First time to Italy for 10 days

Wow, thats a lot of destinations for 10 nights! You must be young and energetic for such a frenzied itinerary. Train or bus, definitely. A car is an expensive pain in the tush in Italy, usually only rented by people to tour Tuscan wineries and in a group of 2+ travelers.

I like the 2 nights in each city, that way I can see more in a short period. And can always return later for longer if you like one place.

What month are you traveling in? Some of those train routes are high speed trains and you can get deep discounts like 9 euro or 19 euro by booking in advance.

Bologna to Florence is a high speed train. They have 2 trains an hour on Trenitalia. You can purchase these in advance for cheap. But the issue is you are locked into that train. If you flight is delayed or you are stuck in customs you may miss your train. A train leaving this friday close to full fare is 24 euro or 36 euro depending on the time you leave. I used Bologna Centrale and Firenze Santa Maria Novella as the stations.

Florence to Siena is better by bus. It's quicker then taking the train to due to a direct bus. You get the bus at the bus station in Florence which is next to the train station. You can probably search on this site for that bus and have the timetable link. I don't have mine handy.

Siena to Orvieto - There is a regional train that goes from Orveito to Rome which is easy to get to from Siena. From Siena to Orvieto you would take a regional train and change trains in Chiusi (a small station). Those tickets you can buy day of at the station. Check Trenitalia for times. On the regional train remember to validate your ticket in the punch boxes or risk being fined on the train. Once in Orvieto if you are day tripping there are no luggage lockers at the station. Rick's guidebook says the Albergo Picchio will store you bags for you. They are located right by the train station before you go up the finiculare into town. I was going to do this before i decided to stay the night in Orvieto. When I contacted the hotel the cost was 4 euro per bag last september.

Civita - this is going to be hard to see without a car. There are a few buses that go from Orvieto to Civita. Few in the afternoon and most are in the AM. If you are only stopping for a few hours in Orvieto it's best to either rent a car at the orvieto train station and drive to Civita and then return to the train station, or hire a private driver. Rick has one listed in the guidebook.

Orvieto to Rome - another regional train. NO need to buy tickets in advance there is no cost savings and remember to validate the ticket. Shoudl be a 7.5 euro train ticket. It's just over an hour ride on the train between the 2 with no train change.

Rome to Pompeii - have a look at this question some asked similar. Donna replied with the train information that you will find helpful. https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/day-trip-from-rome-to-pompeii-0cb409a7-aff4-4cd5-9ea7-0510451fd96a

Thanks Robert. Great wealth of information. There will be three of us going and we leave Sept. 18th.
I believe I'll use your info then the Friday we leave Rome I'll rent a car to go to Pompeii then to Puglia. I'm trying to find out now if I can drop the car off at Bari or have to bring it back to Rome.

If anybody else has any input I'm all ears.

Kind regards, John

You should be able to drop the car off in Bari, especially at the airport.

Drop off the car at Bari airport, definitely. You can avoid driving into Bari's city traffic this way.

Visits to Orvieto and Civita on the way to Rome and to Pompei on the way to Puglia are almost impossible without a car. I suggest you to simplify your itinerary and use trains instead.

From Siena to Rome you either use a direct bus (may not be easy), or backtrack to Florence + train from Florence, or use a combination of slow trains.

Since no one else has said it, I'll jump in. I know RS puffs it, but imo Civita is of hardly any interest, whatsoever. Its main claim to fame is that at some time in the future, the rock on which it is built will be eroded away to the point that it will collapse. Orvieto, in contrast, is a jewel of a hill town. There is more than enough there to keep you busy for a day. Unless your goal is simply to check it off on a list, devote that Tuesday to Orvieto, and eliminate any thought of getting to Civita as well.

asps2 - how is a visit to Oriveto from Siena impossible without a car? Yes a visit to Civita is difficult without a car, but you can stop in Oriveto from Siena really easy via the train station at the base of the funicluare.

Sad to say I have to agree with Rosalyn. We spent 4 nights in Orvieto in February and took the bus to Civita. Don't regret it as we had plenty of time and it was a cute town but once you get inside the entry arch it looks like other hill towns but smaller and some gates lead to air as the rock has fallen. It might be prettier from afar. Agree that Orvieto is a jewel and you would be better served by spending your entire day there.

It by know means wouldn't be a problem not going to Civita. With all the reading a research that we did it really didn't matter if we went. It was just a thought after reading RS book. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a nice place to see but with being our first trip and with limited time we'll leave it for some other time.
If I really had my choice I would like to go to Volterra and some other out of the way places. But that's going to be another trip on it's own.
I'm going to have to agree on Rosalyn, Carol, and Roberts comments. I really appreciate the help my friends.
This is going to be a nice trip without being overly rushed. I'm also meeting my relatives for the first time in Puglia. So if there still is any input feel free to suggest.
Kind regards, John

johnalto, We (four of us)had a car for our time spent in Umbria and we were able to visit a lot of hilltowns in the week we were there. Lots of picnic lunches with food purchased from local markets with a little wine from local wineries. We had a designated driver each day. Hard to do with train or bus. I agree with Rosalyn re: Civita. We were underwhelmed by Civita but wished we would have spent more time in Orvieto(really enjoyed the underground tour). Maybe if we'd had a guided tour od Civita it would have been of more interest. I would give more time to Puglia. Beautiful area, we spent a week there based in Monopoli (with a car) and were able to visit Matera, Aberobello, Ostuni, Lecce and the old town of Monopoli. Very interesting and very nice, friendly people. More "back door" experience, less touristy, nice beaches, great food and you have family there. We used the Lonely Planet guide book and lots of suggestions/trip reports from this forum. Have a great trip!

Thanks to all.