Where to stay in Orvieto

Hi Carol,
We tried staying in one of the hotels near the train station on one visit. In our experience, it's much better to be in the upper town. In our case, we stayed in the upper town for a late dinner and by the time we were ready to return, the funicular had stopped running for the evening. We tried to walk down in the dark - big mistake! We finally were able to get a bus back.

We've liked Hotel Corso or most recently an apartment at La Magnolia B & B. La Magnolia B & B is walk from the funicular but a great location near the Duomo.

Civita Bagnoregio is an excellent day trip from Orvieto!

Upper town for sure. It is so cool. We liked B and B Sant'Angelo 42. (I think that is the name). About 2/3 of the way from the funicular to the Duomo, an easy walk even with roller bags.

Carol,

I'd also recommend staying in the town for several reasons.....

• It will save money. Each time you want to do some touring in the town, you'll have to pay the charge for the Funicular to get up there.
• The choice of restaurants will be greater and it will provide you with the opportunity to wander about in the evenings and still easily get to your hotel.
• I believe the Bus to Bagnoregio also stops at the station in Orvieto, but it's so convenient to just board in Piazza Cahen.

For your stay in Orvieto, you might consider Hotel Corso. I found it to be very comfortable and in a convenient location, within easy walking distance to the Duomo and other sights.

Be sure to research the Bus times to and from Bagnoregio and Civita carefully, to ensure you don't miss the last Bus. As I recall, they have a few more runs during the school year. The hotel staff should be able to provide current information. While in Civita, you might consider a fine meal at Trattoria Antica Forno.

Happy travels!

Definitely stay in the upper town, as that's very likely where you'll want to have dinner and certainly to stroll around in the evening. Orvieto is wonderful, with many things to see and do for a small town, and a great and scenic place just to wander. I stayed at the small Hotel Virgilio right on the Piazza del Duomo this past October and recommend it highly. Rooms are pretty small but very modern and well-equipped, breakfast was great, and the small hotel staff was very friendly and helpful. And prices are very affordable, maybe even more so in February. I had a room with a view overlooking the front corner of the marvelous Duomo. I expect you'll want to photograph that beautiful Duomo from every angle and in every type of light and weather you'll encounter over your four days. The bus to and from the funicular runs regularly and stops right at the Piazza del Duomo.

If you have trouble with the bus schedule to Civita, or don't want to take the whole day for that visit, you might consider a car and driver to take you from upper Orvieto right to the entry to the pedestrian bridge to Civita. My only day to go was a Sunday when there was no bus service, and I arranged with Alessandro at the Hotel Virgilio to take me to Civita and back. Certainly costlier than the bus, but much quicker and easier, and in my case, possible.

Hope the weather us good for you in February. As we say so often here in Northern California, dress in layers!

Thanks for all your replies & advice. You pretty much said what we had started thinking so we'll change our reservations to someplace in the upper town. We've been to Italy twice in March, one time to Siena. It was really cold! We always bring layers so we're hoping to be comfortable. I do get tired of looking like a stuffed sausage, though. :)

Thanks again!

A few years ago we stayed at the Hotel Duomo. It was on the left side of the Duomo,behind some restaurants. The rooms were small, but it had a very new Danish feel to it. Parking was available. We would absolutely stay there again. You might check with Travel Adviser.

It sounds like you're convinced, but I too strongly recommend staying in the town and not near the train station. Orvieto was delightful and we really enjoyed aimlessly wandering the streets. It's been a few years since we were there so I don't recall where we stayed, but we were there in November and found it cool but not uncomfortably cold (by Seattle standards, at least). Florence was much, much colder.

Thanks again. We have changed our reservation to B&B Magnolia near the Duomo. Looking forward to a great time wandering the old town and hopefully visiting Civita di Bagnoregio. Trying not to think of the weather in order not to jinx our trip, but regardless, we'll certainly enjoy our stay.

Thanks again for helping us make our decision!

Excellent choice Carol. We stayed at B&B Magnolia in 2009. It is still one of our favorite places we have stayed in Italy. We arrived without a reservation and chose this B&B. We were initially shown a room for 70 euros a night. When I asked about the apartments we were offered one for only 5 euros more! It was a large apartment with a big kitchen. Enjoy your stay!

I might add, to my wife Jeanine's post, how nice it was. It is VERY conveniently located. That duomo will take your breath away! The apartment has 4 rooms, with a window overlooking the pedestrian street below (one floor up). It really made our stay in Orvieto.

By the way, be sure to enjoy a lunch in Civita. The place with the old olive oil press served us one of the best brushetta we've ever had. Simple but good.

Jeanine & Ray - Thanks for the confirmation and advice. Getting more and more excited. Now it's just fingers crossed for decent weather! Thanks, again.

I've heard nothing but nice things about B&B Selita--in many places on RickSteves.com. They have 165 excellent ratings on Trip Advisor.

Agriturismo Antica Olivaia is another superlative place to stay in Orvieto--rated #1 in Trip Advisor--for what that means.

Orvieto is a really neat place to stay, and a 70 minute train ride to Rome Termini.

My husband and I had a lovely stay at B&B Selita, which is slightly out of Orvieto. However, it is an easy 5 minute walk through an olive grove and along a road to get into town.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Looking forward to a great trip!