Siena vs Orvieto for first time independent traveller

Simontemplar,
I loved staying a few nights in Orvieto as well as in Siena. Yes, Orvieto is much smaller than Siena but what I enjoyed most about it was the peaceful atmosphere, and of course the magnificent cathedral. My hotel was located right next to the cathedral so it was the perfect location for me!

Siena is also beautiful and very popular, and it gets very crowded during the day with hordes of daytrippers,but the early mornings and evenings are serene.

Since you have three weeks to work with I’d think you have enough time to visit both Siena and Orvieto.
You can easily travel via train from Rome to Orvieto then onto to Siena.

I actually took this route in reverse but added Assisi in between Orvieto and Rome.

Enjoy your trip!

I vote for Siena. As beautiful as Orvieto is, I find Siena an exhilirating place to be both day and night. I'm not a museum type but I do the museums around the Duomo every time I'm in Siena (about every other year). The Duomo and Baptistry are unlike any other and I recommend planning a big chunk of time in each! If you come to Siena from Florence, take the bus. It will leave you in a better spot. The train station is a bit inconvenient. It's also a much nicer ride! Now the bad news: when in July? Because of the Palio in early July and mid-August, hotels and apartments fill up really quickly. You want to be in the medieval city, or as close as possible.

Fortunately, we would be in Siena around July 22nd, so between the Palio schedule.

Both cities are wonderful to visit but I would choose Siena for the reasons mentioned above.

Simon, having lived in Italy for four years, have been to both of them many times. While I did really enjoy my times in Siena, Orvieto has become my new favorite. While it is smaller than Siena, I just feel the Italian atmosphere and hospitality much more.
Which ever you choose, enjoy your time in time Italy. Ciao
Gary

You can't go wrong. Orvieto is not short on sights; in addition to the Duomo, there's the Duomo Museum, an archaeological museum, underground caves and the entire historic upper town. I believe there are at least two walking tours offered, plus the opportunity to walk around the outside of the walls. It's easy to fill much more than a day in Orvieto. And the food is good.

Orvieto seems very popular with Italians. I believe there's less day-tripper traffic mid-week.

Simon, i’m with Priscilla, you have enough time to include a couple of nights in both Orvieto and Siena. Both are wonderful, and are especially nice in the early mornings and evenings, when all the cruisers and day trippers have gone back to their ships and big city hotels.

If I did both, would it be best to go Rome to Orvieto, then to Siena? I haven't looked this up yet, but I know Rome to Siena is best by bus, while Orvieto is on the rail line.

Yes, working south to north you would hit Orvieto before Siena.

I'm not sure what will be the easiest way to connect Orvieto to Siena. You can use buses, changing at Chiusi-Chianciano Terme, but the second bus doesn't run frequently. I think you mayhave somewhat more-frequent rail options, but again you change in Chiusi-CT. It all depends on what time you want to leave Orvieto, and the day of the week. Day of week is key--even more with buses than with trains. If you're traveling on a Sunday or holiday, you need to be especially careful.

I wouldn't worry excessively about arriving in Siena by train if that schedule works best for you; it's must a matter of getting a taxi to your hotel (or a public bus might get you very close).

I would go to both. They are very different, and I love both.
On another note, did you buy tickets yet? It is often easier to fly into Venice and out of Rome. Flights out of Venice are usually very early in the AM, and the airport takes a bit of time to get to.

Unless you have a specific reason, I would also recommend beginning with Venice and ending with Rome. There's the early morning departures for Venice, and I prefer to not arrive at Rome with jetlag.

No issues using train & the occasional bus in this itinerary. Here's some options that are easy by train:

Venice (day-trip train to Padova - 30 minutes, or Verona - 1 hour?)
Florence (day-trip train to Lucca - 1 hour?)
Take the bus to Siena - 3 nights (day-trip to Montepulciano? there's mini-van tour options)
Orvieto - 2 nights
Rome

If you decide to skip Orvieto, it's probably easier to just take the 1-hour bus from Siena back to Florence and catch the fast train to Rome.

Simon, once you know your train dates & times, purchase them soon at Trenitalia to save quite a bit of money. You want to catch the Super Economy price options before they're all sold.

Simon,

If you want to visit Orvieto and Siena, you can easily do so via train.
You’d take a train from Roma Termini to Orvieto then Orvieto to Siena.

Orvieto to Siena would require a train change at Chiusi-Chianciano Terme.
The Chiusi-Chianciano Terme station is small so you don’t need much time for this transfer.

You can check train schedules on Trenitalia.com

You’ll need all the station names in Italian:

• Rome = Roma Termini
• Florence = Firenze S.M. Novella
• Venice = Venezia S. Lucia
• Siena & Orvieto are the same.

Do you have a good Guidebook?

Happy planning!

The air is already booked, after correcting one pear shaped automated change courtesy of British Airways. My flight out of Venice is listed as 12:10, which I'm going to assume is 10 minutes after noon, rather than midnight. Please correct me if need be.

I think I'm going to stick with just Siena for this round so as to have another day or two in the other cities. What with vacation flats and trains, etc, I have quite enough to deal with already. No day trips this time, either, as I'm sure we'll be quite occupied in our primary destinations.

I have some command of Italian, and continuing to work on that, so place names are not an issue. I'll have to wait until Trenitalia releases that block of schedules, so unless they've shifted from the June updates then I'll have a while to wait. I'll keep an eye on that.

I have visited Italy before, so I have a guidebook to hand.

Thanks one and all for suggestions and guidance,

Simon.

My current itinerary has us leaving for Siena on Saturday. I haven't checked the SENA schedules yet, but I suspect service is more limited on Saturday and Sunday?