, dating back to Etruscan times. The hub of the city is the Piazza Grande, an unusual sloping piazza surrounded by many beautiful buildings, including the Loggia di Vasari. If you visit on the first Sunday of the month, you will find the Piazza Grande given over to a renowned antiques fair.

Famous residents of Arezzo have included Petrarch, the poet, Giorgio Vasari (painter and architect) and Piero della Francesca, the famous Italian painter. Both Petrarch’s and Vasari’s houses are open to the public. Also take time to visit the Basilica of San Francesco, mainly to see the ‘History of the True Cross’, the sequence of frescos painted by Piero della Francesca. There are a number of other churches and palazzi to see, an archaeological museum and the remains of a Roman amphitheatre.

The great outdoors

Sailing, canoeing and windsurfing are on offer on the Montedoglio lake about 10 minutes north-west of Sansepolcro.

And about half an hour’s drive north of the town, the Riserva Naturale dell’ Alpe di Luna is a beautiful landscape of rolling green pastures and jagged peaks burgeoning with all manner of flora and fauna, and is great for exploring on foot or by bicycle.

Villas in Sansepolcro