Rome for 3 days, then 3 days in hill towns--which ones?

Well, there are several towns to choose from of course. If you're looking for "Under the Tuscan Sun," then I'd look no further and start with Cortona of course; it a straight shot from Rome via train. Aside from that, I am not quite sure how far you are looking to travel, what you would consider "overly touristy," as most of the towns have caught on, or what your particular interests are. But, I would recommend Orvieto, Assisi, Spoleto, Perugia, Spello, and possibly Viterbo; all of these are in the Umbria region or just south thereof and all can be reached via train directly from Rome. Hope this helps some... Enjoy your travels!

My vote is for Orvieto. Close to Rome and easily accessable by train, yet it is still is a true hill town. I've never been there in the summer (going this June) but when I went there in February it was not overly touristy. Happy travels!

Are you planning to spend all 3 nights in one place? Another vote for Orvieto, although Assisi or Spello are good ideas. (Funny, all 3 are in Umbria!) Orvieto, IMHO, requires a car for daytrips. Train time connection to Assisi and other locations (other than Rome and Florence) are not very efficient.
Spello is our destination later this year. I have read it is not as heavily visited as other places, but it is close to Assisi and Spoleto (also a less-discovered place) by train. Here is a good blog post on Spoleto http://www.revealedrome.com/2010/07/day-trip-to-spoleto-an-umbrian-hilltop-town.html. Also found this blog useful about Umbria http://www.brigolante.com/en/2010/10/seven-perfect-days-a-one-week-itinerary-for-umbria/. We loved Montalcino, too, but not a good train-transport location?

Here's another vote for Orvieto. Easy to get to from Rome (one hour). It's touristy during the peak hours of the day, but then so is pretty much every other place worth visiting in Italy. The trick is to wander away from the popular spots during the day, going there only in the early morning or evenings.

We visited Assisi last month and really loved it! You could book two nights there and have lots of wonderful things to experience. There's a direct train from Rome to Assisi (about 2 hours). We stayed at St. Anthony's Guesthouse (a convent) which was one of our favorite places to stay in all of Italy. If you choose to stay at St. Anthony's, be sure to book it in advance since it fills up quickly the closer it gets to summer.

Two votes here: Assisi and Orvieto. Both are really close 2 and 1 hours respectively, and great hill towns. St. Francis's Basilica in Assisi is Spectacular, with some of the best Frescoes I've seen in Italy. If you're into wine, though, Orvieto is one of the best whites in Italy. You'll be delighted in either, but I would spend 2 nights in one town, to really get a feel of a full day (and the tourist free mornings and evenings) in the town with no place to go. You'll love it.

Small town living, San Gemini, close to Orvieto (which I also vote for). You might consider Terni, Spoleto, and Todi (touristy but nice location). Perugia (university town) is not out of the question. Also, Tivoli and Hadrian's Villa country to the east of Rome.

Thanks for your replies, Orvieto is on the itinerary! Probably cortona too...

Another vote for Orvieto. While it is a popular tourist destination, the daytrippers leave in the evening, passagiata starts and the town is once again for the locals. While I haven't ventured into the rest of Umbria yet, I have read that the towns mentioned above are not on everyone's radar. For our trip this summer we are staying in Viterbo, about an hour outside of Rome. We wanted something that's off the beaten path, where very little English is spoken, but has old world charm. We also wanted to visit the many Etruscan ruins in that area too.

Tory, As the others have mentioned, Orvieto would be a great choice as it's only about an hour from Rome. That will minimize your travel time to a hill town, and will also make it easy to reach FCO to board your flight. Three days would be a good time frame. You could (for example): > Spend one day touring St. Patrick's Well, the Underground tour and of course the magnificent Duomo. > Spend one day on a day trip to Civita di Bagnoregio (one of Rick's favourite hill towns). Be sure to have lunch there at Antico Forno or one of the other small establishments. You could also stop for a short time in the nearby village of Bagrnoregio before you head back to Orvieto. IMO, it's not as "touristy" as a lot of other hill towns in Italy. The method to use for that trip is detailed in the Italy Guidebook. Happy travels!