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10 nights in Umbria before Rome- advice please

10 nights in Umbria before Rome- advice please

Old Jan 21st, 2017, 12:58 PM
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10 nights in Umbria before Rome- advice please

In May, will be flying into and out of Rome. Upon arrival, straight to Perugia (best way?). We have 10 nights, then to Rome for 5 nights- already booked. Then after that 2 nights somewhere close by before departing. (Actually, we have 3 nights at the end, the very last night will be at the airport.) Anywhere to stay near Ostia Antica?

So- where are we spending the first 10 nights? Was thinking 5 in Perugia, because of the good train/bus availability I've read about, to see surrounding towns- we won't be driving. Then to Orvieto, which everyone seems to love! Are those 2 places good choices? Is that too much time in the hill towns? Speaking of hill towns, DH isn't great on stairs- I see them mentioned especially in Perugia- are they everywhere in town?

Oh, this is a lot of questions! But I want to get the 10 nights figured out so I can make hotel bookings. Note- we've been to Florence and Naples already. Thanks!
(Posted other forum too)
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 01:03 PM
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What about Assisi? or southern Tuscany? [which comes down very close to Rome in the west]

what caught my eye actually was the rest of your itinerary. unless you have a very early flight home, you really don't need to stay near the airport as a taxi or train will get you there pretty quickly from anywhere in central Rome. I'm not sure why you'd want to be moving for those last 3 nights. Better to have longer in Umbria/Southern Tuscany, and then spend the last 5 nights [or longer if you like] in Rome.
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 01:24 PM
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Hi nvl325,

Here's another way to do it (one of hundreds of variations you can play with):

Arrive FCO, Leonardo express to Rome Termini and train to Orvieto at once; the train from Rome to Orvieto only takes an hour. Then you can settle into Orvieto for two or three nights, lots to enjoy there. (BTW, is this your first trip to Italy?)

From Orvieto, proceed to Arezzo (1.5 hrs more or less, nonstop), 2 nights

Arezzo to Perugia (little more than 1 hr, nonstop), 3 nights. Read up on Perugia here and elsewhere, some people love it, some people (including me)...not so much

Perugia to Assisi (only 30 minutes, nonstop), 2 nights (again, read up on Assisi; huge crowds visit the gorgeous basilica daily but there is much else to enjoy in the town, and you can visit the basilica early in the day and later in the afternoon when the crowds leave

Assisi to Spoleto (half an hour, nonstop), 2 nights

Spoleto to Rome (1.5 hrs, nonstop); stay 5 nights in Rome. You can easily daytrip to Ostia Antica during your stay in Rome.

This creates a kind of circular route. It minimizes time travelling from one place to another. And it gives you a lot of variety among the towns before you go to Rome.

But there are umpteen variations on this for your trip. Enjoy!
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 01:30 PM
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I think five nights in Orvieto is maybe too much. It's not a great transportation hub, and there's not that much to see or do in the town.

I'll second Assisi, which is easy to reach from Perugia. Spello is another very pretty town, very close to Assisi, and also on the train line from Perugia.

Spoleto is another possibility. It's on the main train line between Ancona (on the Adriatic) and Rome, which would make your onward trip easy. It would also give you the possibility of making day trips by train to other towns in Umbria, such as Trevi and Terni. (I just don't know how easy it is to get into town from the train stations in these towns.)

You could also visit some places in Le Marche, such as Genga, in a beautiful river gorge, with the Frasassi caverns, one of the largest cavern systems in Europe, and very beautiful. Fabriano, another attractive and interesting town, was one of the earliest places in Europe to manufacture paper, and they still make a very popular artists' paper. There is a very interesting tour (in English on request) of the historic paper mill, with demonstrations of the medieval machinery and techniques.

Both Genga and Fabriano have train stations that are fairly accessible to the center of town. Fabriano has taxis and buses, and Genga station is right at the parking lot where you catch the shuttle to the caverns. It's also an easy walk to the little spa town of San Vittore Terme, where you can get a decent lunch and admire the lovely little Romanesque church of San Vittore, with a steep mountain rising behind it. The church now houses a speleological museum, which your ticket to the caverns covers.
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 02:25 PM
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I should have made it clear that the places I've mentioned in Le Marche would be fairly easy to get to as day trips from Spoleto. I think the travel time on the train would be about an hour and a half.
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Old Jan 21st, 2017, 03:40 PM
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Spoleto is quite a lot of climbing, as it's on a hill. I don't remember stairs, though, just cobblestoned hills. We spent a full day exploring Spoleto and really enjoyed it, then did some day trips in the valley from there.

Perugia has stairs, but the main street with piazzas at both ends is mostly level. From the train station you just get the mini metro up the hill to Piazza Matteotti. Once up top, it's your choice to take stairs or not.

Assisi is an easy day trip from Perugia. I don't know if I would want to move bases from Perugia to Assisi, they are too close and not worth the packing and moving IMO.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 08:57 AM
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I've been to Spoleto several times, but I don't remember much climbing. Not to say there wasn't any, but it must not have bothered me.

One of my favorite things in Spoleto is the medieval bridge/aqueduct, built over a steep gorge. As a work of medieval architecture, I think it's as impressive as a cathedral, considering the difficult terrain.
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Old Jan 22nd, 2017, 08:38 PM
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Lots of food for thought. Thanks everyone for the helpful tips.
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Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 09:37 AM
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Beautiful Spello is on the train line too.
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Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 11:40 AM
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Spoleto has at least one escalator connecting the bottom of the town with the top.
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Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 11:50 AM
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Jean, I guess we missed that. I think the elevator to the Rocca was not working either when we were there.
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Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 12:15 PM
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DH isn't great on stairs- I see them mentioned especially in Perugia- are they everywhere in town?>

Not in the main upper town on top of the large hill Perugia caps.

There are long LONG stairs to get to the top but there are buses and on one side a funicular or something.

I stayed in Perugia several days as a base and up top I do not recall any stairs needing climbing.

I went to Todi - Gubbio - and Avila -each a neat day trip -I was using trains and buses-especially liked Gubbio!
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Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 12:26 PM
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Tripadvisor comments/photos on the Spoleto escalators. It appears there are now three lines rising up from different parking lots. Spoleto get a huge numbers of visitors for the Festival.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...a.html#REVIEWS
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Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 12:48 PM
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Jean, that's great! We did love Spoleto!
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Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 02:04 PM
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I went to Todi - Gubbio - and Avila -each a neat day trip -I was using trains and buses-especially liked Gubbio!


Ávila? That's way too far for a day trip!!

I can't even figure out which town you meant to say. I like both Todi and Gubbio. I've only been to Todi once, but we've been to Gubbio and Spoleto several times. Spello, in my opinion, is one of the prettiest towns in Italy.
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Old Jan 23rd, 2017, 02:59 PM
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Ávila? That's way too far for a day trip!!>

darn - Assisi!

got the saintesses mixed up - Assisi - a short bus trip from Perugia.
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Old Jan 24th, 2017, 10:03 AM
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Hello,
I would certainly visit Gubbio, Assisi and then move to Orvieto and after that go to southern Tuscany, a very beautiful but still not very well known part of this region with lots of wonderful landscapes, old towns to visit like Pitigliano, Sorano, Sovana, etruscan tombs and monuments, natural and free entrance spas like Saturnia. Outstanding and genuine food and wine.
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Old Jan 24th, 2017, 10:03 AM
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Hello,
I would certainly visit Gubbio, Assisi and then move to Orvieto and after that go to southern Tuscany, a very beautiful but still not very well known part of this region with lots of wonderful landscapes, old towns to visit like Pitigliano, Sorano, Sovana, etruscan tombs and monuments, natural and free entrance spas like Saturnia. Outstanding and genuine food and wine.
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Old Jan 27th, 2017, 04:53 AM
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bookmarking
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Old Jan 27th, 2017, 06:42 AM
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A lot of the places mentioned by Podere would be difficult to visit without a car.
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