We are a Senior couple that love to travel! My wife is a photographer and her specialty is to locate street art, murals and graffiti. While she is a vegetarian more like a pescatarian (I'm not) although I'd rather eat salads and pasta we are always looking for good restaurants, nice glass of wine and of course Gelato.
The last time we were in Rome was back in the late 1960"s and while we have explored Tuscany several times we have never been to Umbria.

So here's the plan: first we fly out of San Francisco and take a flight the same day into Rome arriving in the evening. We will stay in Rome for a total of 5 days before heading to Umbria. We will not rent a car in Rome but after taking a train to Umbria will rent there and after a week take the train back to Rome before heading back to London and finally back home.

I am looking for places, locations , neighborhoods to stay in both Rome and Umbria. What are the essential sight to see in each location? How would you break down the week in Umbria? Which towns are a must see ? Also since we love music can you suggest where to go to listen to music?

We will arrive in Rome on September 23 and depart on October 5.
Thank you !!

We enjoyed Orvieto, about 2 hours by train from Rome. You wouldn't want a car there but could rent one once you leave, if necessary.

Just a point to note, car availability in Umbria (Perugia, Spoleto, Foligno have a few mainline agencies, Orvieto only has Hertz) is not as extensive as Rome. I'd run a few dummy searches on AutoEurope to facilitate this decision.

A guidebook or two would help with itinerary planning ; going clock-wise on a map -Orvieto, Deruta, Perugia, Gubbio, Assisi, Spello, Spoleto, Trevi were some of our favourite places. Narni and Amelia (much further south), are also interesting. We've based in Orvieto (for "western" Umbria) and Spello (Montefalco, Bevagna also good choices) for eastern Umbria. Our stay at https://www.terradeisanti.com/en/ just outside Spello, still ranks amongst our most memorable stays in Italy.

My wife and I are both vegetarians, and we ate well.

In Rome, we prefer to stay in the Monti neighbourhood sort of midway between Termini and the ancient sites of central Rome.

Essential sites depends on you and your interests.

In Rome most are going to want to see the Colosseum area, The Vatican area, maybe the other papal basilicas but nobody forces you . You could just wander the city.

If you draw a line between the Colosseum and the Vatican almost anything on that line will be a convient place to see most things in the centre.

In Umbria Assisi is an obvious choice

I did spend the first five days in Rome soaking in the atmosphere—wandering around the Colosseum, exploring the art inside the Vatican Museums, and enjoying relaxed evenings in Trastevere with great vegetarian pasta, pizza, and plenty of gelato.
It really depends on where you want to go. I haven’t personally been to Umbria, so I don’t know too much about it, but I’ve heard a lot about Lake Trasimeno. People often mention the relaxed and peaceful vibe there, which sounds perfect if you’re looking to slow down and enjoy the scenery.

I love Umbria! I wouldn't have thought it was terribly different from Tuscany, but on my last trip six years ago, Umbria was far less touristed. My group stayed in Bevagna, which we loved for its central location and the fact that it's not a hill town (flat!). Our B&B was La Corte De' Vasari -- super charming. We were fortunate to discover www.lifeitalianstyle.com and take a tour of local bread, olive oil, and cheese producers (but Jennifer does a host of varied tours and is also a personal chef). And we also easily traveled to the usual stops: Montepulciano, Assisi, Orvieto, etc. So many great towns!

I semi-applaud your plan to train from Rome to Umbria. We rented a car at the Rome airport and dealt with tons of traffic and stress to reach Bevagna. It sounds preferable to me to take the train, but of course I haven't done it myself.

As far as "essential" sites in Rome, there are so many! What are your interests? Ancient Rome? Art? A particular artist? Churches? Mosaics? Museums? You can just wander and find great things around every corner. I agree, you might want to look at a guidebook to help you focus on what you want. Five days (does that include your arrival day?) would be great, but you can't see everything.
It's been a while, but there were some cool murals by the Pyramid of Cestius and Protestant Cemetery in the Ostiense/Testaccio area, at the end of Via Marmorata. Also a great shop on Via Marmorata, Volpetti's, if you want some great cheese to take home.

I like to stay in the Piazza Navona area. Very central, the Vatican in one direction and the Colosseum in the other. Lots of restaurants (better if you go a block or two off the piazza). Lots of good bus connections.

We have rented cars in Orvieto, Spoleto and Perugia. Orvieto is lovely but is geographically on the fringes of Umbria. Well worth exploring for a day or staying a night but too far for daily drives to destinations like Assisi, Gubbio, etc. As ANUJ points out, Hertz is the only rental company with an office there. Perugia is also nice but is bigger with big-city traffic and a ZTL to get through. But it is closest to the Lake Trasimeno area which I particularly like for its scenery, charming towns and generally smaller crowds. Spoleto is easy for rental and return. Especially Hertz. We enjoyed staying in Spoleto for its variety of restaurants and chose a hotel at the bottom of the town, outside of the ZTL, easy egress/ingress . Hotel San Luca. We've also stayed in Todi.

With 6 days or so in Umbria, you'll have to be very selective in where you decide to explore. I can't think of one destination that wasn't worth visiting, so do some research to choose what fits your interests. In addition to the towns already mentioned upthread, I would mention Todi, the entire area surrounding Lake Trasimeno, Marmore Falls and nearby Parco Fluviale del Nera near Terni. If you want to drive some scenic roads, we enjoyed a nearly all-day drive from Spoleto to Norcia through the Sybilline National Park, onward to Casteluccio, Visso, Preci and back to Spoleto. Several stops for photos, towns, lunch, etc.

https://www.touring-italy.net/tours/...hp?recordid=51

If you're geology nerds, the Bottaccione Gorge near Gubbio is a study site for the second largest mass extinction of all living things on the planet, including the dinosaurs. Bonus: A medieval aqueduct. You can take a short, easy hike from Gubbio, but there is also a paved road.

https://www.umbriatourism.it/en/-/gola-del-bottaccione

Thanks so much to : KayF, Anuj, Traveler Nick, Priyanshayaday 7979, Abbydog, SusanP,and Jean for your suggestions. I will definitely look into each of your recommendations and so appreciate your input!

I am rethinking how to structure this trip and using Chatgbt as a tool checking out car rentals, train schedules and scheduling the least stressful way flying back to London, I've come up with this new plan.

After flying into Rome on the evening of September 23, we will spend the night at a hotel close to the airport and take a train in the morning heading to Umbria. We will rent a car perhaps in Perugia using that as a base for a few days and eventually returning the car and taking a train to Orvieto. We would then leisurely take the trains to Rome, stay there for 4-5 days and fly back to London. In this new plan we will have a car to drive around towns in Umbria; not have difficulty with limited rental agencies, no extra drop off charges; no car in Orvieto and no pressure making a flight from Umbria.

I can't tell where you are starting from but it makes no sense flying into Rome to only take the train. Instead fly into Perugia. then fly home to London from Rome

Traveler Nick. We had to use a credit from British Airways and flying into Rome was our best choice. Originally I thought we would stay in Rome for the start of the trip, however, unless I want to arrive in Rome the night before our flight back to London ( with an easy access to the airport), I'd rather take the train and not have to leave very early from Orvieto, take two trains to the airport.

Even if the credit is going to expire I don't think your plan is the best.

Right now to use that credit it's costing you an airport hotel in Rome. The trip from the airport to the main station. €6 for the bus from the airport. €55 for a cab. Plus the train ride to Perugia. Worse part is you'll lose a day of your trip.

All that adds up to more than the cost of a ticket to Perugia with a different carrier