jengym

We are planning a trip to Italy in June with the following itinerary:

Rome for 4 nights
Siena, Tuscany for 6 nights
Monterosso, Cinque Terre for 3 nights
Venice for 2 nights

Right now our plan is to take the train from Rome to somewhere near Siena so that we can pick up a car to have for the 6 nights we're there. I'm not sure which is the best place to stop and do that, and further, which is the best car company to rent from. I'm also having some major user issues on the trenitalia site, trying to figure out the route maps. I just keep getting the message "no solution", but it won't show what an alternative solution might be. Can anyone help?

We're also intending on taking the train into Monterosso, and back out to Venice, but I can't tell where the best place would be to drop off the car and board the train for Monterosso after we've left Siena. And...is it possible to train from Cinque Terre to Venice?

Thanks in advance to anyone that has feedback for me. I've been doing thorough reading through other posts on the forum, but was unsuccessful on finding answers to all of my questions.

Best regards,
Jennifer

ellenem

The Trenitalia website has not been loaded with the summer schedules yet. If you were using dates after June 12, you may have had problems. Use dates for this coming week and you'll get a good idea of the schedules and prices--they won't change much.

jengym

That makes a little more sense thank you very much!

txhomes

We rented through Auto Europe and choose a pickup point on the outskirts of Rome which turned out to be an Avis office. Just an exit down the freeway and we were off to Tuscany. We took a taxi from the hotel to the rental office. We liked this idea better than having to take a train. We kept the car to tour Tuscany and then drove on to Venice and dropped the car in Venice. On the Auto Europe website you can choose pickup and drop off points. Put in the city where you want to drop off and see what choices are available.

evpoole

We have a similar dilemma. We plan to pick up a car in Siena for a few days and either drive it to Venice or drop it off somewhere on the way and take the train into Venice - Chiusi is close but requires a transfer so we are looking at either Florence or Bologna although I don't see a train station drop off either place. txhomes -How is the drive from Tuscany to Venice? Did you drop it off at the airport or one of the city offices (or can you drop it off at the train station which would be ideal for us!)

ellenem

The most efficient place to drop a car in Venice is at Piazzale Roma (the bus station), the spot on the island where road traffic ends. From there you can catch a vaporetto to all parts of Venice.

willperson

We rented and returned in Siena, then took bus to Florence train station and train to Venice.

Henry

jengym,
Siena has a Hertz, Avis, and Europcar. You can train from Rome with a change in Chuisi. You can train from Siena to Monterosso.
Autoeurope has a good reputation and is a broker for all the above rentals.
This might help you http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm

deniseward

We are planning on picking up a car in Rome this June and am wondering where you ended up picking yours up from and how you made out? We will be staying near the train station, and will be heading up to Tuscany for a week, and then are planning on dropping the car off in Florence, and going to the Cinque Terre, and then from there to Venice by train. Am trying to figure out where to P.U. the car in Rome from Auto Europe, and would appreciate any advice. thanks.

bobthenavigator

UNless you are experienced, do not try to drive in Rome.
Get your car at Orvieto or Chiusi using Autoeurope.