We will be in Tuscany and Umbria in mid September 2020. We will stay for a week in each of the following towns, Lucca, Arezzo and Orvieto. We are interested in doing day trips to villages and towns from each of these locations. We will not have a rental car, so we will be travelling by train and/or bus. We are interested in culturally interesting locations and seeing the countryside. We are a mature couple interested in slow travel where we can experience life in Tuscany and Umbria and are keen to avoid large tourist towns because of the crowds. For a day trip by train and/or bus with a journey time of 60 -90 minutes per trip each way is the maximum travel time. We will need advice on how to travel easily to these villages and towns. We are considering at minimum three day trips from each of the locations where we will be based. We greatly appreciate your advice.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16025 posts
In random order:
LUCCA base:
Lucca, Pisa, Montecatini, Barga, Lucca-Aulla scenic railway, Apuan Alps (Carrara marble quarries), Viareggio (beach), Pistoia.
AREZZO base:
Arezzo, Anghiari, Cortona, Poppi, Lucignano, Monte San Savino, Castiglion del Lago, Passignano, Casentino Valley.
ORVIETO base:
Orvieto, Civita, Todi, Rome.
Posted by
8211 posts
Your Umbrian city, Orvieto is nice, but consider Perugia, which is closer to Assisi, Spoleto and the other Umbrian cities.
I would not plan a day trip to Rome from Orvieto. If you want to see Rome, you need to stay there some days.
Posted by
872 posts
Orvieto is not well suited for day trips, having to get down and back from the station; so is Rome, simply because it is so large.
Posted by
OP
Australia
5 posts
Thank you for this advice and suggestions. As suggested we will reconsider Orvieto as a base for visiting towns in Umbria and we will look at Perugia as a more accessible base for day trips. We did not intend to go to Rome as a daytrip or other during this trip to Italy.
Posted by
616 posts
Don’t miss Gubbio when you are in Umbria