Transportation-Orvieto to Florence

It's very easy to get a train from Orvieto to Florence. Unfortunately, these generally are not the high-speeds. Same tracks but the high-speeds from Rome to Florence are mostly non-stops. They whiz through stations like Orvieto and Chiusi where the lesser-class trains all stop. For this train run, the trains will most likely be Regionale (R) trains. These are the locals. CLICK HERE to see the typical morning train schedule.

Larry, thank you for info. What I would like to do is stop off at a small town on the way to Florence. Perhaps spent the night, see the area and go on the next day to Florence, perhaps doing the same the following day. Thus taking 3 days to get to Florence. The schedule you suggested did not show the stops inbetween Orvieto and Florence. What about a bus? Any info would be great. Thanks.

The trenitalia link that Larry was kind enough to post for you can show the detailed stops. Click the "select" button of the train you're interested in, then on the "Selected journey details" area that opens click the "info" button. You will see each stop.

Diana
I'd recommend stopping in Orvieto for a day or two then on to Arrezo which we loved, then on to Firenze.

Mike, thanks, your info definately helped me get the schedules that I wanted. Maggie, thanks too for your input. What did you like about Arezzo?
Since you all don't mention anything about buses, I assume going by train is the best way to travel. They certainly seem fast and stop often enough, which is great for what I'd like to do. Again thanks!!

Diana, if you can now see the stops, you will need to buy individual tickets to each city where you would like to stop overnight. For example, Rome/Orvieto, Orvieto/Chiusi, Chiusi/Arezzo. The tickets you get on the R train are "open tickets" which are good for 60 days. Once you validate them, you must complete the journey on the ticket within 6.0hrs. On the R train, you can hop off during any of your journeys and hop back on without penalty as long as its an R train going to the same place as the original ticket and its within 6.0hrs. That's why it won't work overnight. You are a rare traveler that has the time to do neat things like you are planning.

We got up in the morning in Rome, took a 8-something train to Orvieto, spent the day and then caught the 4ish (which was late) train to Florence. We loved every second of it. Had enough time to visit what we wanted to visit, take the underground tour, have a nice lunch, wander alot. The well is very cool. My kids favorite thing of the entire trip (well, maybe tied with the water taxi ride to the aiport in Venice). Beautiful little town. So many things about it were unique and wonderful.

Checked our bags at the hotel which is recommended in the RS book. Easy easy. Have a wonderful time!

buses can be better than trains, especially if you're crossing east to west or vice-versa; trains go pretty slow over mountains, but buses do just fine. I think the reason many American tourists prefer the train is the convenience factor. Trenitalia runs them all (except for a few small regional lines) so you only need to look one place, and its available in english.

There are many bus companies so you'd need to spend some time looking them up on the web; and even then the websites for buses are probably going to be just in italian such as this one for the regional bus network around Perugia (http://www.apmperugia.it/canale.asp) Sometimes you can find other websites in english that explain the schedules, but it takes some looking. Here is one for Florence -- http://www.lodging.it/en/florence-tour/transport/buses/ Of course explaining bus options is also the role of a good guidebook, too; it should mention bus connections and then you can go to the window when you're in town and ask what times the buses run. But for those who like to do their planning up front this isn't the best solution.

For the travel you're talking about, taking a couple of days to leisurely move between towns, buses may actually be a better bet. They'll probably run more frequently and have stops at smaller towns than the train. But it will probably take some time and effort to find the routes you want.