I again found great round-trip airfare ($680) from Detroit to Rome, so I invited my mother on another trip to Italy. We flew US Airways from Detroit to Charlotte to Rome Fiumicino airport. When we landed, we used the ticket machine to get train tickets to Orvieto with a connection through Rome Tiburtina train station. (As I discovered last year, debit cards from TCF Bank work in Italian train machines!) Upon arrival in Orvieto, we took the funicular up and caught the minibus to the Duomo. Our hotel was Hotel Duomo, and we liked it a lot. After a siesta at our hotel, we walked around the town and did about 40% of the Anello della Rupe walk at the base of the cliffs–our favorite thing we did in Orvieto. We went down at the elevator and up by the funicular; if I went again, I would do the opposite (and go up via the elevator!).
The next day, we picked up our rental car at the Hertz location by the Orvieto train station and drove the back roads (so many curves!) to Montepulciano and Pienza, ending up in Siena. I took my US TomTom GPS which I bought the Central Europe map for; without the GPS, we would have really struggled to get from place to place, but with the GPS is was pretty straightforward. (There is even a “parking lot” feature!) The big map we bought at a bookstore in Orvieto was pretty useless, as most of the roads were not numbered, and not all towns were on it. I liked Montepulciano–a fun tourist town with lots of views (and uphill walking); it reminded me some of Mont St. Michel. Pienza was less impressive; I nearly wish I had not put it on our itinerary and added some time in Florence. We stretched our visit in Pienza to about 40 minutes. The most stressful driving we did the whole trip was into Siena to park at the Stadio parking lot. It’s a sharp left to enter the lot, and the spots are very close together and very small by US standards. We found a good spot, though. Our hotel in Siena was Albergo Bernini, and we really enjoyed it–basic ensuite room with good A/C and a ceiling fan. I took the Rick Steves Italy 2015 at its word when it said there were not grocery stores in tourist Siena, but we found two while out walking (one across from the post office, one on Il Campo!). Still, we bought the 5 euro breakfast from the hotel and enjoyed it on their beautiful, scenic terrace.
I scheduled two nights and a full day in Siena, and it was too much time for us. Il Campo is nice, and we enjoyed walking around the Fortress (a free city park), but Siena didn’t have the ambience or sights for me. (I much preferred Lucca, Volterra, and Orvieto.)
From Siena, we drove to San Gimignano and enjoyed following Rick’s self-guided walk. Loved the views from San Gimignano! From there, we drove the super-curvy road to Volterra. Parking structure P1 (the underground lot) is, in my opinion, not signed very well, so it took us several attempts to turn at the right place. When we arrived, most spaces were full, and it was equally hard to park here as it was in Siena. We then walked to our hotel, Hotel La Locanda. Again, after an air-conditioned siesta there, we went out walking. Volterra has so many sights to see! We loved the Etruscan arch and the Roman theater, and we had good hand-made pasta for dinner. (Continued below.)