Perhaps somewhere else would work better as a base than Perugia such as Foligno which is on the train line and has good bus access.

Should we decide on only two places in Umbria, what would be a good second?

I loved Assisi. Especially at night after the day trippers left.

Italy is so full of beautiful and interesting flat places, have you considered re-doing your itinerary to see them instead of struggling to make Umbria work for you?

Perugia itself is very steep. Sure, you can stroll the long Corso Vanucci, and yes, there escaltors at the periphery that will take you from the top to the bottom of the hill, and conveyences to the train staton as well -- plus taxis. But unless you want to restrict yourself to a very small part of Perugia, you need to climb lots of stairs to go places.

I clicked on your name to learn your original itinerary and noticed that another of your concerns was the possible same-ness of all the Umbrian towns. While it is true that that they all have one-of-a-kind features, the Renaissance towns of middle Italy are pretty much all the same design and style. The Renaissance was a big hit! Widely imitated.

There are beautiful towns in the Emilia-Romagna like Parma, or Modena, flat as a pancake with glorious food and very good train connections to other places. Actually, Bologna is another university town that is not much bigger than Perugia, although you should make sure you stay inside the historic pedestrianized zone. The train connections in all directions from Bologna are fabulous, and it is very easy to get to from Orvieto (or Rome) by train. You can see Ravenna, Parma, Modena, Ferrara, Florence, Milan (I think Mantova too). All by train. Plus Bologna itself. All these places are flat.

You asked for other easy day trips from Venice:

Padova, Ferrara, Treviso -- and of course the island of Torcello if you have not been, and include Burano if it appeals to you.

One more thing about the Emilia-Romagna, and then I'll drop it:

The towns buildings are very colorful - Parma is yellow, Bologna is red, Ravenna sparkles with mosaics, (then you get to go to Verona, where it is pink). And the food is really different from town to town. So even if though the town centers looked the same (unlikely), the minute you had lunch you'd be in another world.

If you think shady Bologna might be to big for you, consider Parma. By train you can visit Modena and Pontremoli -- a pretty little Tuscan town with Liberty architecture that eats pesto. You can take a bus to Busseto, where Verdi hails from and see its lovely town square. If you are really motivated, you can make it to le Cinque Terre for lunch from Parma by train.

Parma itself is just gorgeous. Check out the Parizzi apartments for a multi-night stay, and there are probably other possibilities.

I have nothing against Umbria, but there a only a very few towns that are flat and the food doesn't wow me like the food in Emilia-Romagna does.

pporter,

We are not really fixated on Umbria although I'd like to see Orvieto if possible.

Also, though we are starting to get older, we are not restricted physically. We just didn't want the trip to become a hill-climbing marathon.

I will look ino som offthe places you suggest and ee if we shouldn't movee the whole ittinerary a litle north. Or at lest part of it.

Thanks.

Myer,

I don't recall if you have already visited any of the Italian lakes. How about 1 or 2 of them? Getting around by boat is easy and you can enjoy the scenery while limiting yourself to how much up/down by the lakeside you want to do.

And what about the Dolomites? Been there? INCREDIBLE scenery, and you can see a lot of it going up and down via trams/lifts.

Just a thought!

Dayle,

We've been to Lake Como twice. Spent time in Como and Lugano on the Swiss side and visited Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio and Tremezzo.

I just looked at my response to pporter's posts.

Wow!!! I've never seen so many typos in such a short response.

Myer,
You will see that many from me if I am trying to type on my smart phone. The thing is just so touchy!

Just go for Umbria. I really don't think most of the towns will be too hilly for you.

Umbria is wonderful, buon viaggio!

You can look on Google satellite views and street views to see how hilly towns are. You can often get a taxi from the train station to the top of the hill and walk down.

You could spend an extra night in Rome and see Orvieto as a day trip from Rome and then take a fast train north if you prefer to move your itinerary north. You can even just make a long stop in Orvieto, to have lunch and see the cathedral, and then get back on the train and go north. There used to be hotel or restaurant that would keep your luggage, but I don't know the name. Maybe there is now left-luggage at the station. (There didn't used to be.)

There are other day trips you can take from Venice, like Vicenza or going down the Brenta Canal.

http://www.battellidelbrenta.it/home.php?setlan=en

Dayle,
At least you have an excuse for any typos. I'm typing on a full computer keyboard. What's my excuse?

Due to other conflicts, mid-June to early July as well as the first half of August are out.

So we're left with the first half of June, the last half of July and late August to early September.

I normally try to schedule a trip for the longest days and least chance of rain. However, since we do a lot of walking on trips I'm trying to keep walking up and down hills in hot weather to a minimum or reasonable number of towns.

Also, as we get older I've been trying to reduce the number of hotel changes.

I don't mind repeating some places that we've been to as long as a good part of the trip is places we haven't visited.

And of course, we've always gotten around using trains and buses with one minivan tour.

I can see a trip with a couple of days in each of the following with one or two day trips from each:

Venice - been twice but always more to see - day trips could be the islands, Treviso, Verona, Padova

Bologna - day trips could be Parma, Ferrara or Modena

Perugia - one of several towns - Spoleto, Spello, Gubbio

Rome - been twice but always more to see and do. Day trip to Orvieto

I think that's one more base than I'd like but if we spent 2-4 nights in each it might work.

If we skip Perugia we might add a Spoleto day trip from Rome. However, I think Perugia might add something on its own to the trip.

The same could be said for any of the potential bases.

Myer,

My theory is that people tend to like best the towns/cities they actually stay in. I think you just get a different feel when you are there for those more "local" early mornings and nights.

Orvieto is one place you should really, really stay at least one night. Everyone says "oh you can see Orvieto in a couple of hours, or it's an easy day trip", and that is true due to the short train trip. But - it's beautiful, atmospheric, and very, very local in the evenings. The Orvieto evening stroll is really the most delightful I've experienced in Italy.

There is easily enough to do and see there for a full day and night. Highly recommend.

At any rate, have fun! And have some Orvieto Classico for me

I agree with Dayle about Orvieto, but I would stay two nights! There is a lot to see/do and nice views in all directions, and you want to catch the front facade of the Duomo in full sunlight. It's just spectacular.

Thanks so far.

I'll have my wife review the list of potential towns and she what she thinks.

It's funny, but I've never warmed up to Orvieto. I find it severe. To me the cathedral is unmissable, but the rest of the town is missable.

Oops. Hit the return key too soon.

Myer,

Here is what I would do in the first part of June, although I would start in Rome and move north. (My second choice would be end of Aug/beginning of Sept, starting in Rome).

Rome

Train to Orvieto for lunch, continue to Spoleto

Spoleto - with a day trip to Perugia and Bevagna (flat, or another nearby flatter town than Spello. Narni?)

Bologna -- with a day trip that includes both Parma (in the Morning) and Modena going back

If you have not seen Ravenna, it is spectacular mosaics are a daytrip from Bologna.

Head to Venice, but I would stop in Padua on the way to arrive in Venice when the daytrippers are leaving.

Venice - with day trips to Verona and the islands of the lagoon

So you'd have 4 bases: Rome, Spoleto, Bologna, Venice. If your trip is a few days more than two weeks, that's really not such a rush.

However, if you've seen Rome many times, the efficient thing to do, especially if you have only 2 weeks, go straight to Orvieto from Rome airport, and see Spoleto as a day trip from Orvieto. Then you have 3 bases: Orvieto, Bologna, Venice.