Umbria makes it easier to discover its tourist gems

An effort to boost domestic visits to a lesser-known Italian region

Have you ever heard of the Marmore Falls? It is the tallest man-made water cascade in the world, and amazingly enough, its origins date back to the ancient Romans.

Together with the Piediluco Lake and the town of Assisi, they represent the most impressive attractions of the mountainous and landlocked Italian region of Umbria. However, for the longest of times, they had to stay in the shadow of other more prominent sites of the Apennine country.

Regional authorities have decided to try and change that with the provision of intermodal public transport links, which will ease the visit to these places for anyone curious enough. In fact, this was already tried out with the medieval town of Assisi, famous as the city of St. Francis, in 2019 to resounding success.

It will now be replicated with the creation of the so-called Marmore Link and Piediluco Link, a collaboration between Trenitalia and Busitalia – both of which are subsidiaries of the national railway company Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane.

Intermodality and discounts to encourage the use of public transport

The Marmore Falls are quite a sight to behold, given that occasionally their flow is turned up in order to provide water and, thus, kinetic energy for Galleto power plant below. Tourists flock to see the spectacle and there is a special alarm that sounds off when the falls are about to be turned on.

Piediluco Lake is located above them and serves as a reservoir to the falls. It is quite picturesque on its own and is well worth a visit, too, especially for the practice of water sports.

The combination of train and bus travel with an interchange in the Terni railway station, allows both Umbrian citizens and visitors from outside the region, new sustainable mobility options that are comfortable and cost-effective. 

Marmore Link will offer up to 55 trips a day that arrive and depart a few steps from the cascade. On peak days, the Piediluco Link will dispose of 48 possible trips per day arriving to and departing from the lakefront.

The main advantage lies in the ease of consulting the travel solutions on all Trenitalia sales channels and in the possibility of purchasing the ticket in a single step.

“Other advantages,” explained the infrastructure commissioner Enrico Melasecche, “are derived from the price of the entire train and bus journey from Rome to the Marmore Falls, for an adult, it costs 9.05 euros. From Foligno to Lake Piediluco it costs 8.05. As for the Falls, those arriving by train can also claim a discount on the entrance fee to the park. In fact, thanks to the agreement signed between Trenitalia and the Municipality of Terni, a visitor will pay the reduced price (8 euros) instead of the full price (10 euros)”. 

To get the discount, simply show the ticket to Terni or Marmore Falls at the ticket office. It does not even have to be valid for the same day, as tickets from the two preceding days will also be accepted.