Decide your pace

Big cities, such as Rome and Florence, are filled with attractions of all sorts and are a mere hour and a half drive away (also reachable by train out of Orvieto), but there also several villages and towns, museums and Etruscan sites that are well worth a visit.

Or maybe you fancy a visit to one of the many historic Villas or parks that are in the area, the most known one is the Holy Forest, or more commonly called Parco dei Mostri (the monster park), a stone carved park of grotesque monsters that dates back to 1552, created by Vicino Orsini to commemorate his late wife Giulia Farnese. Not to mention the farmers’ markets, wine tastings, local artisanal and craftsman shops, horseback riding in the canyons, truffle hunting with dogs and much more.

Or you might just want to hide out in the magnetic beauty of Carma R.Elais, breathe in an expanse of nature, hang around the pool, do yoga somewhere outside in the estate, read a book under a tree at the many benches disseminated here and there with stunning views over the canyons or the valley. It’s by all means a personalized escape.

On the google map everything surrounding Carma R.Elais looks like a big, empty green and earthy splotch. A broad expanse of lunar canyons and green valleys broken up by small ancient villages. Here beauty exists in the perfect balance, neither too tame nor too savage.

Civita di Bagnoregio has become a quite a popular tourist destination, so when you go for a visit you won’t be alone. It’s because of its mystic location, a completely isolated hilltop surrounded only by air that, especially in the mornings when the clouds surround the village, make it seem like it’s floating over the extensive canyons. It is connected only by a small pedestrian bridge (there are no cars on the island). One of the great things you can do if you stay at the estate, is to visit Civita early in the morning before the day-trippers arrive or, in the evening when te town empties of day visitors. You will have the mystical village all to yourself (except for the 9 habitants), to enjoy peaceful strolls in the streets that end in a stunning abyss.

Should you want to venture further out, a mere 10-minute drive away, you could go to Lake Bolsena (one of Italy’s cleanest) for a swim, to rent a sailing boat and swim around the two breathtakingly beautiful islands in the middle – both private – with a history so intriguing you might want to study it. Maybe, you’ll even go home in the evening with the catch of the day that you’ll want to prepare for dinner on the barbeque. The road from our estate to Lake Vico, a tiny lake further South, is like an enchanted path in a fairy-tale that you don’t want to miss.

Should you rather fancy the seaside, you can go east, and in a little over an hour you are on the Coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea anywhere between Tarquinia, well known for its Etruscan necropolis, to fancy Porto Santo Stefano. You can even venture to the Giglio Island and come back to Carma R.Elais for the night.

You can visit and explore Orvieto and Viterbo, both a stones’ throw away, and see all their cultural treasures. And on your way, you can meet all our micro producer friends that supply us with ricotta and mozzarella cheese, lamb, lentils and beans, and so much more.