If you have to drive an automatic, the rental offices at FCO have the best chance of finding them in their lot.

>>>US Air goes to Phila first, but i also wonder their position in the ROME terminals as i dont US AIR listed...Italia is in Terminal 1---<<<

International flights from the US will arrive at the same terminal (T3).

Departures to the US will depart from the same terminal (T5).

>>>Is there a train from the airport that would conveniently go to Greve Tuscany-<<<

There is a train station at the airport, but no train station in Greve.

>>>Does that make sense or should we get the car at the airport and proceed to Tuscany Villa (Panzano)<<<

If you need an automatic, your best chance would be from the airport (no guarantee). I would not attempt to drive that far after an overnight flight from the states. You should study some Italian road signs before driving in Italy.

Look at flying into Florence (closest to your destination) or Pisa (has non-stop flight from JFK).

Are you flying overnight? You'll probably arrive jetlagged and sleepy, not a good condition in which to drive a strange car in a foreign country. Consider taking the train from the airport to Rome's main station (Stazione Termini) and then switching to the train for Florence. Spend a night or two in Florence before picking up a rental car (at the airport) and driving to Greve.

Remember you need an International Driver's Permit to drive in Italy. (It's easily obtainable at AAA, for about $25 including photo.) And you must buy CDW when you rent a car there.

Thanks to all of you- What is CDW? I assume insurance? Does our US insurance generally cover cars in Italy? Can two friver get assigned to a car?

Collision Damage Waiver - it's offered on all US car rentals too, but not mandatory. Your personal car insurance generally covers your car, not a rental, but you need to check your own policy on that issue.

Also check with the Massachusetts governmental agency that deals with insurance (likely the "Department of Insurance"). Mass has some of the strictest and most onerous insurance requirements for auto insurers (which is why not all insurers will write policies there and why insurance is so expensive) and may require insurers to cover you. Unlikely, but possible.

Are the Delta flights operated by Alitalia? We flew Delta from Atlanta with good service.

If you have the option of a direct flight, I would take it.

I think I would do so, even for the extra money, if I had the option to do so.

USAirways PHL <> FCO isn't horrendous. I've done it many times. They fly the Airbus 330 on that route and it has decent seats with seatback entertainment units. You can reserve the two seater side aisle, and pray your seats don't get changed. If they do, fuss like hell.

Cattle class sucks, no matter how you look at it, but that route on that aircraft in those seats isn't too awful.

If you have to connect, I think it's a good option. Personally, as icky as I find PHL, I choose it over JFK. If I can swing it, I connect on USAirways in Charlotte, but from Boston, that isn't a great option.

Getting to your villa is a problem. We have rented a car at FCO and made the trek to Tuscany, but it's tough and now that we're older, we no longer make that drive after flying all night.

We now overnight before renting.

Do you have to have an automatic rental? It does decrease your choices of where to rent and be assured of the right car.

There is a lot of confused information here.

I have flown Boston to Rome on Alitalia several (not quite many) times, and it was as good as any other airline, which as tuscanlifeedit points out, is miserable in cattle class. To be fair, our last trip but one was miserable because a bunch of elderly (older than I) Americans stayed up all night drinking and raising hell. Two drunk old bats fell in my lap while I was trying to sleep. The ground operations in both Boston and Italy were very efficient.

You have no choice about accepting rental car insurance in Italy. It is required, whatever your credit card supplies elsewhere and whatever Massachusetts does (what was that all about?).

You should have an International Drivers License which you can get from AAA for about $20. No one will ask about it unless you get in a wreck. Then you will need it. It translates your US information into Italian, since not every Italian cop speaks English (duh). Be extremely careful about speeding (road cameras) and driving in restricted areas in cities. These are also covered by cameras and you will get a ticket from the Italian authorities anything up to a year later, and your car rental company will charge you somewhere between $40 and $50 for supplying your information.

When you get to Fiumicino, you will take a little train to the main terminal where you will go through Immigration and get your bags. There are ATMs to get euros between Immigration and baggage claim. Going through Customs consists of walking out the door. No inspection unless you are coming from someplace like Djibouti. All this will take something like an hour but can take twice as long on a weekend or holiday. I don't think a ton of US flights arrive at the same time as Alitalia from BOS, so you don't have the endless lines of Heathrow early in the morning. You can go upstairs after exiting into the main terminal to a cafe with coffee, sandwiches, and pastry. What they give you on the plane will not be enough.

It is good advice not to start the drive to Greve right away. Signs for rental cars, trains and buses to Rome, etc are not hard to find, but if you go into the city, you are likely to have to come back out (not cheap) to pick up a rental car if you need an automatic, and, as kybourbon says, they are not guaranteed even there. Mimar's approach is what we did last year -- train to Florence, then car -- but it makes it less likely you will get an automatic.

Another approach is to get an early checkin at an airport hotel, take a nice nap, have lunch and take a taxi to the Roman ruins at Antica Ostia for the afternoon. Next morning, rent the car and go to Greve.

Part of the trip will be on toll roads. Your credit card will not work for tolls, and you won't have an Italian version of an EZ Pass, so you will need euros, quite a lot of them since Italian toll roads are expensive. The ATM is likely to give you big bills, and you need small ones and coins so even if you leave for Greve the first day, you will want to spend some money on a meal to break down the big bills you will have.

This isn't as stressful as it sounds. Thousands do it daily and driving in Tuscany is pretty easy if you know Italian road signs, stay out of cities, and can deal with cars on your rear bumper when you are already going too fast. In other words, it is just exactly like driving in Boston!

Have fun!

Helpful advice from Ackislander.

Yes, you can have two drivers for a rental car. You may have to pay a bit extra. Do you have a portable GPS with a European map? If not, you may want to rent a car with GPS, also extra.

Most European cars have standard transmissions (stick shift). If you need an automatic, your best bet is to get the car at an airport, where they have the biggest choice (and the most convenient hours).

You should reserve the car ahead of time. Many Fodorites recommend www.autoeurope.com, a broker rather than a direct renter.

>>>You should have an International Drivers License which you can get from AAA for about $20. No one will ask about it unless you get in a wreck.<<<

I've had Hertz ask for my IDP when I was picking up a rental in Siena.