Thinking of basing here in the fall. Doing alot of reading and research. But wanted to get the expects take on what to love here, where to stay and delicioso places to eat. Grazie.

Orvieto is a charming little town, and the facade of the church will blow you away. Lots of great shops for ceramics, too. I've only been there as a day-trip from Rome, but I would love to go back.

It is spectacularly perched atop a hill of tufa, but because of that, it is a less convenient base for day-trips than other Umbrian towns. For me, needing to take the funiculare or bus down to the train station and then a train to other towns would be undesirable. For some, that might be part of Orvieto's charm.

I'll leave it to others who are more informed to give you specific advice. Buon viaggio!

We absolutely loved Orvieto, and you can see a little of why here, in some of the photos I took in May 2011, but I would not recommend it as a base for making lots of daytrips for the reasons kattibella gives.

I think Orvieto is a great place to overnight. During the day the crowds can be a little overwhelming, but most visitors see the Duomo, hit the ceramic shops, and leave. In the evening after the tour buses depart, it is very peaceful. We love to sit on the benches facing the Duomo late in the evening and admire the incredible facade. It's so quiet, you would never know it's the same town. The rest of the old town is also worth exploring with medieval streets, a couple of interesting churches, and (on the periphery) Etruscan sites. The underground tour is also well worth taking.

As a base for day trips, it does present problems, especially if you intend to use public transport. If you have a car (and if you have a place to park it), it would be easier to do day trips, though it does take a certain amount of time to get in and out of town. Parking is a challenge unless your accommodation can help. One-way streets and the ZTL also make driving a challenge, but we've only ever had a problem one time when we happened on a festival of some sort and the town was packed.

One option is to stay at an agriturismo just outside of Orvieto - La Cioccoletais very good and there are many others. It's very easy (and free) to park at the train station and take the funicular up to the center during the day. At night, it gets easier to drive into town for dinner and find parking. I do just that now when I go to Orvieto which is every year or 18 months - I used to stay in the center when driving and parking were easier.

They have a nice market in Orvieto on Thursday and Saturday mornings and you don't want to drive in on those mornings.

For restaurants, La Palomba is very good and I like Trattoria Del'Orso (I'm friends with the owners, in the interests of full disclosure ). There are a lot of good restaurants mentioned in the Slow Travel review section.

Last month we stayed at an agriturismo just outside of Orvieto called La Chiusetta. Rooms were lovely, clean and spacious, the grounds were olive groves and vineyards, the buildings prettier than on the website, the views of Orvieto and other hills/towns were spectacular and the pool was gorgeous. It was about 8KM outside of Orvieto and you would need a car. The ride onto the property was about 1 mile of dirt road and hilly. Breakfast was ample with cereal, cakes and yogurt etc. No half board available, but there are good restaurants in the area. The owner's name is Paolo and the cook's name is Rosemaria. We found parking easy near the city and the Duomo truly spectacular. The Luca Signorelli artwork is wonderful.

Linda and Fedina - your moderators would love it if you could take a few minutes and write up reviews for our main site. It is great to have these for future travelers looking for recommendations from our members.

Thanks,

TourMama

Wonderful photos, Michael! I can't wait to visit now.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael in Seattle:
We absolutely loved Orvieto, and you can see a little of why here, in some of the photos I took in May 2011, but I would not recommend it as a base for making lots of daytrips for the reasons kattibella gives.

I will add to the above that Orvieto has a wonderful passeggiata. We spent the night there in June 2011. It seemed like the whole town turned out for the communal shmooze. We stayed at Hotel Duomo and thought it was the perfect place to stay in town. There is a nice ceramics shop selling unique things on the corner of Via del Duomo as it enters the piazza.

Thanks for the compliments on the photos. It's easy to take good pictures when you have a beautiful subject such as Italy.

Good point about Orvieto and the passeggiata. That's one of my favorite things about Italy. That's why we've discovered it's so important for us to stay in or very near the historic center, which is where the passeggiate tend to take place.

quote:

communal shmooze

well-put!

I, too, like Trattoria dell'Orso, and unlike Linda, I am not a friend of the owners.

I love Orvieto, and did not find the access to and from the train station to be that onerous. The free parking down at the bottom of the hill below the station is great.

We will be staying about half an hour from town in Torre Alfina, a tiny town you never heard of and we absolutely love.