Day trips from Rome within 1-2 hours on train or bus

There are direct trains from Rome's (Roma Termini station) to Florence's (Firenze SM Novella station) taking 1h 45m. Problem is, Florence is worth more than a day trip.

Do some work on Google maps and the Trenitalia websites to determine if you think Orvieto is a day trip from Rome. We had always heard it referred to as an easy daytrip. We loved Orvieto, but would have been really disappointed had we done it as a day trip. We found that there were not hourly direct trains to Orvieto. Many of the trains transferred to a bus to get to Orvieto Centrale. From there, you would need to take a funicular up the hill, and then walk about 3/4 of a mile or wait for a bus to get to the center of the old town. We talked to a couple on a 3:15 train back to Rome who lamented about their day. They ended up with very little time to spend in Orvieto. Other direct trains to Termini or Tibertina were not until about 6 or 7pm.

Ostia Antica is wonderful and is, definitely, a good day trip option from Rome.

Orvieto is worth more than the hours available on a day trip, that is true. It has some interesting museums (two with some Etruscan artifacts) as well as the magnificent cathedral. And the historic core is very atmospheric.

Don't miss the National Etruscan Museum in Rome, either.

Viterbo--a relatively untouristy, walled city--has an Etruscan museum. Viterbo is about 2-1/2 hours from Rome by train, so not recommendable (at least by me) as a day-trip destination. It's quicker from Orvieto, though a transfer at Attigliano-Bomarzo is required, so one could spend multiple nights in Orvieto and take a side trip to Viterbo. There are some Etruscan sites in the area around Viterbo, but I haven't been to them and don't know whether any are accessible without a car.

For us, Orvieto was a perfect daytrip, not to do a deep dive into the Etruscan history, of course...but we took a 10:00 train out of Termini station, arriving in Orvieto around 11:30. We walked around for awhile, stopped at a tiny trattoria for some outstanding homemade fettucine with cinghiale. Then we walked around the rabbit-warren cobblestoned streets, finally stopping at the overlook to the valley and touring the phenomenal cathedral. And with the setting afternoon sun (this was March), the sun's rays made the stained glass light up like neon. Took the 5:30 train back to Roma Termini.

We've been to Rome three times and Orvieto is the tops daytrip we've had.

Royal Palace of Caserta in Caserta. Easy day trip from Rome Termini by train and the train station is directly across from the palace. Lots of places for lunch in this compact small town which is walkable. Not in the RS’s guide books and it wasn’t busy at all when we were there in April. Never would have heard about it if it wasn’t for an Italian acquaintance of my husband’s who said it was a must see. Truly amazing!

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/tivoli-day-trip-from-rome

If you like palaces, we agree that the palace in Caserta is very worthwhile. Its very easy to get to, trains to Caserta are frequent. If you like to use the fast train, there is quite a savings with an advance purchase.

Check out Frascati, a quick train ride from Rome. It’s charming. We went for a quick day trip and ended up on a tour of the town and an ancient vineyard overlooking Rome. (The town is famous for its Frascati white wine.) We liked it so much we found a tiny B&B and spent the night.

The palace is very interesting as are the water features. And it has been featured in several movies, including Conclave, which I watched over to our trip to Italy this spring never knowing that how everything would play out after the pope’s death.