Orvieto rises dramatically from a flat volcanic plateau of tufa rock in southern Umbria, visible for miles across the surrounding countryside. The town's centrepiece is its Duomo, one of Italy's great Gothic cathedrals — the striped black-and-white marble facade, covered in mosaics and relief carvings, is genuinely jaw-dropping even by Italian standards. The cathedral took three centuries to build and contains Luca Signorelli's famous frescoes of the Last Judgment in the Cappella di San Brizio.
Beyond the Duomo, the old town is a compact tangle of medieval streets with good restaurants and wine shops specialising in Orvieto Classico, the local white wine. Underground, a network of Etruscan tunnels and caves is open for guided tours — Orvieto was an important Etruscan city long before the Romans. The Pozzo di San Patrizio, a Renaissance well with a double-helix staircase, is an engineering wonder not to miss. The funicular from the train station at the base of the cliff to the old town above is one of the oldest still running in Italy.