When my abstract got accepted for a conference in Orvieto, the obvious thing I did was search Orvieto and what it had to offer, since I have never heard of the place before. When I Googled it, frankly speaking, it didn't look that interesting to me and I didn't know what we could do or where we could visit for 5 days in Orvieto - let alone Fizal who's accompanying me to the conference, but won't actually attend the conference, so he'd have a lot of time to kill. So then, this is my tales, which changed my mind completely about Orvieto.

 Upon our arrival in Orvieto, we took the funicular from just in front of Orvieto Railway Station which costs us €1.30 each. We could see the beautiful countryside view during the funicular ride, and when we reached the top, a shuttle bus was waiting for us to take us into the town centre. The bus dropped us off right in front of the Orvieto Cathedral, Orvieto's most famous landmark. We were blown away by the intricate details of the designs on the facades of the cathedral. The cathedral, or 'Duomo' was built during the medieval era, and takes after the famous typical Italian Gothic concept.




We held back our desires to stay around and take lots of photos while the evening sun was shining just the perfect amount, and the cool wind blew nicely. We finally checked in at our accommodation for a whole 4 nights, B&B La Magnolia, which was located less than 5mins walk from the duomo. Serena, our host was very friendly and very accommodating, she gave us an ensuite apartment with a balcony, which had traditional medieval touch to the interiors. We had a good rest since we started our day at 4.30am from Sheffield, and after some freshening up, we went back out to explore Orvieto.

Morning pose in front of our B&B and their family cafe next to it just before going to my conference.


Orvieto is a small Italian town situated on top a hill, or cliff (the Rupe). The Etruscans civilisation lived there before it was destroyed by the Romans. Orvieto is rich with ancient origins and historical sites , along with beautiful medieval surroundings and architecture, attracting many historians and archaeologists.

Because it's a small town, you could walk around the town and maybe cover the whole town by walking in 2-3 days. On our first evening, we walked around the main town area and discovered many beautiful streets and alleyways, like those typical Italian streetscape like you see in movies.


The tall structure is Pozzi di San Patrizio, which is the second main attraction after the Duomo. It is a well that supplies water to the town during events of siege. It's 62 metres deep and has windows all over the wall for lighting purposes.


Our favourite pizzeria! The I Dolci di Moscatelli. We eat here at least once a day. It's like a street-style pizza, where you choose which pizza you want, and you pay based on how much it weighs, and it's cheap too. Most people just buy them take-away and eat just along the way. We loveeeee their pizza with onions with anchovies, but they sell out so fast!


Later that night, we couldn't decide where to eat for dinner, and just randomly sit at a restaurant (Bristrotter Restaurant) near our B&B and had none other than another pizza.
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The next morning, we had breakfast at da Brozzi Bar & Cafe, which was included in our stay at La Magnolia the B&B, and then Fizal walked me over to my conference venue (not that he needed to, it was literally 3mins away! I timed! haha).

In the afternoon, Fizal and I walked around Piazza Duomo, where the reputable Orvieto Cathedral is located. Since it was a nice hot day, we opted for some Italian gelato at Il Gelato di Pasqualetti, which was located right beside the duomo. I had pistachio and caffe (coffee) flavour and if I can describe it in one word, it'd be heavenly. Note: If you have coffee flavoured gelato here, it tastes so strong and literally like coffee and I think if you hadn't had your dose of coffee that day, your caffe-flavoured gelato will suffice, hehe.

Surrounding the Duomo, cafes and restaurants fill the piazza making it a lovely spot to chill and hang out.






After a nice gelato treat, we started our wander around the streets of Orvieto. Apart from nice food and gelato and very lively town, what made me fall in love with Orvieto is the efforts that was put into small streets and alleys in between building to make them look pretty and safe.




Every corners and alleys were decorated with either hanging flower pots or they were just simply arranged on the sides.








We then went up the Torre del Moro (Moor's Tower). This bell tower (or clock tower) is a 47 metres high, located in the middle of the town, and symbolises the town's strength. For €2.80 each, you can climb up some flights of stairs - though suffocating, it's all be worth it when you've reached the top and find yourself surrounded with breathtaking panoramic view of the town and its surrounding landscape.

Overlooking the cathedral.

Overlooking Piazza del Puopolo and its beautiful background.



I'll stop here for Part 1 because there's no way I can write about a 5-days' stay in one post - otherwise this post is going to be miles long. I'll continue with a photo diary post with some beautiful photos around Orvieto cliffs.