Ok, I've decided that the hill town i will visit from Rome will be Orvieto. Can anyone provide train instructions and must sees for visit in 6 weeks....Thanks!!

Since I know from your previous posts that your group of four includes your two adult daughters and 60ish mom, I'll say that I think you'll all enjoy Orvieto. I'm not sure of the exact schedule, but there are pretty frequent trains from Roma Termini, though some may make more stops than others. We went on a Saturday morning. Our IC train was packed with weekend travelers, so I'd recommend reserving seats if you go on a weekend. The trip is about an hour. When you get off the train, you then walk across the street to the funiculare (buy a ticket) that takes you up the hill to the main part of town. Very beautiful views across the countryside. There you transfer to a bus that takes you to the center, right by the famous duomo, two or three museums, and the tourist office.

We bought a tourist ticket at the tourist office that included entry to the important chapel in the duomo, a few of the museums, a tower (didn't do this), and the "Orvieto Underground" tour. We found this last tour very interesting--caves carved underneath the city for various uses. Be warned that there are some stairs, low ceilings, and tight squeezes. There are plenty of shops for browsing, lots of pottery. Plenty of little winding streets and views across the countryside.

The tourist office was very helpful, with plenty of information and maps.

Good Lauf655 It is a short ride fro Rome to Orvieto. At the station you can take the bus to the Duomo Square of
the town, or a taxi for the four and luggage direct to your hotel. Do not miss a good tour thru the Duomo and its back rooms..Two ristorantes I would recommend are the ETRUSCA, via
Maitani, 10 about a 1/4 block from the
Duomo square and the MAURIZIO, via Duomo, 78 at the right end of the square..This town was build for walking. Richard of LaGrange Park, Il.
Some of the wine shops on the square have cave cellars for the production of
the Orvieto one of the main wines....

Hi Laur,

Good choice.

Your funiculare ticket is also good for the bus to the center of town.

For a special dining experience, make reservations at I Sette Consoli, one of the best restaurants I have ever eaten in. Special lunch menu about 40E pp + wine.

If you'll have access to a rental car A(I don't know about trains or busses b/n towns there), don't miss TODI. It is picture-postcard perfect and charming in every way for a small town/village experience.

Can't help with train info etc. but can commend you for your choice. I just reread my trip log from 22 days in Italy and realized that Orvieto was my favorite of all the hill towns we visited in Tuscany and Umbria. Enjoy.

be ssure to find the old well that they used during seiges. you can walk down the spiral staircase to the bottom. plenty of good ceramic shops and try the local white wine there excellent. also the wild boar is in season in the restaurants

I certainly second I Sette Consoli and recommend finding the studio of Michelangeli on the main street. His wood sculptures are terrific.

I'm just curious. Everything talks about taxi or bus from the station to the "center" of town in Orvieto. How far a walk is it (day trip, no luggage)? More than a mile or two? We're walkers. Or is this more than a walk?

The train station is not far from the old center in terms of distance - the problem is that it is straight up hill. Since cars couldn't drive that steep an incline the road goes around (several switch backs). Therefore if you were to walk along the road it would be quite a distance, plus even that is pretty steep. However, there is the funicular which goes straight from the train station up the hill. Takes about 3 minutes. Once at the top of the hill you can take a bus (free with your funicular ticket) into the "center" of town (duomo square) - but this is also a very walkable distance. I think it took maybe 10 minutes. Sometimes we walked and sometimes we took the bus. But we definitly took the funicular from the train station. I have no idea why you would need a taxi unless you were staying in some out of the way hotel.

Thanks, Isabel. That's pretty much what I expected, but after reading through a number of posts about Orvieto I kept finding these references to taking the bus to duomo square (yes, I did know about the funicular).

Hi Patrick,

It is a not unpleasant walk from the funicular station to the Duomo, even if you have your map turned the wrong way and get lost.

I haven't been there. Maybe next year.
In spite of that, I can recommend their wine. Salute! Chin-Chin...they are splendid

Ira, my "map turned the wrong way and get lost"? Have you been following me?

I have been trying to figure out the "Trenitalia" train site for 2 years! I just cannot get it to work right.

I want schedules from Rome to Orvieto. I FINALLY figured out you have to put in the Italian names (doh!). I say I want to leave at 10:00, but it is only giving me departures at 7:51 pm and 11:40 pm.

So I'll take the easy way...Fodorites, do you know how often the train runs from rome to orvieto on sunday???

From the much more user friendly German site:
Roma to Orvieto on Sunday:
(only those in your time frame)
8:47 to 9:50
9:21 to 10:32
10:47 to 11:48
11:21 to 12:30