perhaps I should have added ....

thin

People, people... Let it go...

Again my apologies for causing a ruckus by misspelling Siena . Jean - I booked the car through the Hertz agency in Orvieto . Seems like a great plan to get to Orvieto from Rome and then make our way to Siena (never going to misspell Siena again). Thanks for the suggestion .

One more question - how easy is it to drive to Florence to return the car since we would be heading to Venice from there ?

One more question - how easy is it to drive to Florence to return the car since we would be heading to Venice from there ? Depends where you car rental return is - to get to the main station may be hectic and in the no-go area perhaps for private vehicles.

I'd return in Siena the day before and save a day's car rental and take the frequent buses to Florence's SMN train station - dirt-cheap - cheaper than driving and you go right to the station no worries -saves a lot of time.

Book your Florence to Venice tickets far in advance to garner the limited-in-number discounts tickets - www.trenitalia.com to book - for general info on European trains -www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

We have picked up and dropped off cars in Florence. The only problem we ever had was that they close for lunch so check hours carefully. The garages were near the road to the Autostrada.

The garages were near the road to the Autostrada.>

Yeh that should be very easy -still though you have to get to the train station - easier IMO return car in Siena and take bus right to station.

>>>I booked the car through the Hertz agency in Orvieto<<<

Look the car over carefully as this location is an independent location and not a Hertz corporate location. There have been some issues/complaints which is why Autoeurope no longer uses them. You can return in Siena if you don't want to drive to Florence. There is a Hertz location in Siena is walkable to the train station. You would probably have to take the regional train from Siena to Florence and change to a fast train to Venice in Florence.

>>Again my apologies for causing a ruckus by misspelling Siena . Jean - I booked the car through the Hertz agency in Orvieto . Seems like a great plan to get to Orvieto from Rome and then make our way to Siena (never going to misspell Siena again). Thanks for the suggestion.

One more question - how easy is it to drive to Florence to return the car since we would be heading to Venice from there ?<<

We did this in 2015. It's a lovely drive from Orvieto to Siena.

If you're going to rent a GPS from Hertz in Orvieto, make sure it is up to date. Ours wasn't, and it steered us to a Hertz office in Florence that no longer existed. We had quite the adventure trying to figure out how to get to the airport so we could return the car there instead.

Lee Ann

NE, I would probably return the car in Siena and train from there (change trains in Florence). You will know where the Hertz office in Siena is, so it should be easy to find. Or you could consider driving to Venice and returning the car on arrival. Overall, that could be the fastest option.

Yes indeedy I should have thunk of that -easiest just to drive to Venice - maybe stopping en route someplace for a few hour like Verona or Sirmione and easily return car at Piazza Roma where causeway to Venice ends and there are car rental. A piece of cake!

Really PalenQ? It's easy to drive to Venice and return our car there ? Had not considered that at all ....

PQ says he always uses trains so I'm not sure he's done that drive.

The Hertz office in Siena on viale Sardegna is walkable although you could have one person dropped at the train station with the luggage first if you wanted (perhaps someone at the Siena office could drop you but when I was there, only one employee on duty). The Siena Hertz is also an independent location, but I haven't seen problems listed about them and I believe Autoeurope still uses this location. Look the car over in Orvieto, take pics and let them see you taking them. Pay in advance on the Hertz website because Hertz allows DCC on their contracts in Italy (it's in fine print and can't be removed from the contract). If you pay in advance online you won't have the DCC issue. I would take pics in Siena also just to be on the safe side. As in Orvieto, these locations tend to close for a few hours at lunch, close at 12 or 1 on Saturdays and closed Sunday.

If you drop in Siena, there are regional Trenitalia trains that leave hourly that don't require a change to get to Florence (currently, you want the trains that leaves at 18 minutes after the hour to avoid having to change, but double check as that could change). May be more gaps in service on a Sunday or holiday. Travel time is 1 1/2 hours and cost is 9€. Florence SMN station isn't huge, but the regional train might be a few minutes walk from the head of the tracks where the faster trains depart.

While Trenitalia has far more fast trains between Florence SMN and Venice SL, Italo also runs 4 per day so that might be an option.

http://www.italotreno.it/en

I've done the drive from Siena to Venice. If you stick to the autostrada, it's certainly easy, but it's a highway. Lots of trucks and buses. Multiple tunnels in some parts, other parts flat as a pancake, not much in the way of "scenery."

The best argument for driving is the simplicity of it. Load the luggage once and be off when you want to leave. Stop if you need to, detour if you want to.

Driving could be cheaper overall as well, but check if there will be a one-way drop charge. FYI, Viamichelin.com estimates the cost of tolls for the shortest/autostrada route to be about 20 euros. I don't think you'd find a one-connection train fare for less than about 30 euros per person.

I meant to second all of kybourbon's suggestions regarding the rental process. We have picked up at Hertz in Orvieto and dropped at the office near the Siena train station without any problems at either end.

If you're a AAA member, check the rental cost through the AAA website. On our last trip (not Tuscany), their prices were the lowest for the type of car we wanted. I think we did pay in advance.

>>Is Fodors an American site or an intenational one?<<

Which answer will stop you from posting?

(BTW, what's an "intenational" one?)

We picked up our car in Rome and drove to Siena . Dropped car off in Florence where we spent several days. Train to Venice.
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The drive from Orvieto to Siena is a lovely one with many lovely sites along the way. S'Antimo is beautiful and would make a wonderful stop. We drove Venice to Pisa. It was an easy drive. We stopped somewhere along the way to have a picnic. Not too much in the way of scenery on that drive from what I remember. The nice part about the train is that both passengers can relax for a few hours. The driver doesn't always have to be 'on point'. We spent the entire month of October in Italy. Mornings can be a bit chilly but it warms up fast, not hot when we were there but just very pleasant. Happy planning!

Just an update for anyone else debating car rental vs train- we ended up taking the train from Rome to Orvieto -picking up our car and driving to Siena from there. Very convenient and quick. In the bargain we got to visit beautiful Orvieto. We returned the car in Siena on the morning we were heading to Venice. Took the train to Florence and then continued on to Venice. Thanks everyone for all the help - it went so much smoother than I had expected.