Palazzo Petrvs is in southwestern Umbria, in the small Italian city of Orvieto.
Planes
Rome’s two airports (Fiumicino or Ciampino) are each around an hour and a half by road from Palazzo Petrvs. In summer, international flights serve Perugia, a 60-minute drive from the hotel. Staff can arrange private transfers from Perugia for €240 each way (€290 for a minivan) and both of Rome’s airports for €390 each way (€450 in a minivan).
Trains
Orvieto train station is 10 minutes by road from the hotel, and is served by a direct route from Rome. From Piazza Matteotti station, a 90-minute drive away, direct trains head to some of Italy’s major cities (including Florence, Arezzo and Bologna).
Automobiles
If you’re planning on exploring beyond the hotel’s gates, a set of wheels will be a good idea. Orvieto is just off Italy’s longest autostrada (A1), so routes around the region should be fairly easy.
Worth getting out of bed for
Orvieto is a charming 13th-century city set atop a volcanic cliff in Umbria’s Terni province, and Palazzo Petrvs puts you right in the centre of its old town, making the historic hotspots a natural first stop. Explore the underground world with a guided tour of the city’s 440 caves, excavated over 2,500 years ago. Above ground, Orvieto Cathedral is a 14th-century Roman Catholic building, aglow with a honeycomb-like network of gold mosaic tiling, and the towering Torre del Moro that looms over Corso Cavour. Etruscan artefacts line the walls of the Museo Claudio Faina e Civico and Museo Archeologico Nazionale, and the Chiesa di Sant-Andrea is worth a visit for its curiously carved bell tower.
As is true of most Italian sojourns, food is a focus, and cooking classes are a sure way to learn the most from local culinary extraordinaires – head 30 minutes out of the city for pasta making and wine tastings at Decugnano dei Barbi. The hotel can also arrange boat trips on Lake Bolsena, horseback riding in the Umbrian countryside, and ceramics classes for those who’d rather keep two feet firmly on the ground.
Local restaurants
Traditional trattorie line the streets of Orvieto – among them, Labirinto di Adriano is well-loved not just for its homemade pastas and artisanal pizzas (though they are worthy of awards), but also for its gateway into the network of underground passageways – just ask the restaurant’s staff and they’ll take you down for a tour of the Etruscan-built caves. Find traditional Umbrian fare at I Sette Consoli, where original family recipes are still cooked by their creators and dished up in the Church of Sant Angelo’s former vegetable gardens.
Local cafés
Montanucci is the historic centre’s social locus, serving oven-warm pastries, fresh flans, perfectly brewed blends, and light lunches to locals and visitors alike.
Local bars
If it’s classy cocktails and live music you’re after, Febo sets the tone just right down Via Gualverio Michelangeli. And Bottega Vera, a few steps from the hotel, has been pouring refined wines since 1938.