sarge,

Orvieto is one of my favorites towns and we visited it on my 2nd Italy trip in 2000. I would highly recommend not staying by the train station, but rather up in the town itself. It's very simple to go up on the funiculare right by the train station. From there you can take the town shuttle bus if needed to your hotel.

We stayed at the Palazzo Piccolomini**** for 3 nights and did driving day trips to Civita di Bagnoreggio, Todi and Deruta, as well as enjoying Orvieto. It's a wonderful town with much to see. The Palazzo Piccolomini is right next to the underground escalators that go up from the car park at the opposite end of town from the train station. If you decide to stay there, have Lucca drop you off there. As long as you have small rollers you can just go right up the escalators with them. Very nice hotel.

Be sure to go early and sign up for the English speaking underground tour. It doesn't take long and is very interesting. Also be sure to tour inside the gorgeous duomo and the special admission section to see the frescos.

Orvieto has some great restaurants, art galleries and the museum is full of Etruscan pottery and other artifacts.

There are other hotels Fodorites recommend besides the Piccolomini that are less $$.

Enjoy Orvieto and have a glass of Orvieto Classico for me!

PS If you're stopping here to post, you've probably been to Orvieto. If we only have 4 hours, what should we see?

Hotel Duomo is another option-- right near the Duomo. Agree with staying up above.

Orvieto is such a lovely walking, dining, sightseeing town. Have a wonderful time!

We spent two nights in Orvieto in June 2011 and agree with Dayle that it is a wonderful town. We stayed at the B&B Sant'angelo 42 and enjoyed our stay there. It is located just behind the cathedral and about a five minute walk to the funicular.

Highlights of our visit included the following:
- Teatro Mancinelli where we were fortunate to be able to sit in one of the theatre boxes listening to a concert rehearsal
- Pozzo della Cava - the Etruscan well where we wandered through a number of rooms with interesting exhibits and English explanations
- St Patrick's Well - involved walking down to the bottom of the well and up again - a welcome respite from the heat
- Cathedral and the Capella di San Brizio - stunning
- Museo dell'Opera dell Duomo - housed a clutter of religious artefacts from the cathedral
- Orvieto Underground - as Dayle wrote was excellent - well worth visiting
- Emilio Greco Museum houses an interesting collection of bronze sculptures by the artist who created the bronze doors of the cathedral
- Take the lift then the stairs to the top of Torre del Moro for superb views, especially overlooking the cathedral. When you hear the bells in the distance ring six times, cover your ears, as the ones overhead ring about fourteen times and they are loud!

A lot of the sights we visited were covered by the Orvieto Unica card which we purchased at the shop inside the train

Following along as we plan a day trip to Orvieto in September. We made contact with a sommelier there that we plan to do a tasting with, and a look at their Etruscan wine caves.

Anyone have recommendations for the pottery that many rave about?

Another vote for Hotel Duomo, just around the corner from Piazza Duomo and the Cathedral itself. Comfortable rooms and very helpful staff. With reservations at the hotel, you (or Luca) can drive right to the door.

I'm going to disagree about the tour of the caves - we found it pretty boring and by the time it'd finished, the cathedral was closed, never to re-open in the time we had left in the town, so we only got to see the outside.

Rats.

definitely prioritise the Cathedral. the outside is wonderful, but I still get cross about missing the interior. [mainly with myself, that tour of the caves was my idea, which makes it worse, somehow]

ann- you are too funny!~ I am so much of a church/interior person myself.

It's hard to judge whether I'd appreciate the wells or underground tours. I loved the Scavi tour at St. Peter's but hated the Doge's Palace dungeons in Venice!

Since I'm one of those where history takes a back seat to beauty... I think we'll plan on the Duomo and then the Torre del Moro. And from there, just tumble around the main street for a bit.

Thanks everyone for the input. The Hotel Duomo looks good, but I'm wondering if we'll be able to get two single beds in a room? All the pictures look like Queen beds. I love my cousin, but we ain't sharin' a bed!

Orvieto is very big on siesta with everything shut in town between around 1-4 pm so plan accordingly.
My daughter and I loved the cave tour and thought that it was quite interesting!

dutyfree- we'll be on the train for Rome after lunch! Thanks for the info, though!

PS in case I didn't mention it...this will be mid-October~

Another vote here for Hotel Piccolomini.

We enjoyed the underground tour a lot. Maybe it depends on the guide. We also enjoyed the Well, but I would skip it if you're short on time.

We thought Orvieto was great for aimless wandering and window shopping.