Hi.. travelling from Cinque terre region to Sorrento, & thinking of breaking the trip at a pretty village north or south of rome, any suggestions? Will have 4 days at rome after Sorrento.ta.

Orvieto, hands down. A Fodorite fave. Type "Orvieto" (without the quotes) into the search box at the top of the page and sit back to pore over zillions of posts from the archives.

Bumping this up to the #1 position from #108, so nortgld, a new Fodorite, may have a chance of finding it.

We recently stopped in the town of Bracciano, on Lake Bracciano, while on the way to Umbria this past March. The town is very interesting. Its small and capped by an interesting castle that one can visit. Its an off-the-beaten-path untouristy town, and we really enjoyed our visit. Its about an hour north of Rome.

http://www.lakebracciano.com/default_en.html

Orvieto is also a great option.

Tracy

thanks betsy & Tracey .... am looking into Orvieto now, looks lovley, & on the main railtrack line. Will also check out Lake Bracciano. Lot of beautiful places to choose from.