Rome to Orvieto

Judy- use www.trenitalia.com to figure out train schedules. They have an English option at the top of the front page, and you can type in your departing and arriving locations, the date you want to travel (remember day/month/year), and the (earliest) time you want to leave.

It will give you several options each listing the time the train departs and arrives, the duration of the train ride, any connections, the type of train and its number, the services onboard that particular train, and the cost for both first and second class fares. I wouldn't suggest trying to buy your tickets online unless you have an Italian credit card, but it is useful to check details.

Judy - You may need to use a date within 60 days to see prices. If prices don't display for your planned travels days, just use same day of the week and an earlier date. And yes, Orvieto is small and easily walkable. Take the funicular up to the town and start your walk from there.

The trip is about 45 min long as I remember (might be wrong, but plan an hour)

Once you arrive, you go across the street to get the funicular up to town, that's an additonal cost, but saves time.

The funicular will drop you just a block or two outside of the old town, from there you can walk everywhere. Orvieto is a very small hilltop town (but has a modern lower town of no interest to tourists)

There isn't a whole lot here, but it's beautiful. The church, St Patrick's well are must sees. The views from the town wall wonderful! I love ceramic shopping here. There are 1 or 2 shops that offer true hand painted/original pieces (higher prices, but if you collect, it's a must!)

Orvieto is worth a day trip. I think the cost for 2 of us in 2008 was about $20-25 for round trip. There are frequent trains as this is the route to Florence/Northern Italy.