My husband and i are traveling to Rome for 1 week. we are interested in taking a couple of day trips (by train). is orvieto recommended?

orvieto.info super pretty

Funicular lots of Etruscan stuff

well worth it 4 euro regional train

from Termini for us last May

www.ostia-antica.org my fav day trip 1 euro on the Metro

eurocheapo.com/rome other options with a map

Superb - one of the best of the proverbial Italian hill towns I have seen.

One point in Orvieto's favor is that it is small enough for a nice day trip.

I don't find it as captivating as do many Fodorites, but sure, it is a very doable day from Rome.

Be sure to check all opening times, as Orvieto is shut pretty tight during the midday.

I agree with Ostia Antica as a great day out from Rome.

It is certainly easy to get to from Rome...and the funicular is right across the street from the train station. We spent about 4 hours there and that was good. Did the underground tour, checked out the cathedral and gelato shop at the back left corner (yum) and walked around the shops. It was a good afternoon for us and our kids. I wouldn't hesitate to go while passing by (which is what we did.)

Is it worth a day away from Rome? That depends on what you want. If you are not going anywhere other than Rome and haven't seen the countryside or a smaller town, then it would be a nice, easy and relaxing trip. (Hint - if it's hot out and you are taking the train, don't take the cheaper Regional train! They are like ovens on wheels. Yes, we learned the hard way! Take the more expensive faster trains so you don't ruin your day. A Regional train would probably be OK if it's not hot out. They're comfortable enough.) Any small town would be a nice change from a big city, especially if you have never been to Italy before (you haven't said if you have been there before or not) and Orvieto is very nice. I don't think you could go wrong with that day trip if you just want to visit a smaller town. For me, I'd probably go somewhere else which was a lot different than anything else I had done. You can see shops and cathedrals in Rome, but of course the atmosphere is very different.

I haven't been to Ostia Antica, but I would agree with quoviadis and consider that because that I've read that a lot of people enjoy that, OR do as we did if you don't mind a longer day, and go to Pompeii for a day by bus or train. The bus was super easy and took us right to the entrance. We also went to Naples at the end of that day and went to the Archeological Museum then walked a bit and got pizza and gelato (see our theme?!), then took the train back to Rome, but you could skip Naples and take the bus back. (Very comfy bus - I highly recommend if you only go to Pompeii!)

So, it's really what you are looking for!

>>>well worth it 4 euro regional train<<<

Cheapest train will be 7.10€ one way.

>>>(Hint - if it's hot out and you are taking the train, don't take the cheaper Regional train!<<<

The last few times I've taken R trains to Orvieto, they were actually IC trains with AC.

thanks so much to all of you for your expert advise! this is actually our 2nd trip to italy. last year we did florence, venice and tuscany. KWREN- we are planning to go to pompeii. would we be better off getting there by bus or by train?

Hi debb

We spent 5 days in Switzerland, 6 days in Tuscany and a week in Rome! Loved them all, and can't wait to go back! When are you going back? Writing this makes me realize I haven't posted a trip report so maybe I'll get motivated to relive it all soon! Looking at it that way makes me want to start writing!

Anyway, I've been to Pompeii twice from Rome. The first time was with my son and we took a tour. That was so easy...BUT we weren't there for very long and we had to spend way too much time in various shops which didn't interest me, an unmemorable lunch and a 2 minute stop in Amalfi. We had a good time, but in the end, I don't recommend a tour.

I'm not going to tell you not to take the train to Pompeii since I haven't done that. I was actually ready to take the train because I found good instructions on Fodors on how to do it. I felt totally prepared to follow those instructions and was ready to try it...but then I received info on the bus. We weighed the differences and decided on the bus. For us the advantage of the train was that it left earlier than the bus so we could have started earlier in Pompeii. The downsides were changing trains in Naples (with directions on Fodors, not hard to do) and pickpockets (I know - just be careful!) Not horrible downsides, but we decided on the bus anyway knowing that once we were on it, we could just relax the whole way. Not only was it easy, but I highly recommend it as long as you don't mind arriving in Pompeii at 10. I just try to make my life easier when traveling with kids, but train travel with them is fine too.

By the way, Marozzi also has a bus back to Rome from Pompeii is that's all you want to do. We didn't take that as we went on to Naples, but it would also be easy and a straight shot.

The bus line we took is Marozzi. We booked online for a Wednesday in July and were able to select our seats, and although we reserved the first 4 seats on our bus, it was pretty full by the day of the trip. The first stop was Pompeii - and the bus leaves you off at the entrance (the train station is near the entrance too) - and then the bus continues on down the coast.

The bus is one of those comfortable huge coaches with big windows. We had brought snacks for the ride since it left at 7 am, but that was not necessary as we had a 15 minute stop on the autoroute. I would have loved to buy sandwiches there! That food looked wonderful! We arrived on time and the site was still fairly empty so our worry about the bus arriving too late for us was not important in the end.

For anyone interested in Marozzi, it leaves out of the Tiburtina station in the eastern side of Rome. I think we left our apartment around 5:30 to have enough time to find the station, but Rome was absolutely deserted and it didn't take as long as we thought it might. I might as well share exactly what we did.

We had rented an apartment near the Piazza Navona so we took the 64 bus to the Termini train station, then followed the signs and hopped on a metro to Statione Tiburtina. The bus center is up the steps and across the street from the metro station. We checked in (I wrote 'Tibus' in my notes, so I think that was the sign on the building where Marozzi has their ticket booth.) We were then directed to stalls 6 - 9 and our bus pulled into one of them a bit early. There were a lot of people waiting with luggage, but they all continued on down the coast after we got off at Pompeii. Our favorites were the group of nuns and off to the side, one monk.

Mind you, I didn't have any notes on how to find anything for this early part of the trip, so I just continued to ask. Everyone directed us to each step with no problem. I'm writing these notes to return the favor from all the people who helped us with our trip.

Would I take the bus again? Absolutely! No question! It was easy, cool, relaxing and comfortable. We had more than enough time in Pompeii, and got to experience the train anyway going from Pompeii to Naples and then back to Rome.

The train we caught from Naples to Rome was an 'ICN' train. We thought any train with an IC in the title was what we wanted, but boy were we wrong! We thought we were also going to be on one with AC, but that N must stand for something else. Late at night and it was still broiling hot. It was horrible. The woman next to us kept muttering that that's why she always prefers the "other" train - whatever that was. Just be sure which type of train you are getting on. For the future, I will take the train with the shortest time to my destination (if it's hot out). We knew our train was taking longer, but were fooled by the IC denotation in the ICN. I'm sure many people would know exactly which train to take based on the type of train listed...we were not among them!

Overall, I much preferred the bus and recommend it, but the train also got us to where we were going. There would probably be times the train would suit us better, but Rome to Pompeii...bus for us!

The Marozzi bus is not possible unless you are traveling on their summer schedule or on the weekend as it departs Rome at 3pm weekdays. Weekends there is a 7am departure. Return buses are not possible weekdays as the bus departs Pompeii at 6:45am. Summer schedules are typically mid-June to mid-Sept and there is an extra run each day.

The fast train from Rome to Naples takes 1:10. The train from Naples to Pompeii takes 35 minutes.

The N does indeed stand for something... Notte - or "Night" in English.

Most of the passengers on those will opt for a couchette, be going a lot further, and hoping to get some sleep - as result they tend not to travel very quickly!

Trenitalia have a guide to their trains, which can be seen here:

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD

Peter

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...ith/4201069529

and the next fifteen pictures.

When are you going debb?

>>>The train we caught from Naples to Rome was an 'ICN' train. We thought any train with an IC <<<

So you're saying not to take R trains or IC trains because of AC problems. There is no other type of train on the Rome/Orvieto line. Any train (even the fastest/newest)can have AC problems on any given day as can the buses. On a recent bus from Florence to Chianti, I had AC going to Chianti, but not on the return. There is just no predicting as Italy doesn't seem to get in a hurry to repair things.

R = regional
IC = intercity
ICN = intercity night

Summer of 2010, the funicular from Orvieto train station up to Orvieto was closed in June for three weeks for scheduled maintenance. It was still closed in September. 3 weeks = 3 months on Italian time.

Our experience: We had to start a biking trip in Orvieto; we took early morning train from Rome to it, stayed overnight, and left around noon the next day.

Our take: Town was charming, but when tourists were everywhere, lots of the charm was missed. We agreed with other posters on other threads that once daytrippers left, the town's personality became "real" and rather magical. Families would gather in squares, lots of babies in carriages, etc.

Otherwise, it seemed interchangeable with a lot of other Italian hilltop towns with throngs of tourists.

We visited Orvieto back in 2000 and stayed in town at Palazzo Piccolomini for 3 nights. We absolutely loved Orvieto and back then there really weren't a lot of tourists. We did day trips from there and found Orvieto's passagiatta (SP?) to be the best of all.

So many people recommend this interesting and beautiful town as a convenient day trip, just because it's so easy from Rome. I would highly recommend using it as a base like we did!

Even though it was pouring down rain the day we day tripped there from Pienza, I still absolutely loved it. Wouldn't pass up the opportunity to see it again.

As a sidenote, we also stayed at the Palazzo Piccolomini.

Yes, worth it, we were there 2 days go, not crowded at this time of year, beautiful little town, would love to go back and spend more time.

We visited Orvieto as a day trip from our Spoleto base and spent several hours. Took the underground tour, visited the Estruction Museum (good view of duomo) and walked around and shopped. 3/4 of a day for us I'd guess. The Duomo is spectacular--one of the world's prettiest IMHO.

I much preferred Pompeii but many others like Ostio. Pompeii would be a longer day.