How to arrive in seventh heaven?

By Airplane: most airline companies fly to Rome. In our experience – from the Netherlands to Rome - Ryanair to Rome Ciampino is the cheapest one. After your landing at the airport you can either rent a car or take the shuttle bus, which will bring you to Rome’s central station ‘Roma Termini’. There you can take a direct train towards Orvieto. After you are settled down in the train, you may call us and we will pick you up in Orvieto. The train journey will take less than one hour.

A few tips: 1. in our experience internet booking is the cheapest way of car rental (easy when you book your flight); 2. travelling with Ryanair you will be better not buy a bus ticket for the Terravison bus in the plane. It is more expensive but – more important – also more complicated. A general shuttle bus is waiting outside the airport of Roma Ciampino on the left side; 3. in case of arrival at Roma Fiumincino you can take a train to Roma Termini; 4. train tickets are available in the machine. Looking for a human being is waste of time; there is only one ticket office with a long queue of people.

By train: there certainly are possibilities to reach Rome by train from any important train station in the UK. The French TGV has car trains to Fréjus at the French-Italian border. To get cheap tickets for the car train it is necessary to book a long time in advance.

By Car to our address: Strada Cipolla 1, 5016, Ficulle(TR).

Coming from the north:

Take the A1,  Italy’s main highway (Milano-Napoli), toll exit Fabro. Turn to the left following the signs for Fabro Scalo. After a few hundred meters you will see a roundabout, where you turn to the right, following the signs for Ficulle. This road is indicated as the SS71.

Continue in the direction of Ficulle/Orvieto. You will be driving in the hills. After about 8 kms you will reach Ficulle, a typical ‘piccolo borgo’ (tiny walled city ).

Pass Ficulle (you certainly will visit it later on) and after having passed the last house of Ficulle(left) you will see a sign ‘Valico di Monte Nibbio’. Slow down a little and km 50 IV you will see a sign for Mealla/La Casella/Poggi.

Turn to the left. Immediately there is a fork on a sandy road; choose direction Mealla/La casella, the left tooth of the fork, which is called Strada Poggi.

Don’t take the Strada Coventaccio!

From here all the distances in km’s are counted from the asphalted road, the SS71.

Be careful and pay good attention to all the warnings.

From this point it is actually always straight ahead. Forget about the words Mealla/La Casella. Don’t drive much faster than 20 à 30 km.

You will pass several freestanding houses.

After 1.6 km you see a sign Mealla; forget about it and keep straight on. After 2,5 km a sign La Casella . Forget about that as well and keep driving straight on. Any time that you think ‘this must be the wrong road’ you are right.

After 2,6 km another sign Parzalla and agriturismo Parzalla; don’t follow these signs, but keep a little left (in a kind of three-forked road).

At the same time you will see a group of houses; the first group to which the middle of the three teeth of the fork is leading has lost the indication of its name, but the second is called ‘loc. Poggi 1’. Pass it, letting it on your right hand, follow the road until it turns a little to the left. Where the road is going to the left, you must see a big building on the right. which is fallen into disrepair. Call us in order that we can go down to welcome you.

Follow the road which goes down to the left. At the end of the road you will see the sign ‘Strada Cipolla’. Turn in to the left and the first lavender coloured gate you will see is ours. Come in and park your car at the parking, which is on the left just after having passed the gate.

Coming from the south (do not rely on the Tomtom, because that is sending you over an impassable road!):

Driving on the A1 (Napoli-Milano), take the exit Orvieto. After the toll exit, turn to the right and you will pass Orvieto Scalo. At the roundabout turn to the right, heading on Todi just until the next roundabout. There you have to go to the left, heading Ficulle. Following that road, which is called the SS71 you will see a sign for Mealla. A few km after that sign you will notice km 50 III.  Slow down and very shortly thereafter you will see a sign for Mealla/La Casella/Poggi.

Turn to the right and you will drive on a sandy road, which is called Strada Poggi. From here follow the description above.