Please help w/our Itinerary. What Tuscan towns are easy to see without a car?

It's easy to train from Rome to Orvieto.
And you should stay at least 1 overnight in Orvieto. To get a full day of sight-seeing, it takes 2 nights = 1 day of sightseeing.
If you only spend 1 night, you get a partial day of sightseeing.

You have a lot of questions about Tuscany and would probably greatly benefit by having a guidebook that covers the area, instead of just relying on the small amount of information that we can give you here.

You will receive Rick Steves' Italy book before your tour and the Tuscany chapter summarizes rail or bus travel to the towns you've mentioned, as well as maps them; see the start and end of each city chapter or city description.

I would take the direct train from Rome to Orvieto and stay at least one night. After that, you can take a direct train to Florence, or a train to Siena with one connection, depending on which city you want to sleep in. Bus service to San Gimingano and Volterra is similar from Siena or from Florence. Don't count on many buses anywhere on Sundays.

Cortona is not in the Italy book and not necessarily a better choice than those towns that are. It is in Rick's separate Florence & Tuscany book. Transport from Florence is by train to Camucia-Cortona station, plus a shuttle bus from the train station.

We prefer to spend at least two nights and one full day in the Cinque Terre, rather than traveling roundtrip from Florence or Siena.

How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online](http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules) gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it. Schedules are published through June 13 at this time.

I think I would do Orvieto>Assisi 2 1/2 hrs. spend the night. Then Assisi>Florence 2 1/2 hrs. the next day.

Do these before Florence.

You can see both San Gimignano and Siena by bus from Florence http://www.busfox.com/timetable/

If you plan your bus times carefully, you might be able to see 2 towns in one trip.

Don"t try combining San Gim & Siena however.

With the train, you could see Pistoia, Montecatini, Lucca and Pisa.

Most hill towns don't have train stations in the city center, because the town is at the top of the hill and the station is at the bottom. There is almost always a connecting local bus, or an inexpensive taxi, so don't worry about that - for example, in Orvieto, across the street from the train station is the funivia which will take you to the town's lower level, then a bus will take you to Piazza del Duomo. In Siena, if you take the train, there are buses or taxis at the station.

Orvieto and Siena each deserve a night or two. Check the Rome2Rio.com website, plug in your cities, and transportation choices will come up with links to schedules.

I get around Tuscany every year without a car, it's pretty simple. You can get to Lucca, Cortona, Montepulciano, Montalcino, Arezzo, and many other towns not on the tour.

I like Gerri's idea. I did the reverse (Florence > Assisi > Orvieto > Rome). I think at least 2 nights in Orvieto and 1 in Assisi. Both towns are built on hilltops and the train stations are down below, so it takes additional time to get up from the train station. I recommend leaving your luggage in storage at the Assisi station and just taking one overnight bag up. While Orvieto is relatively flat, Assisi in all up and down, with lots of steps, easier without the extra luggage. Orvieto gets a lot of daytrippers from Rome. Being able to spend time there before they arrive and after they go is great.

Just to muddy the waters a little. We did take a morning train from Rome to Orvieto one morning and stayed overnight, picking up a rental car and leaving Orvieto for Tuscany about 1:30 the following day. In reality, that gave us a full day in Orvieto. I am sure you could make a train connection for Florence that departs later in the day so you could do the same thing. We thought it was a neat place but that 24 hours was about perfect and we have never thought "gee, I'd like to go back" or "wish we could have stayed longer"

I have never been to CT but I wonder what it would be like in mid-late October?

During one trip recently we used Andrea Natali to pick us up in Siena and do a drive out into the country which included two wine tasting stops in Montelcino. He arranged it all, was incredibly knowledgable about what we were seeing, stopped a million times for pictures and even drove to areas that had the pictures we were hoping for - charming, competent and great driver. It was an expense and a day we are glad we invested in.