We had an evening flight to Palermo from Rome so faced with the quandary of what to do for a few hours after leaving central Tuscany, we decided to drop in on Orvieto for lunch and its amazing cathedral. Orvieto is a well preserved hill town in southwestern Umbria located almost midway between Siena and Rome. Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci International Airport) is around a 90 minute drive from Orvieto.

Orvieto is perched on top of a “tufo” (huge lump of volcanic rock) and commands a dominant position above the surrounding valley. We drove up to the town and found ample parking in one of the multi level parking lots surrounding the center. It was probably just a 10-15 minute walk to the historic town from our car park. Orvieto is just the right size for a few hours exploration. Lanes are largely pedestrian only and you can certainly find a timelessness in the street scenes here.

We probably could have done the town more justice – in terms of visiting its key sites – but a bout of shoe shopping got in the way. No big brand name boutiques here, just some really nice artisanal stores featuring local craftsmen.

We found a simple restaurant, L’Oste del Re, for lunch, lured in by the meats at the counter – we were happy to just have some cold cuts, salad and perhaps some pasta after having consumed a cow the night before.

We ordered a platter of pecorino cheese – as I certainly can’t find all at the variety in Singapore, I was intent to fill up on the cheese during our visit. Also special was the salami from the Maiale Pecora – a local mountain pig so named because it resembles a sheep due to its wooly coat (we all had to google a picture of this because we couldn’t believe it).

While lunch was fairly quick, we only had time for a quick jaunt to view the cathedral and walk before driving onto Rome to catch our flight.

I think it would be nice to be able to spend more time in Orvieto. There are a number of cute and quaint stores, not to mention historical buildings, to pop into along with an exploration of the town’s Etruscan caves and tunnels. Given its proximity to Rome, it may be a good spot to spend the night before having to catch a flight out the next morning. One to plan for my next trip to the area.