Hoping to go there in a year or two. Which town would be the better base to visit other towns, Orvieto or Spoleto? Want to visit Todi, and hope to have a car. Can you get to either Orvieto, or Spoleto by train from Naples? Thanks.
Barry, I haven't been to Spoleto, but have been to Orvieto and would highly recommend a visit there! To answer your question, yes you absolutely can get there by train from Naples (I haven't checked but you'll most likely have to change trains at Roma Termini). For example, the trip from Napoli to Spoleto is about three hours, depending on which train is ed. Current second class fare listed at €51.90 (subject to change of course). I believe Spoleto is in Perugia. One note about having a car in Italy. Each driver will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which must be used in conjunction with your home D.L. Failure to produce an IDP if requested can result in fines on the spot! I generally try to use trains (and Bus in some cases) as much as possible, as it's a quicker and more efficient method of getting around. Cheers!
there's a proverb "Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime" In that vein, let me suggest that if you type "trenitalia" into your favorite search engine you'll find a link to the Trenitalia home page that lets you search, in English, for train journeys between any 2 points in Italy you might be interested in. If you go to bahn.com which is the German train site, you can look up train travel between any two cities in Europe, whether they are in the same country or not.
Look at Spello near Assisi. AlthoughI did enjoy Orvieto
Orvieto is a great town, a good base for exploring other towns and an easy place to pick up a rental car. It's on the western edge of Umbria, but driving distances to other Umbrian towns aren't terribly long. I haven't been to Spoleto, but did use Assisi as a base for exploring towns in Umbria and Le Marche and really enjoyed it. If you rent a car, be sure to take along or rent a GPS with Italy maps. There are some direct Intercity trains from Naples to Orvieto. They take about a half hour longer than the fast trains with change in Rome, but are only half the price. If you use the Trenitalia website to check schedules, be sure to use the Italian version of city names - e.g. Napoli and Roma instead of Naples and Rome.
Barry, we found Orvieto to be a wonderful base to explore Umbria. This June we picked up our car @ FCO, and had no problem driving to our Agritourisimo just outside of Orvieto. We stayed four nites, a few miles outside of town, at an Agri called "Frallarenza". For only $75 EU/ nite we had a fully self contained apt, that was spacious, quiet, and had a pool. We used it as our base to explore the area. We would drive into Orvieto each nite for dinner. We did the same thing in the Chianti area. But our agri apt there only cost $65 EU/nite, and it also had a pool and view to die for. (Agri Borgo Sicelle) We found our "farm stays" to be a great way to meet the people, and the owners were wonderful tour advisors.
Many agris even serve home cooked meals.