Orvieto - Thinking of Spending a Month

I've been to Orvieto twice last time about a month ago; since you are on a budget and I assume won't be renting a car first you should get straight where you want to base yourself for a month.before picking the lodging

To me Orvieto is pretty small you might run out of things to do based there over a month. Consider Perugia is larger hill town may be a better transportation hub to explore other towns like Assissi Spoleto Todi Orvieto etc in Umbria. And the people are really nice I was there last summer for Umbria Jazz Fest and got lost asked a local for directions and given a ride to where I wanted to go

The good--it's on the rail lines, less than two hours to Florence and 1 hour to Rome, so the public transportation intercity is quite good.

And that's the bad too. If you're planning on doing this any time between April and October, it will be filled every day with daytrippers staying in either place wanting a taste of a hilltown. Heck, I'll be traveling there myself next month during the day from Rome for the same purpose.

So in that timeframe, it probably won't be restful. But it's beautiful and you could do worse, for sure!

I would comment that the locals don't go to tourist sites all week. So be careful what you wish for. I think the primary decision is what sort of places you want to visit. I wouldn't want to take a two hour trip each way, three times, to see "all" of Florence. And rural Tuscany is not that accessible by public transportation. It's true that some of the high points of Tuscany are easy to get to, but not the places that are less ... .... overrun ... than Orvieto.

That said, we loved Orvieto last summer. I'd even say that it was a nicer experience (not talking about total cultural content) than San G or Siena. Like Siena, Orvieto does "sprawl". It seems like the walking time to the station is really important to include on your spreadsheet of research. You failed to mention the month. Tuscany is incredibly hot, and neither screens nor air conditioning can be taken for granted. I personally disapprove of AirBnB, but that's because I grew up in apartments. We're not pool people, but we went in every night after sweltering sightseeing.

I would suggest that you make of list of what you hope to do. Then get a rail map, and think about cost. (Rick has some rail cost guidelines on his website, top left.) Now think about how much money you have to eat-out, or not. I'm suggesting a medium-sized city that would be nice to be stuck in almost every night. I haven't done the rail research, but I liked the look of Cortona and Castiglione del Lago, but they are way to the east. I'd rather wake up in Florence than on a farm, especially without a car.

I spent two weeks in Orvieto in June 2015, taking a daily language class. I loved the town and think it is better than most fairly small spots for a month-long stay in that it's not hard to get away from the day-tripper traffic if you want to (and feel like a local), and there are some actual sights to see (fabulous cathedral and a museum, for starters). In addition, there are many good restaurant options. Although I never went to it, I believe there is a supermarket of some size somewhere below the hill (but verify that!).

However, as already mentioned, a month is a long time and the transportation links don't work particularly well for a lot of the places you'd want to go. One issue is that to go from the historic district to any other town, you must start with a funicular ride down to the train station. And plenty of lodging places are on the far end of the hilltop from the funicular, so you could have a surprisingly long commute to the train station, depending on where you settle yourself.

I'd definitely start with a guidebook and make a list of places I would like to visit in Tuscany, Umbria and northern Lazio, realizing you may not be able to get to all of them. Put dots on a map of the area and see what cities/towns pop out at you as well-located. Then look at a rail map, and finally go to TrenItalia.com and fiddle around with schedules just to see what things look like.

Keep in mind that many charming hill towns have rail stations located fairly far away or at least at the bottom of the hill, so you'll be dependent on a bus or a strenuous walk to get up to what you want to see. That adds to the transportation time, and if both your origin and destination are hill towns... Other small hill towns are really only accessible by bus or by a combination of bus and train, which is likely to take longer. Beware planning a bus trip on a Sunday or holiday, when schedules dwindle.

For the above reason, I don't think Cortona would be an improvement on Orvieto, though it was a lovely place to visit when I stopped by in the 1980s.

You might consider renting a car for at least a few days during your stay to hit a bunch of small places at one time that would be too difficult to access without your own vehicle. Otherwise, you will be visiting a lot of places at the same time as a bunch of other tourists. It really is nice to feel like you're one of the few non-tourists, or at least non-Italians, in town.

Also, consider that in terms of cost, it's possible that being in an attractive, conveniently located town with rail service without a car and paying for train/bus tickets will not be much cheaper than staying in a rural situation with a car. A rural rental would probably be substantially cheaper than a town rental. But I've never rented a car in Europe and am only guessing here.

Another possibility would be to split your time and spend a couple of weeks in each of two places. That would broaden your geographic reach and somewhat reduce the amount of time spent riding back and forth along the same rail line. I don't know how much that would change your weekly lodging costs, though.

Just to add my two cents, so to speak, I think you would run out of things to do very quickly in Orvieto and might spend a lot of your valuable time on trains. Have you considered somewhere in Tuscany around 70-80 miles away from Orvieto as a base? I personally feel that there is much more to do and it is a beautiful area.

http://www.discovertuscany.com

Have a wonderful time. We went in July 2 years ago and it was so hot, so you'll need to drink lots of water if going in the summer.

Orvieto could be a little slow as a place to stay a whole month. I was there a couple of months ago, and liked it even better than Siena, but I am not sure it's well-connected enough to serve as the basis for day tripping. Getting to/from Rome is very easy, but Rome is so exhausting on its own that day tripping there would be even more so. The train connection to Florence was with a change in Chiusi, 2 hours total with reservation required on part of the route. Four hours is a lot of time for a day trip, especially when your destination is a big city. You might consider breaking this up into two separate two week stays--but that might cost more. In general day tripping from a smaller city might not be a great strategy because the smaller cities are less well connected. It could be easier from Florence but that would be less cost effective and that's a very different trip. (I was in Italy in late October-early November last year; Rome and Siena were very crowded, Florence somewhat crowded but entirely manageable; Orvieto was very quiet at that time of year--that's odd because due to All Saints Day it was overall a very busy time in Italy and I was in Orvieto for Friday and Staurday nights. My sense based upon this experience is that Orvieto is less crazy than Siena in terms of crowds, but I am sure it's still very crowded at peak times.) Siena could be a better-connected smaller city, but might not be that handy for day trips by train because the train station is some distance from the center. But actually the neighborhood in the direction of the escalator was quite pleasant and much less crowded than the center. Perfect for living more like a local. Lucca is also a possibility for someplace that's less overrun. We found it to be uncrowded when we were there in April 2007 but a lot could have changed since then. The Trenitalia site is very good for checking how practical it is to do various day trips but don't discount the bus as well.

Thank you all who have commented so far. I should have mentioned that we are thinking of going to Italy June, 2018. Should give us some time to do some real planning. We may take the suggestion of breaking up the trip into 2 - two week stays instead of just a month in one place. Then the question becomes which 2 areas of Italy? We have been to Rome, Venice, Florence, and Lucca before. Some of these cities we would love to return to want to add new towns/cities. We will probably use VRBO for place(s) to stay.

Keep your original plan and stay 2 week based in the region of Umbria and consider another .
and we all thought this was urgent...

Perugia would be a good base in Umbria; it has good connections for trains and buses.

Castiglione del Lago is very nice but the train station is far from the town center; you might need a taxi to get out of town and to the train station.

There are many wonderful destinations within striking distance of Bologna, which has a large historic district as well as being a great rail hub, but I realize that is probably a larger city than you are considering for your base. Farther north, Vicenza (smaller) or Padua could be used as bases for the Verona-Vicenza-Padua stretch as well as for day-trips to Venice if you wish to revisit it.

A month in one city like Orvieto is insane when there is so much more to see in Italy.

It's not "insane" to stay in one place in Italy for a month. There's no one-size-fits-all approach to travel. The OP has been to Italy at least once before. That said, I'm a fan of the 2-2 week stays that the OP is now leaning toward. Maybe Orvieto and Verona?

It's totally valid to travel different ways depending upon individual preferences and present circumstances, and even as an individual traveler to travel in different ways for different trips. I would love to stay in one place for a month, and have dreamed of doing this in a smaller city in Provence. I would do some day trips but also just going about the business of living my life there. How nice it would be to dial down the tendency to indulge in goal-oriented tourism and just be in the place. I want to move to Arles for a month or more and gets started on a novel! There are lots of places that I would like to set up residence for an extended period. (Being mindful of the limits on how long you can stay, of course). "Extended" meaning more than my usual two week maximum.

I'd like to do it, too. I'd love to spend a month or more in a congenial small city in each major country I visit, taking language classes. I always start out with the idea of doing that but get derailed by the siren song of places I have not yet seen. The Schengen thing is a major issue for me.

I think it's a great idea! Here is the place we stayed in Orvieto, in a quiet area just off the main road, fairly close to the funicular ( a 5 minute walk). The host was amazing - she had many homemade goodies stocked in our fridge upon arrival, answered any and all questions, was attentive but never intrusive. We planned to cook together, although time did not allow. There are two supermarkets (tiny but they have everything) a very short distance from this home. This was the cleanest apartment we've ever rented, if that is important to you. A small balcony off the bedroom where we enjoyed morning coffee and late night glasses of vino. We stayed four nights, but felt like we could easily have filled two weeks! Wandered all over, there are walks around the ramparts, museums, we took a fantastic cooking class in a nearby town (they will pick you up if you don't have a car), there are many good restaurants in Orvieto. We could easily have enjoyed Orvieto for at least another week...
https://www.vrbo.com/1147753ha

Sometimes, transportation costs can add up significantly compared to moving to another "base." One month in Italy is great! What do you want to do? Bicycle? Cooking class? Language or art history class? Knowing your activities can help a lot. I recommend 4 one-week trips to 4 different regions. I loved Orvieto, but think 2 weeks is a bit too much unless taking a class or some other type activity. Best Wishes!

Thank you to everyone who has replied so far. I'm going to look at all options and areas that were presented. As I read what everyone has to say, we have decided that 2 weeks in 2 different areas sounds like a good plan. Other than Orvieto, have not decided on another area so keep sharing ideas. We have no other plans on our agenda other than sightseeing and just relaxing in Italy. We are a retired couple and this will be a once in a lifetime opportunity so want to make it the best!
Margo

Please keep in mind that Orvieto, Cortona and Perugia are in Umbria, not Tuscany. Public transportation can be easier within a region.

If you want to visit Tuscany, pick a place there.

We, too, are a retired couple returning to Italy in September-October, 2017 for three plus weeks (24 days). We will travel by train and ferry to several towns, including eleven days on the Adriatic Coast (Monopoli, Ostuni, Matera, Termoli with day trips from each town at our leisure) and also including four days in Orvieto. There are many small towns near Pescara and Bari on the train line following the Adriatic Coast that would be lovely home bases to explore that area. But I don't know if that's such a great option for June. Since you are retired and on a budget, I wonder if you might consider traveling in fringe season, such as April-May or September-October? You will save on lodging, enjoy fewer crowds and less heat. Question for "Joan" - do you have a contact for the cooking class near Orvieto that you mentioned in your post? Thanks!

Our cooking class was with a lovely lady named Velia. Here is the contact info:
http://www.veliascookingstyle.com/home.html

And here is my review on her TripAdvisor page (under Joanelle):
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g580242-d617225-Reviews-Velia_s_Cooking_Style-Terni_Province_of_Terni_Umbria.html

Buon appetito!

Thank you!

Several years ago I spent three nights in Orvieto, which was two nights too many. The city is nice, the people are friendly,and the restaurants are god, but the town closes at 9pm.

Buon viaggio,