We will arrive in Rome, rent a car and head directly to Umbria for 5 nights. Want one place to stay as a base. I'm pregnant so want the comfort of one place to do day trips from. Will have a car. We like to stay in town for the shops, restaurants and eveing strolls. I have been looking into Spoleto, Todi, Montefalco and Orvieto. Any suggestions on which town and hotels or B&Bs would be appreciated.

You know, I stayed here once and really, really enjoyed it. It is a 14 century mill that was turned into a charming hotel. It is right outside of Spoleto. http://www.vecchio-molino.it/uk/home_uk.htm<BR><BR>

Julie, I would get more central. Spoleto is a good option, but also look at www.malvarina.it for a great rural location, and Palazzo Bocci in Spello.

Julie<BR><BR>I can highly recommend Todi. It is big enough & yet small enough. Just off the Terni-Perugia Hwy (watch for police) & about 1 hour drive from Orvieto & the Autostrada.<BR><BR>A gem. Very picturesque with a good assortment of restaurants, shops etc. We were ther for 4 nights over a weekend & felt like we were residents. Not many tourists either.<BR><BR>Search for my trip report - use Todi as a keyword.<BR><BR>We stayed at the Fonte Cesia (the only hotel in the walled town) which was pricey @ 180 Euros but we had a room with a large patio. Lesser rooms were more affordable as were out of town accomodations.

We stayed in Todi and indeed there is only one hotel inside the city, but we stayed a wonderful B&B. We had the "room with the view". It was spectacular and about $90.00 for three of us. I tried to find the name of the B&B, but I am having no luck. If I find it soon I will email you the address. Enjoy.

I visit central Umbria twice yearly. Will be there in two weeks. Please email me if I can help.

I second the suggestion to stay in Todi - it is a wonderful walled hill town. Small and easy to walk with a number of good restaurants. I can also recommend the Fonte Cesia hotel - we had junior suite that was beautiful and included a 400 square foot terrace that overlooked a small piazza. I believe we paid about $170 for the upgrade, regular rooms ran around $130-140 range.

Bebe<BR><BR>We had the same room - Rm 111. The balcony overlooks the hotel restaurant & a small piazza below.<BR><BR>La Palme Ristorante (in the hotel), Ristorante Umbria, and Cavour Ristorante/Pizzeria are all good restaurants (the 1st two are more $$) in Todi.<BR><BR>We too, walked the whole town over 4 days, with side trips to Montalcino, the Roman ruins of Carsulae (1/2 hr south) & Deruta - for pottery (20 min north).

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. I think we are either going to stay in Spello or Todi for 4 nights, then stay in Orvieto for 3 nights. Will look into your suggestions. Sue, if you do find the name of that B&B in Todi, I would be interested. The Todi hotel Fonte Cesia sounds great, but out of our price range for this trip.