Planning trip for April, 2008. Was thinking of flying into Rome airport, renting a car and traveling to Umbria. Stay where? Orvieto? Assisi? tour around for 3 days. Leave car, and train to Rome for 4-5 days. Any suggestions? also, does anyone know what the drive from Rome airport to Umbria would be like- we are not the best drivers/navigators thanks in advance !!

I always take the train from Fiumicino to Termini, train to Orvieto. Its a one hour ride. The Hertz office is less than a block from the station in Orvieto. If you get to Orvieto noonish, take the funicular to Orvieto Alta and have lunch at my favorite, I Sette Consoli. Ask anyone for directions. Memorable.

The drive from Fiumicino (airport) is easy - 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Stay somewhere near Assisi (Spello perhaps) as it's fairly central to the main sights of Umbria (Orvieto is not).

As TuckH mentioned, Orvieto is not convenient to most of Umbria. Most people tend to think it's in Tuscany.

The valley south of Perugia to Spoleto is not very big. We've stayed in Perugia and on our most recent trip stayed in Spoleto. From Spoleto, we had no trouble making day trips as far as Gubbio and of course all of the closer towns.

We did the reverse of your itinerary and dropped the car in Spoleto and trained to Rome. There is also a rental agency office in Foligno. You could also see if there is an agency in Orte where you change trains on the Rome/Termini-to-Spoleto route.

(It's possible to train directly from Fiumicino to Orte. Go to www.adr.it for the schedule, then www.trenitalia.com for the Orte to Spoleto train schedule.)

I can highly recommend the Hotel San Luca in Spoleto. Its location barely inside the city walls made it easy for our driving trips, and there is a market/grocery for picnic provisions just a block away. With just a couple of turns, we were on the road north toward Assisi and Gubbio or west to Todi. We liked Spoleto which doesn't get much comment here, but many prefer tiny Spello. We also loved the area around Montefalco and would probably stay there on a future (please, God!) visit.

We've done the drive from Rome airport to Umbria in each of the last two years. Figure 2 1/2 hours. Stay near Assisi, which I found to be most pleasant. While based there you can stop in Perugia, Spello, Spoleto, etc. Three days is very little time, so you'd be best advised not to spread yourself too thin. Last summer, we visited Orvieto and had lunch at I Sette Consoli. Quite nice, but a bit pricey for what you get. There are enough places in and around Assisi to keep you busy, well fed, and happy. Rome is a completely different story. Once you're back there, dump the car immediately. You will not want to drive in Rome. With four to five days, you'll barely scratch the surface. Don't miss the Borghese Gallery, St. Peter's, and the Tomb of the Popes, which is right next to St. Peter's. Skip the Colosseum and probably the Roman Forum also. Better to visit some of the neighborhoods and get the flavor of the city. April should be a great time, decent weather, not nearly as crowded. Enjoy.