How to find Località Il Piano
Map, directions and contact information
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Località il Piano is located in the Appennine mountains of central Italy, in the Region of Umbria and Province of Perugia, a couple hours northeast of Rome.
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How to find us by car, coming from Spoleto:
See map below. The easiest route.... from Spoleto head northeast on the Flaminia (Strada Statale 3, SS3). After a few kilometers take the exit for Norcia-Cascia, which will go through five minutes of tunnel. When the tunnel spits you out, follow a large curve to the left (lots of black and white zebra stripes). At the bottom of the curve there is a stop sign and you turn right, passing through Palombara and staying on the main road. You're on SS209, otherwise known as the Valnerina. You pass Castel San Felice and Vallo di Nera on your right. At Piedipaterno, you exit to the left, following signs for Meggiano. Follow the road as it goes towards town then does an a 180 degree turn to the left. Follow the windy road for several kilometers until you see a sign pointing right for Meggiano. Take this steep short road til it comes to a T at the town of Geppa. Continue away from the village of Geppa (straight/right) and follow the road for several kilometers til it comes to a fork (left to Meggiano or right to Paterno). Take the right fork for Paterno. About one kilometer down this asphalt road there is a gravel road sharply down to your right, where you will see a metal guardrail and a "Not a Through Street" sign. For GPS users: the coordinates at this point are 42° 46' 40" lat. north and 12° 51' 35" long. east. Note that this last kilometer will challenge most drivers and some cars: high clearance required, 4x4 recommended. Drivers concerned about driving this last kilometer may prefer to park near the guard rail and walk down the road about 800 meters, or park in Piedipaterno and walk about 500 meters up along a steep forest path (for details read below section on arriving with public transit). For those who keep driving: take this right and continue downhill on the steep dirt road where you will see a wooden sign on an oak for "Località il Piano". You continue along down the road for about 800 meters, flanked by woods, then fields fenced with electric fencing tape, then through a small orchard/olive grove and an unfenced pasture. Shortly after you will see a fork in the road, where you continue to the left down the road marked with "Strada Privata" and "Località il Piano" signs on an oak tree. Continuing downhill, you will pass a lake and some orchards, some woods and pastures, then see a recently restored big stone farmhouse. Park under the walnut and oak trees, then come knock on the door (upper floor, for agriturismo guests).
Adventurous drivers with good navigation skills seeking a beautiful drive from Spoleto can follow the bike directions to go over the mountain instead of taking the tunnel. Much prettier, but road signs are scarce.
Using public transit to and from the farm is relatively straight forward:
In a nutshell: take the train to the Spoleto train station, where you can catch the several-times-a-day bus which will drop you in the village of Piedipaterno. From this bus stop it is about half a kilometer to our front door, along a steep dirt path through the woods. WWOOFers and newly-arriving agriturismo guests, please do remember to call us at least a day ahead of time to let us know which bus you are planning to catch so that we know what time to expect you (Darcy's cell phone 338.7075765 or leave a message at our home phone 0743.616300). Keep in mind that backpacks are much easier to transport uphill than suitcases - wheels are not useful on this rocky path. It would be a good idea to print this page so that you have it with you for reference while you're in transit.
Details: Plan ahead by looking at www.trenitalia.it for train schedules, planning to arrive in Spoleto comfortably before the bus leaves so that you have time to buy a bus ticket in the station bar. It's a good idea to buy a second ticket to use on your return trip to Spoleto. Recently bus tickets have cost about 2 euros each way. (Note : yes, you can also buy a ticket from the bus driver in a pinch though it costs more to buy it on the bus and he may be annoyed if you don't have exact change.) The buses arrive and depart directly in front of (or off to the side of) the train station, near a huge black iron sculpture. The right bus to take is usually large and blue, with "Umbria Mobilità" painted on it and with "Spoleto-Norcia-Cascia" written on its scrolling electronic destination screen. On weekdays and Saturdays, buses depart from the train station at 06.55, 10.00, 13.35 (only when school is in session) , 14.05, 17.20, 20.00. On Sundays and holidays, buses depart from the train station at 07.40, 10.00, 17.20, 20.00 (see http://www.umbriamobilita.it/public/resources/linee/estivo/E401.pdf for the hard-to-read official schedule). When you get on the bus, ask the bus driver "Per Piedipaterno?" to confirm that you are on the right bus and to let him know your destination. The bus will be moving for a total of 18-20 minutes before you get off at Piedipaterno. Stand up and move to the front of the bus about 5 minutes after the bus gets out of a long tunnel, so the bus driver remembers to stop and let you off in Piedipaterno. Once you're off the bus, cross to the other side of the highway and walk uphill on a smaller asphalt road (about 50 meters to the right of Bar Valnerina). Continue up, up, up, walking up the narrow stairs where the road seems to dead-end to car traffic (on your left there will be a small stone church with a bell tower). Cross the road at the top of the stairs and keep walking uphill, on a road parallel to a small paved streambed which usually has water running in it. This road will do a hairpin turn around a large pink house, follow it and keep walking til the asphalt ends near a brown temporary building. About 10 meters after the asphalt ends you head left into the forest then immediately see a fork in the path, where you head right (uphill). Follow this path uphill through the forest for about 300 meters, until it flattens out and you'll see the farm gate with a "Località il Piano" sign. Important - always leave this gate chained securely shut so that our animals don't get out! There may be animals in the pasture with you now. Once through the gate, head uphill to your left 20 meters then curve right along the wire-and-post fence. If you see what appears to be an electric fence (orange or yellow tape), unhook and rehook the gate using the insulated orange plastic handle. Walk along the greenhouse filled with hay, behind the strawbale barn, and along the road up to the big stone farmhouse. Agriturismo guests: come knock on the front door of the upper level. WWOOFers: come knock on the door of the ground-level floor.
Arrival by bike, coming from Spoleto:
From Spoleto.... head towards the main cemetery, just on the other side of Strada Statale 3 (SS3) from town. The winding road which passes in front of the cemetery continues up to the Forca di Cerro, the pass that connects the Spoleto valley with our less-inhabited Valnerina valley. Spoleto is about 300 meters above sea level and the pass is at about 800 meters above sea level, so expect some serious climbing. (Note: this road was part of one leg of the Giro d'Italia bike race in 2007!) You pass Forca di Cerro and descend through the towns of Grotti and Geppa, continuing along this main road. Several kilometers after Geppa, a fork in the road gives you the options of climbing higher to the left towards Meggiano or going right-ish and flat towards Paterno. Take the right fork for Paterno. About one kilometer down this asphalt road there is a dirt road sharply to your right, where you will see a metal guardrail. Take this right and continue downhill on the dirt road, where you will see a wooden sign on an oak for "Località il Piano". It is very steep and the gravel is loose, probably you will want to walk the bike. You continue along down the road for about a kilometer, flanked by woods, then fields fenced with electric fencing tape, then through a small orchard/olive grove and an unfenced pasture. Shortly after you come to the second fork, where you continue to the left down the road marked with "Strada Privata" and "Località il Piano" signs on an oak tree. Continuing downhill, you will pass a lake and some orchards, some woods and pastures, then see a recently restored big stone farmhouse. Come knock on the door!
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Farm mailing address:
Adolfo Rosati & Darcy Gordon Località il Piano, 1 Frazione Paterno 06040 Vallo di Nera (PG) ITALIA
(Please note: Letters sent to this address arrive reliably, but check with us before sending packages)
Home phone: (+39) 0743.616300 Cell phone: (+39) 338.7075765 |
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