Orvieto
A city on a slab of volcanic rock, with a second city cut into the rock underneath it.
13 days outthe nearest is a 1 h 32 drive from Rome
Orvieto is over the Umbrian border but the drive is straight up the motorway, and it is one of the few places on this list where the thing you came for is visible from the road: a cathedral front of striped stone and gold mosaic at the top of a cliff.
Underneath, the tufa is hollow. Etruscan wells, medieval cellars, pigeon lofts and a nineteenth-century siege tunnel run under the streets, and most of it can only be seen with somebody who has the keys.
Best fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
On two wheelsA full private day out of Rome by train and e-bike: from the Alviano nature reserve in the Tiber valley the route climbs to Civita di Bagnoregio, the hilltop village reached onl…
See the dayBest fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
With your handsA working winery at Bardano, on the hills facing Orvieto, in a farmstead that belonged to the Templars.
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With your handsThe same Bartolomei oils as at the Montecchio mill, tasted in the middle of Orvieto's old town between the Duomo and the Torre del Moro.
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With your handsA hands-on Umbrian cooking class held at the Decugnano dei Barbi estate outside Orvieto, capped at twelve people so everyone actually cooks.
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With your handsA private, appointment-only tour of a hillside estate 25 minutes from Orvieto, where wine has been made since 1212.
See the dayBest fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
On the trailOne ticket for the cathedral, the Emilio Greco museum and the underground rooms beneath the Duomo.
See the dayBest fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
Under the groundTurn up, pay at the door, and climb down an Etruscan well and its caves.
€5 per person
Books on orvietobooking.com
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Under the groundBeneath a house on Via della Pace in Orvieto lie more than 400 square metres of caves and tunnels on several levels, cut into the tufo across three thousand years: Etruscan grai…
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Under the groundA guided walk through part of the man-made caves dug into the tufa rock under Orvieto, with cisterns, quarries and dovecotes cut into the cliff.
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Under the groundA self-guided route through nine linked caves under the medieval quarter of Orvieto, including an Etruscan well, a kiln for medieval pottery and pre-Roman finds left where they …
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Under the groundA sixteenth-century well sunk into the tufa cliff, with two helical staircases built one above the other so that pack animals going down never crossed those coming up.
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Under the groundAn hour under the city, in a cave that holds a steady 14 °C.
Booked by phone
See the dayBest fit for this section first, then whatever you can book today. Closest to Rome breaks a tie. Never by who pays us.
In the old stonesA Gothic cathedral at Orvieto, from the thirteenth century.
Free — nothing to pay
Just turn up
See the dayGetting there
The day stays yours: you leave when you want, stop where you want, and come back when the light goes.
Affiliate link — you pay their price, never more, and they pay us. You book with Localrent, and anything about that booking goes through them.
See prices on LocalrentThere is wine at the end of this one. Somebody else driving is not a luxury here.
Affiliate link — you pay their price, never more, and they pay us. You book with Welcome Pickups, and anything about that booking goes through them.
See prices on Welcome PickupsLinks marked affiliate pay us a commission — you pay the operator's own price and we never take your money. How we rank