This is the Untold Italy travel podcast and you're listening to episode number 202.

Ciao at all and benvenuti to Untold Italy, the travel podcast where you go to the towns and villages, mountains and lakes, hills and coastlines of Bella Italia.

Each week your host, Katie Clark, takes you on a journey in search of magical landscapes, history, culture, wine, gelato, and of course, a whole lot of pasta.

If you're dreaming of Italy and planning future adventures there,

you've come to the right place.

Bonjour, everyone.

Can you believe we're almost at the end of 2023. This year has zipped by so quickly,

it seems, and here we are about to head into Christmas. It's been a huge year for Untold Italy

and travel in Italy in general. All indications are this was one of, if not the busiest seasons for the Italian

tourism industry since records began. But do you know where it wasn't so busy? Umbria.

And that's where we're headed to today. We cannot fathom why Umbria isn't as busy as Tuscany,

but we like it that way. It's a beautiful and peaceful

corner of Italy where people just get on doing what they've always done for centuries.

We just wrapped up our first tour there and I just loved what our guest Barbara had to say.

She said, I didn't feel like I was a tourist. I felt like a local visiting family and friends.

Exactly how we feel and it's why we choose to vacation and celebrate special moments there

ourselves. But there is one place in Umbria that has seen a constant stream of visitors

throughout the years and that's Assisi, the town we're visiting today.

Joining me is Isabella Balucci, a local guide from the Umbria region, here to tell us all

about the beautiful town of Assisi and what you can expect if you decide to go there.

Most famous for being the birthplace of St. Francis, patron-sate of animals and ecology,

Assisi has been a destination for pilgrims for many centuries.

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