Orvieto was a refreshing way to spend a day trip outside of Rome without having to travel far. We hopped on a regional train that took us to Orvieto in the Umbria region and in a little over an hour’s ride, we were at a peaceful oasis from the chaos.
Don’t get me wrong, Rome is awesome but it can begin to feel crowded after a couple of days, especially if visiting during peak season.
About Orvieto
This hilltop town sits on a tufa cliff in Umbria at an elevation of 1,066 feet in the Umbria region of Italy. It’s an ancient city that was once inhabited by the Etruscans who were people from Etruria, Italy. Etruria consisted of the regions now known as Tuscany, Lazio and Umbria.
Getting There
If you take a train in Italy, then you will be traveling on the trains operated by Trenitalia. We went to Orvieto from Roma Termini on one of the regional trains (Inter City aka IC). The journey is 1 hour 15 minutes with a couple of stops along the way, but it’s not too bad.
Public Transportation
The funicular (funicolare in Italian) is the easiest and quickest way to get up to the hilltop if you are not traveling by car. Since we took the train, we got off at Orvieto Stazione which is located at the bottom of the hilltop. We exited the station and literally walked across the street within seconds to Orvieto’s funicular station, bought round trip tickets and hopped on the cable car (funicular) up to the top, dropping us off at Piazza Cahen (P. Cahen) stop.
It’s about a 5 minute ride up to the top and if it’s not crowded, you’ll be able to get a good view going up (and coming back down). We saw some people going to a nearby bus stop to take a bus to get to Piazza del Duomo, but we decided to walk. It was an enjoyable 15 minute, quiet stroll to the city’s piazza.
Instead of going straight there, we walked to the left of the funicular stop and checked out some awesome views from La Fortezza dell’Albornoz (Albornoz fortress) which is part of the city’s community park (Giardini Comunali Di Orvieto) and it’s free!
We walked along the road, Corso Cavour, to get to Piazza del Duomo and even made a stop at this cute ceramics shop, Ceramiche Fusari which you can read about it in my blog post, here.
Tip: Your funicular ticket also includes transportation to Piazza Duomo and vice versa. So if you don’t want to walk, you can take the shuttle bus – it’s included at this time of publishing. More information on Orvieto’s transportation can be found here.
The Orvieto Card
This sightseeing card (Orvieto Carta Unica) will get you into 11 museums and monuments according to their website. To be honest, we didn’t know the card existed until after our visit! So we did not purchase the card plus, we only paid entry to the duomo and Orvieto Underground since we did not visit the other sites.
Depending on what you want to see, the card may be more cost effective than buying admission for each monument and museum. It also includes public transportation so you wouldn’t need to pay extra for bus or funicular tickets.
The Albornoz Fortress
To tell you the truth, we didn’t realize we were at a fortress when we visited. We had just gotten off the funicular when Meshach pointed out the park and an entry to an amazing view of Orvieto. I guess that’s what happens when you just start wandering around a new town!
The views were a delight to see and we loved the walls that appeared to tower around the landscape. The construction of the fortress was overseen by Cardinal Albornoz who was under Pope Innocent VI. Like many reasons of a fortress being built, it was used as a military strong hold to keep the city secure.
Orvieto Duomo
We weren’t allowed to take photos inside of the duomo but I can assure you it is gorgeous! I knew we had to visit the region of Umbria after watching it on an episode of Rick Steves’ Europe, and glad it was Orvieto!
The exterior of the duomo is just as pretty as the interior with its golden facade and colorful mosaics.
If you go inside, you will see Luca Signorelli’s frescoes of the Last Judgment in the chapel of San Brizio. It is often said that Michelangelo visited Orvieto’s duomo and the frescoes helped him create his Last Judgment work at the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.
Underground City
Orvieto has over 1,000 tunnels underground, and we only visited six of them on our Underground tour. It’s a labyrinth of underground caves that are used for storing wine, olive oil and acts as a cistern for water. We recommend taking a tour, it’s informative about how these passages were used in the Etruscan times and how it is used today.
You can read all about it on my Orvieto Underground blog post.
St. Patrick’s Well
Also called Pozzo di San Patrizio in Italian, this well was built in 1527 and finished in 1537 by the Florentine architect, Antonio da San Gallo. It was constructed under the orders of
Pope Clement VII (who was a Medici!) to store the city’s water supply in case it were to go under siege.
The well is 174 ft. deep, 43 ft. wide, complete with 248 steps and 70 windows. It also has two staircases in a double helix that allowed smooth traffic flow without mules bumping into each other while carrying water up and down the well.
We did not visit the well, but I wish we did! It’s apparently a couple minutes walk through the public park once you’ve gotten off the funicular at Piazza Cahen.
Torre del Moro Orvieto
For a panoramic view of the city, climb this 148 ft. clock tower nestled in the heart of the city center. It has 236 steps but there is a lift that can take you up the first 100 steps (like at St. Peter’s Basilica dome) and then climb the rest of the way up.
You could probably see all of Umbria from up there! (Well – maybe!)
Visit Orvieto’s Museums
If you love museums then definitely get the Orvieto Card because it will give you access to all of its most popular museums such as: Orvieto Vie, Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Museo Etrusco Claudio Faina, and Museo dell’Opera del Duomo.
The Abbey of Saint Severo and Martirio
For the longest time I could not figure out what this building was! We had just finished our tour of the underground when we spotted the abbey from one of the view points. From far away it looked abandoned but after tons of reverse image Googling I came to find that it’s not only a historic abbey, but also a stunning hotel. I wish we could’ve stayed overnight there!
It was first built in the 6th century by a noble woman, Lady Rotruda who dedicated it to Saint Severo and his disciple Martirio. The remaining of the abbey that you see today was built in the 12th century.
Can you imagine staying in an abbey that is over 14 centuries old?
Eat Like The Etruscans
So an interesting fact we were told by our tour guide in the underground is that the Etruscans were known for eating pigeons, rabbit and other meats like wild boar. You can even find these traditional dishes at many restaurants in Orvieto.
We ate lunch at a very friendly place called Tipica Trattoria Etrusca where we ate gnocchi, rabbit and wild boar. It was actually really good and the boar tastes so much better than beef!
As for trying pigeon, we wanted to order it but we were so stuffed from our meal and couldn’t eat anymore.
The food was an amazing taste of Umbria. Also, I will forever remember us chatting with a couple of other tourists who sat at a table next to ours. They told us about their love for Italy and how it was their 7th visit to the country!
Wander The Streets
It’s a wonderful feeling to step outside of the box and visit places off the beaten path. Umbria is a beautiful region that I feel is overlooked and would love to explore more of its towns.
I’m not discouraging you about visiting Rome because it is also an amazing city so don’t be afraid to visit. But it really is nice to step away for at least a day and explore another part of Italy.
From now on, I’m going to do my best to find an “Orvieto” in every country we visit!
I will leave you with a few more photos from our visit.
Do you like to go off the beaten path on your travels and if so, where did you go? Comment below and share this post!
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Love this guide! I was just in Rome and I wish we could have fit in a day trip like this! I’ll have to add it to my list for next time. Looks like you had an amazing time!
Hi Laurel! Thank you so much, we did! There are so many little towns outside of Rome, we also wish we had more time to go off the beaten path and explore. The perfect excuse for having to make a second trip to Italy 🙂
We were in Orvieto 14 years ago and just loved it. We rented a farm house in the country side and made several trips up to the town. I enjoyed it all over again with your article and pictures. Thank you.
Hi Abigail, I bet that was a wonderful experience! The countryside there is so beautiful. It’s something we’d love to go back and do on another visit. Thank you for reading our post 🙂