Italian viewpoint: Castelluccio, Umbria

This tiny picturesque village dating back to the 13th century in Umbria has the power to dazzle you in every season and at any time of the day. Go to Castelluccio, overlooking the Piano Grande in the Apennine Mountains, in the early morning and you will be faced with a view of a mystical village rising out of the mist and set alight by a beautiful dawn, weather permitting!

Or go there between late May and early July and you can witness ‘La Fiorita’ or ‘The Flowering’ of Castelluccio, when the flowers bloom and the plateau bursts with colours and shades ranging from yellow to red, from violet to white. And if you decide to walk among this ‘natural mosaic’, you might even catch a glimpse of some gazelles and roe deers!

Doesn’t it just make you want to pick up a paint brush and capture the magnificence of nature?!

Off the tourist trail itineraries: undiscovered treasures of Puglia

Undiscovered Italy: the Lazio Lake District