I'm planning a trip to Europe in late May & June 2022 and need some help deciding on where to stay for the first week. Am currently looking at Orvieto or Siena for the first 6 nights before heading north to Milan and then Lauterbrunnen. This will be my first week in Europe after almost 24 hours of travel from Honolulu, so looking for a gentle, relaxed place (not a big city experience). Both Siena and Orvieto look wonderful and offer great food, churches & history to explore. I think Siena is bigger and thus would expect larger crowds--is this correct? Avoiding enormous crowds is probably at the top of my list--I know that may not be a realistic goal since this will be the start of the peak tourist season.
I'd appreciate feedback on the pros & cons for each location, etc.
Thanks
K

I would stay in Siena if this were my trip. I love the Chianti region and have spent many weeks there. I happen to prefer Siena to Orvieto but both are good choices.

Will you have a car? I'd go nuts for a week in Orvieto without a car but could do Siena because it's bigger with more to see and do. I love Orvieto but think a couple of days sufficient.

Does it have to be a week in one place?

I could have a great time staying in either town, but I'd want a car for most of the days in order to take excursions to other sights/towns. My choice would depend on where I was landing.

Assuming you arrive at FCO, I'd train to Orvieto for 2-3 nights. (A little over 2 hours, 1 change.) Then, train to Chiusi (about 30 minutes), pick up a car and continue to Siena for the remaining nights. Or you could start the week in Chiusi and visit Orvieto by train. Chiusi has a few interesting things to see, but not enough to make it as popular as either Orvieto or Siena.

If you do land at FCO, heading to Siena first would add another 4-5 hours of travel. But if you land at Florence Peretola, there's a bus to Siena. Cheap. Takes about 90 minutes.

Orvieto has good train connections but a week could be long with so much else to see relative to Siena. If you have a car you'd need to park outside the ancient center in either case. Up to me, I'd take a day wherever you fly into, then a train ride to destination. I'd also consider splitting time between Siena and Orvieto if you want to see both. JMHO.

Thanks everyone for your feedback. I will not have a car, so I'll be relying on trains and buses. I haven't eliminated doing a few days in Orvieto and then moving to Siena for a few days, though I can't get excited about the packing/unpacking and lost time in transport. I've already seen Florence and really enjoyed it but I do remember a lot of crowds and street traffic. How do the crowds and traffic at Siena and Orvieto compare to that of Florence?

Siena, although the Orvieto cathedral should not be missed.

https://flic.kr/p/7peA7H
https://flic.kr/p/7pi8h1
https://flic.kr/p/7pi1kf

Siena old town does not have much car traffic at all, very much a walking town and of course with elevators down to the valley. I'd stay here in an instant. If you want to stay in a smaller place have a look at Montepulciano or Montalcino which are just smaller and again little traffic in the old town. There is also Benvenuto on a valley bottom and San Querico (which is tiny).

I completely adore Siena and could spend a lot of time there.. You could explore all 17 contrade....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrade_of_Siena

Siena is bigger but it doesn't have larger crowds. I mean, there are probably more people at a given time but since it's bigger it's not more "crowded". Both are very worthwhile and the idea of 2-3 nights in Orvieto and the rest in Siena is the best advice. I personally could spend weeks in Siena but it wouldn't be a sight seeing type trip. I agree a car would be nice, but if you are talking 2-3 days Orvieto and then 3-4 in Siena I think there is enough to do in both towns to fill that amount of time.

I vote for Orvieto first. Others can confirm or not but Orvieto is more convenient to reach by train from Rome. Unlike Siena, Orvieto is flatter once you get to the town from the train station. Once you've rested, you can easily take the train to various towns and on to Siena. Both Orvieto and Siena's Duomos are not to be missed so I hope you can visit both. In general, I think there is more to see in Siena, but Orvieto would be a nice "soft landing." Please let us know what you end up doing.

Siena has better bus service to towns nearby, but you'd have to check how the timetables work with your sightseeing plans. Most of the bus service in Italy is geared toward commuters and students and not tourists making day trips, so you might find you could get to a town you want to visit but not have enough time there before you'd need to catch a return bus and/or trying to visit a second town in the same day just isn't possible. Not having a car in either Siena or Orvieto would be limiting for entire week and would definitely be a good reason for splitting the nights between the two destinations.

Agree with everyone else to split your time. We stayed in a hotel in Siena with parking and having a car allowed a lot of easy day trips. Since you don’t want to drive splitting your time makes the most sense. Do like both towns.

We've spent a week in Siena on three different occasions. Absolutely love the town and sitting on the Campo sipping a spritz. The first time we stayed on an estate outside town. It took us fifteen minutes to drive into Siena and another fifteen to find parking. The last time, we decided not to rent a car (took the train from Florence), and stayed in an apartment inside the city walls. It was so convenient and because the neighborhoods were getting ready for the Paleo we got to hear and see several of the drum and flag teams practicing. For us, Orvieto was a day trip. Nice but doesn't compare to Siena.

Bilbo means Buonconvento, not Benvenuto. I wouldn't stay in any of these small towns for a week without a car. Buonconvento has good train and bus connections to smaller towns, and connections also to Siena and Florence. However, even so, traveling every day for a week by public transportation would be a bit tiresome. The bus schedules are designed for getting people to work and students to school and back, and because of this there are more morning connections to large towns, and back to small towns in the afternoon and evening. Visiting small towns by bus on day trips requires a lot of planning.

For a week, I would prefer Siena to Orvieto. Visiting Orvieto from Siena by public transportation isn't easy, requiring several changes by bus and train. The trip would take over three hours, It's much easier to visit Orvieto from Rome. From Siena, you can visit Pisa, Florence, and Buonconvento easily. You could also visit Montalcino by taking the train (or a bus) to Buonconvento, then changing to a bus for Montalcino. It would take about an hour and a half.

Here are some other suggestions:
https://www.discovertuscany.com/sien...rom-siena.html

Siena and Orvieto are both on the top of hills, and you need to get down to the valley (by bus or taxi) to catch a train, and up the hill on your way back. This adds time to your journey,

Just out of curiosity, are there good bike paths in the vicinity? If so, I’d consider renting a bike/e-bike and go exploring that way.

Molto grazie bvlenci, tu ha spiegato il mio errore perfettamente. Happy New Year!

kleebatt, there are some interesting alternatives, a lot of back roads are very quiet which may satisfy you, this is especially true of some ridge roads in the area as most of the newer local road building/development tends to be along the valley bottoms. There are white road which are made of crushed rock, this can make for slow going depending on the ruts but are generally useable. Then there are some developed cycle paths they tend to follow rivers, canals and old railway lines. You'll know about these https://www.biroto.eu/en/cycle-routes/italy I guess. I've found that Italian drivers tend to be very considerate to cyclists and are not surprised to find them in the road ahead.

I hope they help.

çok harika yer ve mekanlar..

so true