Caitie

Hello. I am sorry that I am posting this a second time. I meant to add a tag for Italy but forgot and posted it. Perhaps it is just my lack of familiarity with technology but I couldn't seem to add any tags after I posted. I apologize if you are reading this post for the second time!

Thanks again to all those who have already responded to my questions regarding the trip that my husband and I are taking to Italy in May (5-22). We are leaving Rome on the 14th to go to Tuscany. My thought was that we could take the train to Orvieto, spend a few hours in town and then pick up the rental car and drive to our B&B (ended up being near Buonoconvento). We are planning to travel from Tuscany to Geneva on May 20th to spend a day before we catch our plane back home.

My questions are:
- Should we just plan to drive back to Orvieto, drop the car and take the train on through Florence, Milan and to Geneva?
- Should we try and drop the car in Buonconvento (are drop fees as expensive as I imagine them to be?) and take the train from there to Florence and onward?
- Should we scrap Orvieto altogether, take the train from Rome to Buonoconvento and rent a car there? I had heard that there was not a ton of supply of rental cars there but if it makes the most sense, we could give that a whirl.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

Thanks so much!

Caitie

kybourbon

No, you should drop your car somewhere more convenient instead of backtracking. Siena? Florence?

Orvieto does present a problem as the car rentals close mid-afternoon for several hours(12-3 or 1-4, etc.). They reopen for a few hours (3 or 4-7). If you arrive Orvieto when they are closed, you will have to wait until the reopen. You will have the issue of storing your luggage if you want to tour Orvieto. No luggage storage at the train station. There used to be a hotel that would do it, but I don't know if that's still the case.

I'm not aware of any car rental in Buonconvento. Are you sure they have one? Chiusi has car rentals a few stops past Orvieto and where you would take the road to Montepulciano, but you will still have the timing issues. The rental companies also close at 1 on Saturday and are closed Sunday (at least in smaller cities/towns).

ira

Hi C,

There is only one Europe Board.

Tags are useful only for someone doing a search on a particular country.

Good advice, as usual, from ky.

Enjoy your visit.

adrienne

Two people responded on your other thread so you should read that one as well.

Bamaman

People drop cars at Hertz in front of the Orvieto train station all the time.

I'm sure Hertz would be glad to get some of them moved up to Florence--and get paid while getting them moved.

Caitie

Thank you all for the tips! It appears that I may have been confused and there is no car rental place in Buonconvento.

We had been thinking of trying to take an early train out of Rome to pick up our car in the morning before things closed up for the afternoon but I assumed that there would be storage for luggage at the rail station in Orvieto.

Perhaps we should scrap a tour of Orvieto altogether, take the train to Chiusi and pick up there? Would it be a shame to miss Orvieto? If we were going to drop the car near Florence, where would be the best location? I have now read a number of times about the ZTL and want to avoid driving into the city altogether. Is the airport far enough out that we would avoid any fines and, if so, can one take the train from the airport? Or perhaps dropping in Siena might be better?

I apologize for all of the questions and thanks again for your helpful responses!

C

kybourbon

>>>Perhaps we should scrap a tour of Orvieto altogether, take the train to Chiusi and pick up there? Would it be a shame to miss Orvieto?<<<<

As I pointed out earlier, you have the same issue about picking in Chiusi as you do in Orvieto. You need to arrive before they close for the afternoon. It's the same train and you would arrive Chiusi later than you would Orvieto.

>>>drive to our B&B (ended up being near Buonoconvento). <<<

Where exactly? It's hard to advise you without specifics.

It seems your flight departs Geneva. Are you planning to visit or stay in Florence any? If so, I would drop the car either in Siena (take the Sita bus to Florence) or drop at the Florence airport.

FYI - Orvieto, Montepulciano, Montalcino, Pisa and many other towns have ZTL, not just Florence. You need to brush up on road signs.