Best destination city in Italy from Washington, D.C.

I'm from DC and I think every time I have checked, Milan and Rome are the cheapest places to fly into from DC. Rome would be more convenient to Viterbo. The trip via regional train will take about 2 hours once you get to the train station in Rome, and regional tickets do not go up in price as your travel date approaches. That means you can simply go to the train station at Fiumicino Airport and buy your ticket there, with no need to guess what time you'll be ready to depart. The ticket person will sell you a ticket into Rome and a separate ticket from Rome to Viterbo.

It would take longer to get to Viterbo from Florence (and even longer from Pisa), and it's quite likely that you'd also pay more for a flight to Florence. Plus you might get a non-stop to Rome; there are no non-stops to Florence.

You can certainly take a look at budget transatlantic flights coupled with a budget hop within Europe, but that will almost certainly mean separate tickets, and the risk will all be on your shoulders. If something happens to your first flight and you miss the second one, the airline is just going to invite you to buy a new ticket at last-minute prices, and if you have a round-trip ticket within Europe, the return portion will probably be lost as well. That's not something I'd want to take a chance on unless the savings were really high. If you want to consider that, post again with information about where you think you might change planes and let the experienced flyers here suggest how many hours you need to allow to be reasonably safe (no guarantees, ever).

I am flying out of Dulles on April 29. I looked at other arrival designs in Italy but almost without exceptions,Rome and will be cheaper and more direct. Very simple and fast to get to Florence by train. On last year's trip I arrived in Rome took the Leonardo express express to Termin station bought my ticket for Florence and spent my first night in Florence. Trains are easy and very cost effective and your destinations are not that lengthy a train ride.
Rome to Rio is a good place to look at a map with transportation options for your itinerary.

Craven-
Thank you for your helpful response. I have just identified a good flight direct from Dulles to Rome. I should clarify that the wedding is three days after our arrival. We wanted to spend 2-3 days in and around Florence prior to heading down to Viterbo. I see there is a fast , 1 1/2 hour train ride ,from Rome to Florence. Is it just as easy to take a train from Florence to Viterbo? Is it easy to get a taxi from the train to a hotel?
I'm considering hiring a driver to take us from the wedding at a church in Viterbo to the reception a few miles away. Please let me know if anyone has any recommendations? Just a little intimidated to drive in Italy.
Grazie mille.

Thank you Cafetista.

All trains are easy..but you might want to read up on the basic information such as validating a train ticket for regional trains.

https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

Like you I have never even considered renting a car. Yes to all your taxi questions! Taxis are relatively inexpensive in Italy. Taxi drivers can take you to your wedding venue and you can arrange for a return to your hotel by taxi.
I have done the math for taxi vs rental car and if I need to go somewhere not available by train or bus taking a taxi probably not more and Most likely less than a rental car plus a car in my opinion is a huge hassle, parking, figuring out routes, driving.. Etc etc. And the ZLT zones in cities such as Florence are a frequent topic on the forum. ZLT zones are limited to residents of by special permit and fines are charged each time your rental car passes through.

Viterbo is not on the main rail line and doesn't have the fast trains that are available for travel between Rome/Florence/Milan/Venice. Therefore, it will take much, much longer to travel from Florence to Viterbo and later from Viterbo to Rome than you'll spend whooshing along on the fast train straight from Rome to Florence.

I find it easier to look up schedules on the Deutsche Bahn website than on Trenitalia. By clicking on "Show details" you can see where you will change trains and how long you'll have to make the change. For your trips into and out of Viterbo, try to avoid routings that include time on the FrecciaRossa; they will probably send you from Florence to Rome, where you'll turn around and head back north on a regional train. Including a Freccia in your routing will increase the cost substantially, as will all the extra miles you will be traveling. And you probably won't save much time, either.

There's a late morning regional train that will get you from Florence to Viterbo in 3.5 hours. I took it from Orvieto to Viterbo, but it's the same train. There's one change at the very small station in Attigliano, but the trip is pretty simple and fairly inexpensive. Note that the train from Florence arrives at the northern station in Viterbo (called Fiorentina), while the train from Rome arrives at the southern station (called Porta Romana). The city is fairly small, so you might even be able to walk from the station to your hotel (ask them).

Thanks for pointing out the multiple-station situation in Viterbo, Frank. I though of that as I was preparing my response, but that fact didn't make it into my post. It's sort of surprising to encounter two different stations in a city the size of Viterbo.

I truly appreciate the specificity in your responses.While looking at the train schedules I couldn’t tell which destination in Viterbo
to select. Now I understand one is coming from Florence or the north and the other from Rome or the south.
This is a separate question. I have heard that Lucca s a special and charming city—bit off the touristy path. Would it work to spend two days n Florence and one in Lucca? Does one need a car to go to Lucca from Florence?is it a day trip?
Grazie.

Lucca's a good day-trip from Florence. There's service by both bus and train. I don't remember which way I traveled there. However, you don't have much time in Florence, so I'm not sure it's a great idea to spend 2-1/2 hours (roundtrip) traveling back and for the Lucca.

Thank you.