La Segreta Villa Rental- Umbria

Your Own Private Villa in Umbria, Italy:

Looking for a special place to celebrate your birthday or anniversary with family or a close group of friends? Then consider Bike Riders' exclusive Villa La Segreta, a newly restored luxury villa outside of Todi, Italy. Set on 70 acres of green Umbrian countryside, the historic stone villa is a wonderful blend of old and new. Terracotta floors, high oak beams, wrought iron chandeliers and large stone fireplaces are balanced with modern luxuries such as air conditioning, washer/dryer, flat screen television and a beautiful infinity pool. Perfect for up to 8 people, the property is close to the villages of Todi, Deruta, Assisi, Montefalco and Perugia. Walking trails, biking and golfing are all nearby. Set in a nature reserve amidst olive groves, chestnut trees and cypress-lined lanes, we invite you to see more by visiting http://www.lasegreta.com/ or contact Eileen at eileen@bikeriderstours.com for details and availability.

During our stay we enjoyed the market at Marsciano, the largest town near the villa has a market on Monday mornings. Markets are in the mornings only. They start winding down by 12 noon and an earlier visit is better! Cooking lessons in Perugia, for the ladies while the men played golf.

Allow about 2 hours to the villa from Rome. Orvieto is a nice stop en route for lunch...it is about 1 hour North of Rome. You might like to visit the town and have lunch, and then drive another hour to the house. Graziano the caretaker will have the house open and show you how things work. He will also review the telephone and electric meters with you--at the end of the stay he will do the same and note your consumption--this amount will be deducted from your security deposit.

Graziano is a dear friend of the owners and is also in charge of the running of the property. You will see him on the tractor or in the fields and he will bring Nela to the house for the housekeeping. He will be happy to assit you with any questions in regard to the house or pool.

We reccomend you order the dinner they offer for an additional charge to be delivered to the house on Saturday evening. They also provided a welcome basket with essentials--milk, jam, crackers, water, coffee, etc. If you prefer to stop before the house, you can stop at "Andreani" in the village of Collepepe (see driving directions ---but they do not open until after 5:00 pm.) BUT, Andreani is also open again on Sunday morning until noon--there is also a pasta shop in Collepepe that is open on Sunday morning.

The villa has a complete water filtering system installed. The water is perfectly fine for bathing, cooking and brushing your teeth. We still prefer the taste and quality of bottled water for consumption. There will be some flat and sparkling water at the house--if you think you need a lot you can always pick up more at the "AutoGrill" shops on the highway, or at Andreani.

If you want to use the pizza oven please just explain to Graziano--he can help...you need to allow a couple of hours for the wood to burn and to heat the oven up before you can use it. Also, please be sure that the fire is safely extinguished by the end of the night.

(FYI, there is also a Weber charcoal grill and a great farm store nearby that sells it's own Florentine steaks, sausages, veal ,etc--they are open Wed-Sunday))

Upon arrival, there is a book of information at the villa, plus a welcome basket...we supply basics to get you started such as milk, juice, water, coffee and fruit, as well as paper towels and toilet paper. These are enough to get you through the night and for breakfast the next morning. Andreani is a very nice small market in Collepepe that is open on Sundays until 12 noon. They have all staples, plus a nice selection of cheeses, salumi and wine. You might like to run down to this store on Sunday am ...

On Monday, the A&O Supermarket is open in Deruta..This is a larger market and a good choice for re-stocking your paper towels/napkins/toilet paper and also has a large selection of foodstuffs.