Orvieto-Todi (Umbria) trip. Any tips?
Nov 5th, 2002 | 06:03 AM
#2
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Orvieto<BR><BR>1, The Duomo is outstanding both inside (the frescoes) and out.<BR><BR>2. The Etruscan Museum is interesting.<BR><BR>3. Take a walk around the town square area off onto side streets, ect. <BR><BR>4. Eat at Trattoria Etruscan..excellent, reasonably priced meals.<BR><BR>5. Get a gelato at the store to the left of the duomo.<BR><BR>6. check out the pottery, hand painted. in many of the stores.<BR><BR>7. Drink the Orvieto classico white wine.<BR><BR>Enjoy!<BR><BR>US
Nov 5th, 2002 | 06:58 AM
#3
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I LOVE Orvieto, but you can really do it in a day, and shouldn't miss these lovely back roads & towns. (Hope you have a car) Take the gorgeous, short drive to Bannoregio (sp?) and the tiny Civita, accessible only by walking bridge -- magical. Eat at the restaurant near the foot of the bridge --it's good & authentic. <BR><BR>Prepare to spend hours, just sitting and staring, in Orvieto's cathedral -- it's one of the lovliest and most joyful in all Italy.<BR><BR>Todi is worth a trip, but half a day and you're done. Nice old buildings, but no real shopping, and you get the feeling the life of the city is outside the town walls. Park in the funicular parking lot at the bottom of the hill (free) and ride up -- much easier. Conversely, you can drive up into Orvieto easily -- park in the SECOND parking lot on the right as you come in (the first is where the tour busses turn around -- not that one).<BR><BR>Ditto thumbs up to Etrusca. Also La Grotta in Orvieto. Etrusca in Todi used to be great, has slipped somewhat. Check out the Slow Travelers message board for recommendations in that area. I remember Belvedere being good for fish.
Nov 5th, 2002 | 10:22 AM
#6
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Scaffolding has been up for several years on Orvieto cathedral, but IMHO it's the San Brizio chapel inside that is most worth seeing. Fantastic Signorelli frescoes! Definitely a must-see.<BR><BR>Food: Zeppelin would be my first choice, Trattoria Etrusca next. Pull up a thread called "Orvieto Restaurant Report" for more details. The gelateria mentioned above is some of the best I've ever had.<BR><BR>1/2 day trip to Civita Bagnoreggio is also definitely worth it, and be sure to have lunch at the Osteria del Ponte as mentioned above. Yum.
Nov 5th, 2002 | 01:06 PM
#7
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I second the recommendation for La Grotta; when we went there 2 yrs ago for lunch, we were the only tourists in the place. Such great food & we had a wonderul bottle of Orvieto Classico, which combined to make a very romantic meal. Signorelli's Last Judgement inside the Duomo was awe inspiring. Enjoy!
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Nov 5th, 2002 | 03:42 PM
#9
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Hagai<BR><BR>From my Fodor's trip report: Todi<BR><BR>This ancient hill town was everything we had hoped. Large enough to have a variety of restaurants, yet small enough for roaming. It has good tourist savvy, yet it is not overrun. Easy to reach, either via twisty road from the Orvieto Autostade cutoff or via the Terni/Perugia expressway (watch for carabineiri on this road!). Todi has a central piazza (surprise!) and our hotel was in a secondary piazza that was a small block away. The town had numerous sites: 12th century Duomo & palazzas, several very nice churches of different sizes & vintages. It also boasted Etruscan, Roman & medieval walls & gates. The views from numerous points on the walls were tremendous & the medieval feel of Todi’s streets was just what we wanted. Saturday night, the whole piazza filled up with cars as the social scene in Todi erupted. Everybody came to town to see & be seen. Sitting on the steps of the Duomo Sunday night: a band played in the piazza as a small car show (Maseratis, Fiats,etc) wrapped up and the parishioners made their way to a special mass – what a great scene. This was followed by a religious procession thru the streets that we watched from our perch on our balcony. Multo cool.<BR><BR>Hotel Fonte Cesia 186 Euros (mini-suite with balcony per night)<BR>The Fonte Cesia is a modern 4 Star hotel whose lower public rooms used to be a convent. Our room was very large (RM 111) with a large balcony (5m x 6m) that looked over the hotel’s La Palme ristorante and the Piazza Fonte Cesia further below. Our view was roof tiles, with mountains far off in the distance. A very nice room – we loved it. The builder had a thing with strange light switches & the shower doors took some getting used to. Highly recommended. Excellent location, The staff spoke English & were very accommodating. They parked our car every day for us (off-site private parking) & were very helpful with every request.<BR><BR>Dining:<BR><BR>La Palme – our hotel restaurant was very good with a good selection of Italian wine. Our meats were good & the rare-ish Sagrantino di Montefalco wine was very good. Extremely nice locale – nestled in an upper courtyard with palm trees of course. 30 -40 Euros (excluding wine).<BR><BR>Ristorante Umbria – the ‘other’ restaurant in town. Wonderful view from their outside patio right on the Roman Walls looking east. Go for lunch, or early dinner so you can enjoy the view. Good Umbrian food, wild boar (very good) and lots of truffle dishes. 30 -40 Euros (excluding wine)<BR><BR>Cavour Ristorante/Pizzeria – Good food, lots of pizzas, pastas (I did order a truffle pasta which convinced me that I didn’t like truffles). Good wines. Service was so-so but he was really friendly (& busy). Make sure you sit outside in the back for a great view of the countryside. 20- 30 Euros (excluding wines). <BR><BR>We also ate in a restaurant right across the street from the hotel in the Piazza Jacopone (the name is gone, but it’s hard to miss). Good Umbrian food, slightly offhand service. Good wine selection. 20 –30 Euros (excluding wine).<BR><BR>For cafés in Todi, try the one in the Palazzo dei Priori on the south side. Good expresso & gelato. If you buy it at the counter rather than the outdoor tables, you can feel like a local & say $s.<BR><BR>
