Towns & Day Trips

Stroncone

Stroncone is the borgo you go to when you’ve done the headline sights and want the quiet, lived-in version of Umbria. It sits on an olive-covered hill south of Terni, its old centre still wrapped in its walls, with upland meadows above for picnics and an organic winery on the doorstep.

Facts checked: July 2026. Stroncone is about 20 minutes south of Terni – a walled borgo most falls-visitors never reach, with mountain meadows above it and a serious little winery nearby.

The walled borgo

The historic centre has kept its medieval shape – narrow curving lanes, carved stone doorways, an old well, and a monumental 17th-century fountain at the entrance (umbriatourism.it). The main sights are the Collegiata di San Nicolò, a linear Romanesque church holding a polyptych by Rinaldo da Calvi, the Oratory of San Giovanni Decollato, and the town hall’s collection of illuminated manuscripts. Just outside the walls, the Monastery of San Francesco – by tradition founded during Saint Francis’s lifetime (1213) – holds one of the larger Franciscan libraries in Umbria.

The Prati di Stroncone — meadows above

Above the village, the land opens into the Prati di Stroncone, a plateau of meadows around 1,000 metres up – the area’s easiest “mountain day” and a classic summer heat-escape, ideal for a picnic and a gentle loop. Saint Francis used these upland paths on his way between Terni and Greccio. The walk and picnic notes →

La Palazzola — sparkling wine on the hill

Near Stroncone, the La Palazzola estate (winemaker Stefano Grilli) makes traditional-method sparkling wine – metodo classico – among still wines, on a hilltop site with a long view (lapalazzola.it). Visits and tastings are by arrangement rather than drop-in – contact the estate to book, and ask about the approach road when you do.

The slow-tourism angle

Stroncone is the opposite of a day-trip-and-go town – it rewards lingering, which is rather the point.

Frequently asked questions