Ok, I was looking for hotel recs for Orvieto and I came across threads with posters suggesting stays in Perugia. So, now I'm not sure where I want to stay! I'd like to hear everyone's opinions on the two towns.

Background: We are newly married (4 months), young (late 20's) and will be heading to Italy in Feb/Mar 08. We start in Rome for 3 nights, then on to Orvieto or Perugia for 2 nights and finally to Florence for 6 nights. This is our last "big trip" before we start our family (yikes). We figure we have a few years before we will be able to get back overseas. We really want to have a nice, relaxed time in Italy. My DH wants to drink lots of wine. We both want to see tons of churches. I want to go back to Florence. We will not have a car, so trains and busses it is. From what I understand, we can get a train to either town with little problems.

So, help us out! If you had to pick one town for 2 nights, which would it be?

Grazie!

Orvieto is a relatively compact hill town; Perugia is more of a city, although probably eveything you would want to visit is in the old town at the top of the hill.

Neither has "tons of churches" worth visiting. If that is really a prime interest, then spend more time in Rome, which *does* have tons of churches: early Christian ones, at least one good Gothic one, a few Renaissance ones and dozens of Baroque churches.

From Perugia you could do a daytrip to Assisi - it's only half an hour on the train.

Only 3 days in Roma, but 6 in Florence? I would reverse that!

though i think Orvieto is a more dreamy hill town overall than Perugia, i really liked Perugia when i based there several days.

A better base - Gubbio, Todi and Assisi short day trips by train or bus

Thank you for your opinions.

Dayle, I had to tell my husband that he would be upset if we missed Rome. That is part of the reason we are only going for 3 days. Personally I like the Tuscan region more, and that is why we chose 6 days there. That and we are looking foward to Italian Vino.

PalBob, we decided to base out of Florence because I am really looking forward to getting back to that city. We will probably day trip to Assissi from there. (look for future questions about trains. You were so helpful for our Germany trip.)

We've spent time in both and although we loved our visit to Perugia this past August, I would have put Orvieto at the top of my list of favorite Italian towns. (Urbino may edge it out now!) I agree it doesn't have "tons" of churches but the Duomo is simply magnificent! There are a few other interesting churches as well. And as for wine there's the famous Orvieto Classico! One of our best memories is sitting in a piazza with wine and a salami and cheese sampler, and watching the evening passegiata.

Perugia is very interesting with a fantastic art museum, and a fairly large museum attached to the Duomo but the main piazza in the centro storico is very big and the restaurants in it equally large. It just doesn't seem to have the intimacy that I think of when I think Italian piazza.

If I could only pick one, I'd go for Orvieto!

If the choice is between only Orvieto and Perugia, I'd pick Perugia for more public transportation options.

But I'd rather rent a car and stay in Assisi or Spello for a small town experience between the large bookends of Rome and Florence. Train service between Assisi and Spoleto parallels the main road (SS75) which is also known as the Sagrantino Road after the regional sagrantino grape. Look at www.stradadelsagrantino.it for more info about local wine cellars, etc.

Hi - I'm just back from the Orvieto area and would agree with Albany1624 that you would be better off at Assisi or even more so in Spello. Close enough to make day trips anywhere you want to go in Umbria, but not as much a city as Perugia. We had really heavy traffic in and around Perugia when we drove there from Orvieto. And I just wish I could remember the name of the Enoteca on the little main street of Spello where we had a fantastic tasting of Umbrian wines and olive oils.

It's the Enoteca Properzio in Spello.

Don't day trip from Florence to Assisi. Instead, stay in Spello and day trip to Assisi from there - it's about 10 minutes by train.

I don't know what your budget is, but the Palazzo Bocci in Spello is wonderful.

Thanks for the Enoteca tip. It has also been suggested that we stay in Spoleto. My DH can't make up his mind which town he wants to stay in. But no matter where, we will definitely make Spello a stop.

Spello is tiny, perfect, untouched by time (except for one or two truly horrible buildings) and rosy pink.

Spoleto is larger, surrounded by "modern" Spoleto and dark grey.

No contest, in my mind.

And Spoleto is farther from the places you say you want to see. I like Spoleto, but with only two nights you should be very careful how much time you spend just moving around.

Guide book writer's tips:
-the main train line Rome-Firenze has a stop in Orvieto, not Perugia.
-Orvieto is like an island high above the plain. Perugia is famous for its chocolate, foreign univ,
-I live near and enjoy both cities, but in your case I'd recommend a stay in Orvieto to do the underground tour, Etruscan museum, Duomo, shop, eat and drink the local wine.Then on to Florence . Check www.elegantetruria.com for background articles on central Italy

I would choose Perugia over Orvieto, mostly because of its proximity to other hilltowns nearby. I would not pick Spoleto. Just my opinion, of course, but Spoleto was the one hill town that we just did not like. It lacked much of the charm of other Umbrian towns and was more large and bustling.

And I too would reverse the nights in Rome and Florence!

Tracy (another STL girl in her 20's)

Dissenting vote: Orvieto is terribly romantic morning and evening...just a dream, imo!

(I have visited several times in the last 30 years -- and I never fail to be stunned by its beauty.)

Another vote for Perugia.

Tell DH that he needs to sign y'all up for the Perugina chocolate factory tour, where they make the hazlenut/dark chocolate bites of heaven called baci. And that "Baci" means "kisses" in Italian.

Perugia is my second-favorite big city in all of Italy. Surprisingly, Naples is #1.

Thank you all for your opinions and advice. DH decided that he wants to stay in Orvieto. He is very excited about the Underground Tours. He did have a hard time choosing though. I guess we'll have to go back!

Is a trip to Assissi possibly from Orvieto?

Tracy - DH wanted to spend all our time in Tuscany. I had to convince him that we should go to Rome for a few days since we are not planning on going back to Italy for a few years. And I personally love Florence and that area. Don't get me wrong, Rome is beautiful, I just prefer Florence. But who knows what could happen once we get there!

tdyls - I'm not much of a chocolate fan, if you can believe that. My DH on the other hand...

You can definitely daytrip to Assisi from Orvieto, as we daytripped to Orvieto from the Assisi/Spello area. Orvieto wasn't my favorite hilltown, although we did enjoy it. I loved Assisi though, and its one of my favorite hilltowns, so I highly suggest a visit if you can make it.

Tracy

Tracy, the OP will not have a car; I think you did.

You can day-trip to Assisi from Orvieto by train if you are willing to spend between 2 and 3.5 hours on trains (no direct train; one change necessary) each way.