Assisi is one of Italy’s lovely hill towns. It is very hilly, to put it mildly. Put on your sturdiest walking shoes, and plan on a lot of huffing and puffing if you’re not in top shape. It seemed to us like we were always going up or down in Assisi, never on the flat!

And in the cities, you will do a lot of walking, much of it on uneven surfaces such as cobblestones, so be sure to wear appropriate foot gear to avoid tripping or turning an ankle, especially in ancient structures such as the Colosseum in Rome where modern safety standards do not apply.