Honeymoon in Umbria!

Why not get a car? It makes touring the towns and countryside of Umbria much simpler and much more time efficient. You could then drive back to Venice to return the car.

It's about 5 hours by train from Orvieto to Venezia Santa Lucia with a change at Firenze Santa Maria Novella.

Train stations are generally near the center of town, but not near the main piazza. The train station in Orvieto is at the bottom of the hill, you will buy a ticket for the funivia which will take you up to the lower part of the town and use the same funivia ticket for one of the buses that will drop you at Piazza del Duomo (main piazza).

Spello is only a few kilometers from Assisi (one train stop away), if you decide to visit Assisi.

Any of these towns could be a daytrip but check return bus schedules and note that on Sundays, bus transportation is limited to nonexistent (for example, from Orvieto to Todi there is no bus on Sunday).

Check Rome2Rio.com - plug in your beginning and ending cities, and it will show every available type of transportation, including driving, with links to schedules.

For festivals, just try googling "Festivals Umbria" or "Festivals (followed by the town name)" and you will find lists with dates and activities.

Here you go http://www.annesitaly.com

Anne has a listing of festivals in Umbria on her blog.

Many of Umbria's towns are on a hill so the train station is at the bottom of the hill, with some, like Spello, it is an easy walk, with others like Perugia, Spoleto and Assisi, there is connecting bus service, or in Orvieto's case a funicular.

Gubbio does require a bus to get to and yes from Perugia.

Thank everyone!

Is Perugia a good base or is another town better?

Is the train station in Perugia a safe place?

If we stay in Perugia for 3 days then go to Spoleto for 2 days then I am not sure.
Is Perugia a good place to explore for a few days?

Originally I was thinking of going to Orvieto from Spoleto then back to Venice. I was hoping to see a few more cities but since the buses aren't so frequent I don't know if all my plans are feasible.

It is possible to use public transportation and still have a great experience?

Any other must see cities that are easy to get to?

Thanks very much!!!

I drove around Umbria last fall and had no navigation issues while using the Michelin Central Italy map (on paper), plus backup from online resources like Google Maps and www.viamichelin.com (previewed in my hotel, since I did not have a data connection on the road). Gubbio was a highlight of that trip. Orvieto has been a highlight of other trips. If you won't have a car, and have to narrow down your options, then those with the least frequent bus service are those that I would cut.

I drove to Perugia both times that I visited. I did not see the train station, but also would not have any special worries about the train station. I feel secure when my valuables are in my money belt.

We have actually been to all these towns over the course of a few trips. All are nice places to visit, as are many more towns in Umbria and Tuscany such as Assisi, Cortona, etc. Just pick a handful that sound interesting to you. None of these towns is big enough to need to spend a nite to "see". Pick a town as a base, explore from there, return to your base. A lot easier than lugging all your belonging around. Perugia is a base we have used several times because its larger than many, has a train station (staffed at least a few years ago), car rental, and buses. It also has a nice TI office that can help you figure out bus and train times.

From what you've written you don't seem aware that these are hill towns. Trains don't do hills, so no, you don't end up in the center. In Perugia and the rest you need to take a bus or tram from the train station to the actual place of interest. Perugia has built a tram since we've visited that goes up the hill. The bus station in Perugia is up in the hilltown area, not near the train at the base, but you don't want to stay down in the base; the part tourists visit is up in the hilltown. For Todi there is a private tram line (they call themselves a train line) that we took from Perugia near the bottom level of the hilltown to Todi, then the bus up to the Todi hilltown.

We have travelled in the area by car and train on different trips. Car is more convenient, but train & bus is doable. Just understand that you're going to lose some free time waiting for buses and trains & getting to the station in time. It's helpful to do planning in advance. If the train is 1pm and 3pm then either you eat early (lunch at a restaurant in Italy takes time!) or grab a light snack. In our experience via train we could see one town in the morning and a 2nd one in the afternoon. I don't want to sound discouraging; we enjoyed visiting and using public transit. Just don't expect zip-zip efficiency. A car gives more flexibility; see something interesting out the window and go there, leave a town you're not enthralled with, etc. But you need to be careful of ZTL if you get a car.

I visited all the places I mentioned by public transportation, you will have a great time even in a handful of places.