Rome & Venice -
An Italian Odyssey
An Italian Odyssey
Daytrip to Spoleto
An easy 90-minute train ride away from the central train station in Rome is
the ancient hilltown of Spoleto. We literally flipped a coin to decide between
this town and Orvieto -- both of which we had missed on our trip through
Tuscany and Umbria 10 years earlier -- for a day trip and a contrasting
experience to the hustle and bustle of Rome. Both are easy to get to and
are worth seeing, but we didn’t have the time to visit both. Spoleto won the
coin flip, so off we went.
We made our way to Roma Termini and clumsily navigated the process of
purchasing tickets and finding the right Eurostar train to Spoleto. To this
date, we're not sure we ever validated the tickets before getting on the train,
but somehow we managed to make it to Spoleto without incident. Once in
Spoleto, we purchased our return tickets before starting out towards the
old part of the city.
The walk from the train station up to the top of the hill town requires a little
fortitude and good legs, particularly on a very warm day such as this. The
first 15 minutes or so found us winding past the more modern parts of the
city, but soon we were climbing up among streets that were hundreds of
years old.
Known internationally for its annual "Festival of the two worlds," Spoleto is
a very old-looking town with plenty of artifacts and reminders of its Roman
origins. The climb up to the ancient center of Spoleto is rewarded with
many notable sites dating back hundreds -- and in some cases,
thousands -- of years :
Certainly enough to fill a day. But just as much, we enjoyed the views over
the lush Umbrian landscape from points around the upper part of the city:
rolling hills, olive groves, fields of grape vines, and farmhouses stretching
for miles before us. It was just enough to prompt just a bit of longing for a
leisurely vacation among the hilltowns. Perhaps next year...
Although Orvieto is the more popular destination -- and probably with good
reason -- the one other very nice aspect of this trip to Spoleto is that we felt
practically alone as tourists in the city. Okay, not that we didn't see other
visitors, but it was very quiet. We visited the Duomo with just a handful of
others around. We walked ancient streets and were, literally, the only
people there. We rested at a large park near the Teatro Romano, with just
a couple of local children playing nearby. This is the way we like to travel.
We stopped for lunch in a very rustic restaurant near the top of town, then
did a little shopping, our one big purchase being a small jar of black truffle
pesto. The heat of the day eventually did take its toll -- a good excuse for
breaking up our trip back down to the train station with multiple stops for
Coca-Cola and gelato. All in all, a very enjoyable day.
Next > Venice
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An easy 90-minute train ride away from the central train station in Rome is
the ancient hilltown of Spoleto. We literally flipped a coin to decide between
this town and Orvieto -- both of which we had missed on our trip through
Tuscany and Umbria 10 years earlier -- for a day trip and a contrasting
experience to the hustle and bustle of Rome. Both are easy to get to and
are worth seeing, but we didn’t have the time to visit both. Spoleto won the
coin flip, so off we went.
We made our way to Roma Termini and clumsily navigated the process of
purchasing tickets and finding the right Eurostar train to Spoleto. To this
date, we're not sure we ever validated the tickets before getting on the train,
but somehow we managed to make it to Spoleto without incident. Once in
Spoleto, we purchased our return tickets before starting out towards the
old part of the city.
The walk from the train station up to the top of the hill town requires a little
fortitude and good legs, particularly on a very warm day such as this. The
first 15 minutes or so found us winding past the more modern parts of the
city, but soon we were climbing up among streets that were hundreds of
years old.
Known internationally for its annual "Festival of the two worlds," Spoleto is
a very old-looking town with plenty of artifacts and reminders of its Roman
origins. The climb up to the ancient center of Spoleto is rewarded with
many notable sites dating back hundreds -- and in some cases,
thousands -- of years :
- The Duomo, with its collection of frescoes dating to the 13th century.
- The 13th century Ponte delle Torri
- La Rocca dei Papi (which we looked at from afar but did not visit
because it involved an escorted tour that did not fit well with our
schedule) - Teatro Romano
- Arco di Druso, the 23 ADarchway built in honor of Tiberius's son.
Certainly enough to fill a day. But just as much, we enjoyed the views over
the lush Umbrian landscape from points around the upper part of the city:
rolling hills, olive groves, fields of grape vines, and farmhouses stretching
for miles before us. It was just enough to prompt just a bit of longing for a
leisurely vacation among the hilltowns. Perhaps next year...
Although Orvieto is the more popular destination -- and probably with good
reason -- the one other very nice aspect of this trip to Spoleto is that we felt
practically alone as tourists in the city. Okay, not that we didn't see other
visitors, but it was very quiet. We visited the Duomo with just a handful of
others around. We walked ancient streets and were, literally, the only
people there. We rested at a large park near the Teatro Romano, with just
a couple of local children playing nearby. This is the way we like to travel.
We stopped for lunch in a very rustic restaurant near the top of town, then
did a little shopping, our one big purchase being a small jar of black truffle
pesto. The heat of the day eventually did take its toll -- a good excuse for
breaking up our trip back down to the train station with multiple stops for
Coca-Cola and gelato. All in all, a very enjoyable day.
Next > Venice
our travels
home
contact us
Spoleto - Duomo
Spoleto
Spoleto
