phieaglefan

Hi all, I'm working on my itinerary for Italy in late May. Hubby and I are traveling with our 18 year old daughter.

We are traveling by train, or at least that's the plan at this time. So here's my question. I am looking for a town to spend two nights after Rome and before Venice. We're not considering Florence at this time. Ideally, this town would have train access, a walkable 'town' area, and have hotels and restaurants 'in' town. The towns I've considered so far are Orvieto, Spello, Spoleto, Chiusi and Arezzo. Some of these have better train connections than others. Are there others to add to this list? Do you have any favorite places to stay in one of the above listed or other towns? We basically want to wander around, perhaps visit some low to mid-level sites, sit at outdoor cafes, and just decompress.

I know some of you will say that two nights is not worth it and to just add those two nights to Rome and/or Venice. That is a possibility, but knowing my family, I think we'll be looking for a small town break between the two cities.

Thanks for your input!
H

Jed

We just spent a few days in Ferrara and Mantua. I would recommend Mantua for your criteria.

Dayle

Hi H,

I stayed in Spello for 2 nights, but I would not recommend it for 2 days with no car. It's lovely and wonderful, but just too tiny to spend 2 full days. There is a wonderful church to see and a few shops, but it's really small! You would need to take a taxi or bus there from the train station anyway.

Orvieto would be a good stop. Easy to go up from the train station. There is enough to see there (duomo, galleries, shops, Etruscan caves, tombs and museum) and it's very walkable. Using Rick Steves' directions, you could take the bus to Civita di Bagnoreggio one afternoon - highly recommend a visit there.

Assisi might be another suggestion. So much to see there that spreading it over 2 days would be very nice.

Buon viaggio!

bobthenavigator

I think you are missing some of the obvious places---Siena and Verona.

phieaglefan

Thanks all for your suggestions.

Dayle, I appreciate the info re: Spello. That's the kind of thing you might not know unless you've been there. Assisi also occurred to me, but I haven't done much research on it yet.

Bob the Navigator, I actually did consider Siena, but it seems much larger and more city-like than the other towns. Is this inaccurate? Does it have more of a small town feel? I haven't been to Italy before, but I'm looking for something the size of say Oberammergau or Berchtesgaden in Germany.

Thanks again, and keep the suggestions coming.
H

christy1

Siena is much smaller than Florence, but it is bigger than the other towns you've mentioned (I haven't been to those on your list, but I've been to other Tuscan hill towns that only took about 5 minutes to see). The main area of interest to tourists is not very big but has plenty of sights, and great shopping and restaurants. It is one of my favorite destinations in Italy, and 2 days is a perfect amount of time. It is especially nice because even though lots of tourists go there, they do so mostly on day trips from Florence, leaving it very quiet in mornings and evenings. And, it is a banking center and university town, so it doesn't have a tourist-trap feel some of the small hill towns do.

Not sure what your budget is, but Frances' Lodge is WONDERFUL.

Also, fyi, Venice doesn't have the frantic city feel that Rome does. Outside of the San Marco-Rialto tourist path, it is very quiet and relaxing.

bobthenavigator

If you want small then Orvieto is your best choice. However, Siena is only about 75000 and is a college town as well. Given 2 nites I would still pick Siena.

Poconolady

How about Bologna? Its central for the train betweeen Rome and Venice and is a great "small city". The food is great and it is a college town so that might be of some interest to an 18 year old girl.

TuckH

>>but knowing my family, I think we'll be looking for a small town break between the two cities.<<

With regard to the above, my suggestion would be to change your tentative plan of traveling by train to the idea of going by car.

That way, you'd be able to enjoy the beautiful springtime Tuscan countryside by staying overnight in one of the smaller hilltowns. A true break between the two cities...

travelgirl2

Two years ago, we combined Rome (and Sorrento), Tuscany, Venice and Verona.

I thought the combination of Venice and Verona was very nice. It was a short train ride (2-3 hours, as I recall) and Verona was very walkable. The opera in Verona was quite an experience, even with my boys aged 9 and 11 back then.

Saraho

We recently got back from our trip to Italy. We flew into Venice and stayed there four days, then rented a car and stayed in an agriturismo 20 kilometers from Venice. That was a very pleasant experience- delicious meals made from the farm products. We then spent a night in Ravenna which is wonderful if you like lots of early church mosaics and a quiet non-touristy town where there are more bikes than cars. We could have spent two nights there.
We then spent two nights in Assisi which is very nice, but very hilly and touristy so the second day we drove to Spello which we loved. Total peace and quiet, beautiful views, good food, but I wouldn't spend two days there without a car probably.

Then we spent a night in Orvieto (to turn in our car) where we have been many times before. We stayed at a very elegant convent there which was fun. There is plenty to do there, but it is pretty crowded.

Then we got on the train and spent the last five days in Rome. We thoroughly enjoyed our time in small towns and the countryside as a contrast to Venice and Rome. In fact, we said that we wished we had spent only three days in Rome- it was really crowded- and wished we had added two more days to our time in smaller towns. I know some people don't like spending just a night or two in different places, but we really enjoy it for part of our trip. It adds to our feeling of adventure to experience a variety of towns and places to stay.

I think another time we might try Verona or maybe a nearby lake area which would be beautiful in the springtime. That time of year, I would definitely enjoy being in the countryside some of the time.

Once in May (although it's going in the wrong direction from Rome to Venice) we spent three nights on Procida Island in the Bay of Naples. We used it as a base for seeing Pompei and Naples. It was just lovely in the springtime- the most beautiful roses I've seen anywhere. It was easy to get to- train ride from Rome to Naples and then ferry to Procida. If you are interested in Procida, put it in the Fodors search function on this page and there are some great accounts about staying there.

nessundorma

I don't care for the walled city of Siena so no doubt that colors my judgment, but I think it definitely qualifies as a city and not a small town.

Orvieto is fairly large for what most people think of as a small Italian town.

I would recommend that you investigate Ferrara.

JeanneB

What about Perugia? I'm considering it myself and would be interested in comments.

nessundorma

I adore Perugia, but it is so exciting, it is not a place to go chill. It is, first of all, a great aerobic workout, which gives you lots of energy to keep up with the Perugians, who are non-stop talkers. (The most important language school in Italy is in Perugia.) I think the city is as unique as Venezia in its own way: layer upon layer of history and architecture, all of it literally piled up on top of each other. Topping it all is the wide, carless boulevard of the Corso Vanucci, where thousands of Italians gather each day at evening time to drink and gossip, stroll and eat gelato, and mere sound of all those Italians talking all at once is a real high.

The food is the best in Umbria and its art museum is one of the most beautiful and enlightening in all of Italy. By the time you come out the other end, you understand Italian art as you never did before.

It's intense, but it's wonderful.

tuscanlifeedit

Hmmm, the only intense things I found about Perugia were getting in and out of town. But that was our trip, and it didn't seem at all hectic or intense to us. And if someone is coming and going by train, that would eliminate the only thing we found challenging.

I had great food in Perugia. There is beautiful shopping and there are wonderful views from the walls. Also, one of Italy's best and most under visited museums: the National Gallery of Umbria. Too, too fabulous. Perugia is a very cool town.

I love Arezzo and Verona, too.

nessundorma

I dont' think Perugia is hectic. But I do think trying to find your way into
town off the suburban ring road is a really humbling experience and parking in Perugia is an exercise in trying to pass camels through needle's eyes.

I guess I think of decompresing as being in the countryside. But with an 18-year-old, Perugia might be just perfect.

Lexma90

When you're looking for a rural-type town for two nights, are you thinking you'd spend two nights and one full day there, or two nights, one full day, plus two half-days (or some variation)?

Of your possibilities:
Orvieto - On the train line, decent size with a bunch of restaurants and enough to keep you busy (in a low-key, wandering-around way) for a leisurely day.
Spello - Adorable little town, but VERY small. Also not on the train line, I think. We stayed here recently, then drove the 5-10 minutes to Foligno, dropped our rental car AT the train station, and easily took the train to Rome. Not much open for lunch, for example, and maybe 3 restaurant choices for dinner. It is a wonderful little town, though. If you are willing to consider a one-day car rental, I'd suggest Spello.
Spoleto - Not quite as charming as the other places.
Chiusi - Not much going on in Chiusi; I would not include it as a possibility.
Arezzo - I haven't been here, so I can't advise.

I would also suggest Siena. It is a bigger town, a small city, but I don't find it to rushed or bustling. I love to sit with a glass of wine on the Campo and people-watch. Also a great selection of restaurants.

JeanneB

Thanks for the comments on Perugia.
Just to clarify, we would train to Perugia and pick up our rental car there. It's more likely we'll train to Foligno, p/up car and stay in Bevagna (easier access, parking). But Perugia remains high on the list.

As for the OP's request, Siena sounds perfect. "...walkable 'town' area... hotels and restaurants 'in' town...visit some low to mid-level sites, sit at outdoor cafes, and just decompress." But consider bus instead of train.

phieaglefan

WoW! It's like Christmas - I went to a function last night and woke up to all of these great replies.

Here are my thoughts so far. I guess I've heard and read so much about Tuscany and Umbria that I was truly thinking in terms of those areas as opposed to Verona, Bologna, or Ferrara, but maybe on our next trip!

I will do some additional research on Siena, and add Perugia to the list. I'll scratch Chiusi.

I have noticed that the Trenitalia site does not generally list buses as an option. Where is the best place to get info on bus schedules and such? Is is advisable to travel by bus with luggage? (one 21" per person - strict law will be enforced by me!)

With regard to our schedule, we would most likely leave Rome early or mid morning so that we would arrive at our destination around noon or so. Then hopefully check in and have a good part of that day to explore. We would also have all of the next day. Then the following morning, we'd probably depart fairly early in order to arrive in Venice early to mid afternoon.

Thanks everyone for your thoughtful replies. Now I've got more research to do!
H

JeanneB

Here is the SENA bus website for Rome - Siena.
http://tinyurl.com/y9upql
Click on "English" at the top. Then choose Siena-Rome-Siena (It's only 5 euros!) and plug in your date. It looks like you could leave Rome/Tiburtina around 8:30 and be in Siena before noon.

On the home page click "Travel with us" and the coaches look very nice and appear to have luggage storage underneath.

BTW, upon leaving Siena, the same line has service Siena - Bologna, a 2 1/2 hour trip. THat might be a good option for catching the train to Venice. The other option would be the SITA bus to Florence. Their website is here:
http://tinyurl.com/yn4kr5