Another poster said the express train to Florence stops at an inconvenient station and we would need to switch to another station to get to Orvieto?

Love the idea of sitting and watching the sun set with a glass of wine (or bottle).

thanks

There is a transfer and car service listed on the Orvieto tourism website that you might check out (I have not used them). They offer driver service to Civita for 90euros for a party of 4, which might be cheaper and less hassle than renting a car.

They also advertise other destinations.

http://www.orvietotransfer.it/index.php/en/

Lago di Bolsena (a volcanic lake) is very pretty, although I am not sure how it would be at the time of year you are going. It is not a bad drive from Orvieto.

With a car rental and with kids, I would either go to the waterfalls in Umbria (Cascata delle Marmore) or, since you are already headed to Civita di Bagnoregio, consider going to Saturnia. These are sulphur springs, however, and some kids really dislike the rotten-egg odor. Also in the direction of Civita di Bagnoregio, your kids might find Pitigliano and nearby Sovana and Sorano more interesting than Spello.

There are at least two non-stop trains a day from Venice to Orvieto. One leaves Venezia Mestre station at 9:29, arriving Orvieto 14:08. That's less than 5 hours, and this avoids the hassle of getting off and on trains in Florence. Another non-stop train leaves Venezia Mestre 15:14 and arrives Orvieto 19:25, just a little more than 4 hours.

A good train info website is loco2.com, a UK-based site. You can buy your tickets online. It's a very good operation. I've used them a couple of times (I'm in U.S.)

Thank you EYWandBTV... I was looking at that site and it is easy. I cannot figure out how difficult to get to Maestre. I have to get two lazy 12 year olds out of bed. (Not totally lazy but it is hard to get them up sometimes and I don't want to miss that 9:30 train.). Does it take a while to get to that other train station?
@Sandralist... I think we will rent a car and after Civita di Bagnoregio, check out Sovana or Sorano depending on lunch and what to do.

Thank you everyone

Here's a good web site for info on connections between Mestre and Venice (whose central station is Santa Lucia):

http://europeforvisitors.com/venice/...e-by-train.htm

Note that the spelling is "Mestre" not "Maestre" (in case you are Googling for info).

I understand the challenge of getting sleepy kids up early in the morning. You may want to choose a later train.

>>>Another poster said the express train to Florence stops at an inconvenient station and we would need to switch to another station to get to Orvieto?<<<

There are plenty of trains from Venice SL to Florence SMN where don't have to add a change from Venice to Mestre or change to another station in Florence to go on to Orvieto.

Trenitalia and Italo are the actual train companies on this route (Venice/Florence). Italo only operates between major cities so doesn't have trains that stop in Orvieto (or as many between major cities as Trenitalia). I don't see any advantage of buying through a reseller that charges in £ and paying a fee.

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

http://www.italotreno.it/?sc_lang=en

I would much rather take a fast train to Florence and change trains in Florence than take an IC train for 5 hours. YMMV. I'm not a fan of IC trains at all. You could even store your luggage at the train station in Florence and spend some time there before traveling on to Orvieto (the historic center of Florence is a few minutes walk from the station).

There are buses from Orvieto to Civita (and to other nearby towns), but then you would be tied to the bus schedule. The bus to Civita used to depart across from the train station beside the funicular entrance, but that may have changed.