Churches, Local Food & Bar
Lippiano has two churches, one parish church and the other a private chapel belonging to the castle. There is a bar run by a very affable family of women at the far end of the village. They bake a very special Umbrian flat bed called ‘Ciaccia sul Panaro‘ baked on a stone (available in the summer months on Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays evenings) which you stuff with local sausages and onion or cold cuts and cheese, tomato and mozzarella or rocket and creamy stracchino cheese.
Delicious honey is sold from Fabio who lives beneath the castle in the via Regina Elena.
Lippiano Castle
Lippiano, like so many of the hill towns of Italy, is dominated by its castle dating back to X century. It is vast and totally intact with a look-out tower visible from afar. Some years ago, I was shown round the many rooms spread over four or five floors and remember coming away baffled as I tried to work out how on earth an enormous tractor tyre, taller than the tallest man, got to be stored away in one of the many bedrooms whose door and windows were nowhere large enough for it to go through.
On the first floor, the chilling sight of the small cell with it’s massive door of almost a foot thick comes into view. I hustled my eight year old son out into the corridor, in a spellbound state as his imagination ran wild with ideas like those in fairy tales recounting centuries old stories of castles and battles. The exceptional frescoed rooms however, haul one over to the other side of Renaissance times. Two extremes; one barbaric and the other highly sophisticated.
Lippiano Tour Guide
Should you need a local tour guide we can put you in touch with ‘India’ who can organise wine tastings and all kinds of holiday activities tailor made for you, offering a wealth of ideas with her seemingly limitless knowledge of Lippiano and the surrounding area. She is enviably bilingual in Italian and English.
Walks from La Buia
From La Buia you can go on a beautiful long walk around the valley via Lippiano where you’ll take in wonderful scenes through olive groves and vine yards, barking dogs; a walk in the past, uninterrupted by cars. Views over the valleys are quite superb as you can spot several other hill towns in the distance, perched on the undulating Umbrian landscape, enticing you to visit them; Monterchi, Citerna and Anghiari to the north and Monte Santa Maria Tiberina to the southeast.
If you are looking for accommodation in a beautiful spot – visit our website here.
Cycling
The area is also very popular with road cyclists and mountain bikers – see our ‘Cycling‘ blog post to find out more.
You can get a glimpse of Lippiano Castle and the beautiful countryside surrounding us in this video clip:
Accommodation
If you’re looking to visit the area, our beautifully restored villa that sleeps 6 with private pool and stunning views is available all year round. Visit our bookings page to check availability.