Umbria - Country House Montali

On our visit to Italia in October 2006, we had the delight of visiting Country House Montali, a gourmet vegetarian family-run hotel in the Umbrian countryside, up a kilometers-long dirt road on a lovely mountaintop overlooking Lake Trasimeno in the midst of woods and a 25-acre olive grove. They have accomodation for ten in three separate stone cabins - all designed by one of the owners, architect Alberto Musacchio. Alberto and his Brazilian partner, Malu, offer a very relaxing environment that includes gourmet breakfasts and 4-course dinners. They're vegetarian and, with notice, have no problem making great vegan meals, even with restrictions like we have of avoiding tofu and excessive soy. They were listed, in 2005, as being one of the ten best vegetarian destinations in the world by VegNews magazine, and have been covered by other journalists, as well. A car is really necessary to visit them - the nearest sizable town is probably Perugia, and that's about an hour's drive away. With a car, the location is great for fun day trips to places like Perugia, Assisi, and many small Umbrian and Toscan towns. Many come for a week and spend some days just relaxing on the property or hiking to the lake. We, unfortunately, only had two days on this trip but sure hope to be back!