The dichotomy between Tuscany and Umbria is a tale as old as time. Both boasting rolling, cypress-dotted hills, historic cities, authentic culinary experiences and significant cultural influences – Tuscany was the epicentre of the Italian Renaissance, producing masters such as Brunelleschi, Masaccio, and Donatello, while Umbria is rooted in religious heritage, home to the birthplace of Saint Francis of Assisi – the only real difference between these neighbouring regions are the tourist numbers they attract. As of 2023, Tuscany broke records as one of Italy’s most-visited regions, hosting more than 50 million travellers per year. Umbria, meanwhile, sees just a fraction of that. 

This, of course, is owed to Tuscany’s storied and culturally significant cities, including Florence, which ranks as one of the most visited in the world, alongside Siena and Pisa – all of which boast outposts from luxury hotel groups such as Four Seasons, Rosewood and Belmond. As a result, Tuscany attracts seven times as many visitors as Umbria each year. But what this landlocked region lacks in busy landmarks and global brands (although Six Senses Antognolla is slated to open in 2028), it makes up for in other ways. In fact, it’s Umbria’s lack of buzz that is so appealing. Home to sleepy hilltop villages and a largely untouched landscape, if you’re looking to experience the epitome of dolce far niente (the sweetness of doing nothing), this is where to go. 

Image: Mattia Aqulia Photography

From the runway of Umbria’s gateway airport, Perugia San Francesco d’Assisi, you can spot the medieval hilltop town it is named after: a UNESCO World Heritage site and home to the Basilica of St Francis. It is one of the many pint-sized but perfectly preserved towns scattered across Italy’s fifth-smallest region, which are steeped in a history showcased via high fortress walls, ancient churches and cobbled piazzas. In a world of constant change and modernisation, Umbria offers the refreshing opportunity to step back into Italy’s yesteryear. 

The ‘green heart of Italy’ – a nickname derived from its geographical position at the centre of the country, sandwiched between Tuscany and Lazio to the west and Marche and Abruzzo to the east – unfolds like a storybook as I make the 45-minute drive from Perugia airport to Rastrello. As the road weaves around the island-dotted Lake Trasimeno – Italy’s fourth largest lake, just slightly smaller than Lake Como – and up the cypress-fringed hills, the historic town of Panicale comes into view. 

Image: Mattia Aqulia Photography

Dating back to 2000 BC, and having thrived during the Renaissance when it served as a base for lauded Italian painters Perugino and Raffaello, Panicale is an oval-shaped town sitting on high fortress walls and offering sweeping views of Lake Trasimeno in the distance . In fact, it was this view that sold the destination to the German-American Wassmann family, who moved here from the States in 1995 and, 25 years later, decided to open Panicale’s first and only luxury hotel. 

At launch, this 14^th-century palazzo turned luxury hotel had only nine rooms. Five years of sold-out summers later, and the family made the move to expand into a former communal garage next door to create the Garden Annex. Having tapped Pelizzari Studio for the renovation, the resulting further seven rooms opened at the end of 2025, alongside a dedicated wellness area, meditation room, lounge, and a garden featuring a small dipping pool with a fountain and a deck overlooking the lake. 

Rastrello’s proud membership of Design Hotels is obvious as soon as you step through its crittall doors. Featuring open brickwork, bare wooden beams and monochrome portraits of the family’s olive groves and life in Panicale, as well as a palette of muted lilacs, greys and blues, the interiors are refreshingly pared back to let the period architecture do the talking. Modern ensuites feature Grown Alchemist amenities, with marble vanities and showers juxtaposed with heated red-brick flooring. Those lucky enough to face the lake will wake up to panoramic vistas of Umbria’s picture-perfect landscape, but the sun-drenched terrace which joins the two buildings is truly the property’s best vantage point. 

The extension of the Garden Annex also heralded the addition of a dedicated wellness area. Set in a subterranean space with a sauna and meditation room – for added privacy, guests can reserve this for by the hour for exclusive use – Rastrello’s refined massage menu includes head and shoulder de-stress and lymphatic drainage treatments. I’d really recommend the latter to release pent-up travel tension with locally-grown lavender-scented oils, or go all out with the signature Umbrian Countryside Escape, designed to harness the natural healing properties of Rastrello’s own organic olive oil to create a soothing and personalised massage. 

The hotel’s award-winning extra virgin olive oil, Evoo – which is served at breakfast, lunch and dinner – is sourced from the family’s nearby farm, alongside eggs, homemade breads, granola and yogurt, which ultimately contributed to Rastrello being awarded B Corp certification in 2024. Breakfast is served in both the annex and the main house, and offers a thoughtful, help-yourself spread featuring the aforementioned essentials, as well as pastries, fresh fruit salad and eggs prepared to order. 

These spaces also transform into an aperitivo lounge every evening, with fridges filled with complimentary house wines and craft beers, as well as small bites such as cheese muffins and salted nuts. Daily essentials such as filtered water and hot drinks are also available here, including Rastrello’s farm infusion teas, such as blueberry and basil, olive leaf and lemon, or rosemary, lavender and mint.

The main dining space, however, is on the ground floor of the main property. Named Cucina & Giardino, and helmed by celebrated regional chef Nicola Fanfano, this farm-to-table restaurant was bustling with locals when I visited on a Friday night. With tables spanning the more intimate wine cave, or with a view of the open kitchen, start with original cocktails such as the Evoo olive oil sour with rum and triple sec, and the Trasimeno spritz, featuring Gamondi aperitivo and wild fennel infusion topped with prosecco. Naturally, beers and wines are just as considered as everything else here, with the former sourced from Perugia and the latter from across the region. 

The wine list focuses solely on vineyards within a 70km radius of Rastrello in a bid to minimise the impact on the environment and, as a result, features several under-the-radar bottles from the Azienda Agricola La Querciolana estate in Panicale, Castiglione del Lago (just seven kilometres away), and Tuscany’s Cortona and Montepulciano. You expect an Italian restaurant to have an impressive wine list – but this really is something. 

Image: Mattia Aqulia Photography

Cucina & Giardino

Also in true Italian style, portions are supremely generous. Fanfano’s rotating menu is dictated by the vegetables he sources from Castello di Montalera, organic flour from Molino Silvestri and charcuterie from Bottega delle Carni. You can taste the freshness in delectable plates of onion parmigiana, grilled artichokes with poached egg, pecorino cheese and anchovy flavoured breadcrumbs, or the best of every world with the Rastrello bites: croquettes filled with broccoli and sausage, fried cacio e pepe and cous cous with perch from the lake. 

Framed by the window of the open kitchen, chefs roll handmade farfalle, spaghetti and gnocchi to be paired with sauces of saffron and crispy asparagus or white beef ragu with parsley oil. I’m ashamed to admit that I was too full to get past the pasta course, but main dishes of braised beef in red wine and cauliflower flan, and duck breast with onion and rum marmalade did sound tempting. All of which is made even more impressive given the prices here are very much not in luxury hotel territory. No main cost more than €20, meaning that not only is the restaurant accessible to the town, creating a soulful space for guests and locals alike, but it also competes with the array of restaurants on Rastrello’s doorstep. 

Piazza Umberto I in Panicale. Image: Shutterstock/Essevu

Panicale. Image: Shutterstock

Not that the Wassmanns will try and prevent you from stepping beyond their threshold. Rastrello’s relationship with the community is further highlighted by its ability to secure a table at Panicale’s best restaurants at the click of a finger. As recommended by the team, I visited the gorgeous Ristorante Masolino, which has been part of the culinary fabric here since 1959 and spans two spaces: one dining room overlooking the lake, and one embedded into a wine cave. Boxes of bottles line the walls, from which sommeliers take their pick according to your wine tastes (let them, I thoroughly enjoyed the La Randa from Umbrian estate, Cesarini Sartori), while food is traditional. Think crostini with liver pate, ricotta and confit tomato flan, and homemade pastas such as gnocchi with truffle and porcini mushrooms, and umbricelli with ragu. 

Elsewhere in Panicale, Osteria Il Gallo Nel Pozzo is another traditional Italian trattoria well worth visit, while buzzy bars include Il Caffe Della Piazza and Divin Peccato Cafe – all feeding (ahem) the central Piazza Umberto I, which is undeniably the busiest part of town, coming alive with hikers and locals sipping espresso in the day, and then spritzes and wine in the evening. Rastrello’s annex boasts direct access to the piazza, while the team can also organise tours with local historians. 

Palazzo del Podesta sits at Panicale’s highest point and, naturally, was once the seat of power, while the Teatro Caporali theatre, which dates back to the 1700s, is a must for thespians. Equally, you will have as much fun strolling the city’s walls, discovering your own vantage points to inhale those views, or getting lost in the rabbit-warren of terracotta streets which form Panicale. 

So, put simply, what more could you want? A boutique, intimate environment ensures Rastrello is a serene sanctuary where Panicale’s heart and history can be felt throughout the hotel’s walls and beyond. Rastrello sets out to offer an idyllic taste of the Italian countryside, from authentic culinary experiences to wellness treatments, and executes it in spectacular fashion. Long live boutique, family-run hotels. 

From £300 per night. 

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