Hi folks
I would love recommendations for the best town in Tuscany or Umbria as a home base to explore region without a car? I am posting for friends who are making their first trip to Italy and they are not comfortable renting a car. I’ve always rented a car on my trips to explore Tuscany and Umbria but this will not be an option for them. Is there a particular Hilltown that would allow for exploration either using public transportation or inexpensive tours? They would have a four or five night stay after the RS heart of Italy tour which ends in Florence. Accommodation recommendations are also appreciated?
Thank you
JoAnn
Posted by
Corvallis OR
7123 posts
Well, they could just stay and make Florence their base. It's the main transportation hub for Tuscany and makes it easy to visit other Tuscan towns by train, bus, or organized day tours. If they want to get out of Florence to a bit smaller place, we enjoyed a week's stay in Montecatini Terme. It's on the main train line between Florence and Lucca so easy to get to places by train and I'm sure there are organized tours to other towns in the area. Montepulciano is also mentioned here a lot as a good base.
Farther into Umbria, Perugia is a good base as it's the capital of Umbria and is centrally located for publilc transportation around that area.
Posted by
New York, NY
1585 posts
Joann I would recommend the town of Peruglia like poster Nancy mentioned above and Spoleto italy as both towns have public transportation that can connect you to other Umbrian towns. Spoleto has a roman amphitheater in town. Explore to see which one you want to use as a base. How many nights do you plan to stay in the Umbria region?
Here are a few hotels you might consider:
https://www.thehotelguru.com/hotel/locanda-della-posta-perugia
Posted by
Oaxaca Mexico
8 posts
I can recommend Orvieto! I rented an apartment for one month on the cliff top town of Orvieto and invited friends to come visit. It was easy for them to arrive because a train station sits right below. One could take the train to Siena and Florence and Rome. One guest went all the way to Venice. Small historic towns near Orvieto can be visited by bus or renting a car for a short journey.
I loved Orvieto with lots of historic and beautiful experiences in and around the town. The restaurants and shops were excellent too.
Posted by
Washington DC
27648 posts
I spent a couple of weeks in Orvieto in 2015 and liked it a lot. However, I don't think it's particularly convenient for day-trips. Before deciding to use it as a base, I would check the public-transportation times to the other places I wanted to see, keeping in mind there will probably be extra time required to get from ones orvieto hotel to the train station down below.
This is not to suggest that a visitor cannot fill 4 or 5 days productively in Orvieto. The town itself is probably good for a couple of days. It's just that the places one would find it easiest to day-trip to might not be the places one originally intended to see. Perugia and Spoleto, for example, are each about a 4-hour round-trip from Orvieto. The Camucia-Cortona station is only about an hour away, but then one must get a bus or taxi up to Cortona.