Assisi

Robert,
Trains go to Santa Maria degli Angeli. You take a bus up to Assisi (r walk). It's not far. All of your questions are answered in Rick Steves' Italy Guidebook. Three days is a lot of time in Assisi, but you can make it your base for seeing more of Umbria. We like Spello, Spoleto and Perugia, all easy to see by bus or train.

Robert, Laurel is right about the train - you can see Saint Francis' Basilica from the train station, Assisi is just up the hill (about 5 kilometers from the station). Check booking.com for hotels with views (reviews are done only by guests who have recently stayed), if there is a view someone will mention it. A few years ago I stayed at the Windsor-Savoia, great views but I don't know what it's like now.

We have a reservation at Hotel La Pallotta in Assisi for later this year. For an extra 12 Euros the hotel's car will pick us up at the train station in Santa Maria degli Angeli.

I'm pretty sure that Trenitalia shows the stop as Assisi online, even though it is actually S.M. Degli Angeli, which is sort of like "lower Assisi." Assisi is beautiful. You'll love it, if you can overlook all the kitschy St. Francis souvenirs.

The sign in the train station does say Assisi. I have a picture of it. But, geographically, the train station is in Santa Maria degli Angeli. Not a problem. There is a bus stop just outside the train station. You can buy tickets for this bus in the small shop adjacent to the train station. Or, you can take a taxi.

We spent 3 nights in Assissi and LOVED it. My favorite town of all in Tuscany/Umbria. Three nights was not too long at all. We did take one afternoon to drive to Orvieto (wasn't wowed, liked Assissi much more), so w/o that I think 2 nights is still a good amount of time to visit Assissi. We really enjoy exploring towns we visit, walking everywhere and checking out every nook and cranny, including residential parts of towns. Assissi has fun shops (I didn't find Assissi very touristy at all), even enjoyed their grocery stores, and Assissi has many great restaurants. While there, in the evening, we walked past a very small church in the center of town and found out it was having a classical concert in a few minutes so we went in, sat down, and enjoyed a wonderful, free concert. Those are the kinds of serendipitous things we enjoy, and you have to spend a little time in one place to have experiences like that. We stayed at Hotel Umbra, a RS recommended hotel. It was fine, nothing special. Great location and decent price. It did have views from hotel, but not from our room. I'm sure you could request a room with a view. Because Assissi is on a hilltop, almost everywhere you walk you will see amazing views.

The taxis up to Assisi proper are ferociously expensive. Do the bus if you can.

Robert, We were in Assisi in May 2012 and stayed at the Hotel Ideale. It's located at the very top of the hill in Assisi. The bus from the train station s you off right in front of the hotel. Some rooms have a lovely view of the valley, and there is a deck/garden in front of the main building with great views, and you get a pretty ample breakfast. Also, the Rick Steves' walking tour starts out there back door.