Orvieto, Italy. (March, 2023).

Tourist traffic noticeably picked up during our last week in Rome, which we suspect coincided with a lot of spring break travelers.  Instead of fighting the now larger crowds, we chose to spend a couple of days in a nearby hill town, Orvieto.

On a Friday morning we packed overnight bags, locked up our Airbnb, and headed to Roma Termini to buy a couple of Trenitalia train tickets to Orvieto for €9 each. Orvieto is reached by regional trains that travel several times a day between Rome and Florence. 

When you purchase a paper ticket, as we did at the Trenitalia machine, you are actually getting a ticket for a set route (Rome to Orvieto) on a certain day (Friday, March 24).  You can use your ticket on any of the available trains traveling to your destination.  Just be sure to validate your ticket by stamping it in one of the validation machines before jumping on a train.

After a train ride of a little over an hour, we arrived at the Orvieto train station in mid-morning.  Along with the few other tourists on our train we walked across the street to the funicular station and paid €1.30 each to hitch a ride to the top of the hill on a funicular.

Ordinarily we would stay in a hotel for a one-night trip, but not in Orvieto.  We looked at many different hotels, but chose to stay in an Airbnb.  Not only was the Airbnb cheaper, but it was incredibly nicer and much larger than a hotel room.  We had a one-bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, dining table for six, and a living room with a couch and several chairs.  Actually it was the nicest Airbnb that we stayed in on this entire trip.

After dropping off our bags, our first stop in town was at a grocery store to buy beer for that night and breakfast for the next morning.  We might as well make good use of the kitchen.

As a popular day trip destination, Oriveto is most crowded with tourists from about 11:00 AM to 3:30 PM.   Locals are out and about earlier in the morning and later in the day.  A major benefit of staying in towns overnight is to be there when day trippers are not.  We’ve been on day trips before, and they are nowhere near as enjoyable as an overnight.

Orvieto offers a city card, Carta Unica (€25, valid for one year), that provides a free or discounted admission to numerous sites in town, 10% off at participating restaurants, and a few other small benefits.  Our Airbnb host suggested that we buy a city card only if we planned on going to four or five of the sites. 

We made it to exactly one site, so I’m glad we did not buy city cards.

Two places on our must-see list were Duomo e Cappella di San Brizio (large church known for its colorful façade) and Torre del Moro (town tower).  Unfortunately the church was closed on the afternoon we were in town to set up for a classical concert that night, but we still got to admire the wonderful exterior.

The town tower was just as expected.  For €3.80 you get the opportunity to trek up a lot of stairs leading to a small observation area with great views over the city and countryside.  Relatively pricey, but worth it for the views.

Another option for scenic views, if stairs are not your thing, is to walk to one of several viewpoints overlooking the countryside from Orvieto.  Fortezza Albornoz, the fortress next to the funicular station, is the first stop for many travelers arriving by train.  From here you have expansive views looking mostly to the east.  An overlook about a block from the Duomo faces the countryside to the south.  The best views are looking west from Chiesa di San Giovenale.

If you want to walk underground, Orvieto has several options, notably Pozzo della Cava (Well of the Quarry, caves) and Orvieto Underground (more caves).  Apparently there are over 1,000 caves and tunnels dug underneath the city.  The caves were not calling to us, so we skipped them.

Pozzo di San Patrizio (St. Patrick’s Well), a large well 53 meters deep with a double spiral staircase around it, was on the to do list.  Think of it as an inverted tower.  But after walking up the town tower we lost interest in walking down a well.  Honestly we just felt like being lazy.

Several small museums are in Orvieto: Museo dell’Opera del Duomo; Museo Archeologico Nazionale; and, Museo Etrusco C. Faina.  We were not in the mood to spend time indoors in museums, so we bypassed them.

Orvieto is known for its ceramics, and there are many ceramics stores in town.  There are also a lot of jewelry, clothing, and antique stores.  We poked our heads in a few of them, but not for long as we had no real interest in buying anything.

Basically we spent the afternoon aimlessly walking around town. 

There are numerous restaurants and cafés in town, most of which are small.  If you want to dine at a certain restaurant, make a reservation.  We had dinner at Trattoria la Palomba (bruschetta, wild boar, filet, and panna cotta), a bit fancy but still highly recommended.

A hiking trail around the base of the hill looks wonderful if you are in the area for more than one night, but was not something we were prepared to tackle on a short overnight trip.  In hindsight we should have stayed in Orvieto for two nights and done the hike.

Finally, an update on the beer tasting.  We have shifted towards drinking Peroni (original red label, not the Nastro Azzuro often found in the United States).  This is now our overall favorite beer of Italy.

Garrett and Stephanie

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