I'm roughing out several itineraries and this one has us flying into Venice and from there heading to Tuscany, staying in Pienza or Montepulciano...where I will have a rental. I would prefer not to have to make the long drive from Venice by car, however I know there is no easy direct train route.

I'm just putting it out there to see if anyone has any suggestions I haven't thought of...I know, I'm looking for a miracle here! Thought of training to Florence - for a second - read too many posts about the horrors of trying to get out of that city.

Are there any alternatives to picking up the rental in Venice?

Thanks.

Getting OUT of Florence really isn't the problem that driving IN is. I think your best bet is the train to Florence or to Chiusi if you can arrange to pick up your rental there.

I have been to Florence train station a few times and never had a problem.

We rented a car from there once. That was STUPID...
Firenza isnt a place to drive.

Just one thought travelfan, train from Venice to Florence and then go to the Florence airport to pick up your rental car. That would eliminate having to drive from the City of Florence to whereever you decide to stay in the countryside of Tuscany.

We used the Avis in Chiusi - the very nice gentleman even picked us up at the train station and they were so nice and helpful.

I agree that driving OUT of Florence with a rental car is easier than driving into Florence.

However, with the bit of time you'll lose in getting to the train station in Venice, then taking the train into Florence, then picking up the rental car, etc., you may decide that driving is your best choice.

We did a similar drive several years ago with no problem. We started from Ferrara, then drove east to Ravenna to admire the mosaics. We stayed there through lunchtime, and probably left Ferrara at about 2 pm. It took us a little over 3 hours to get to our destination in southern Tuscany, a small town a ways south of Pienza.

Your drive would be about 4 1/2 hours, but beautiful most of the way, and on the autostrada. If you wanted to break up the drive, you could stop for lunch on the way, at somewhere wonderful like Bologna. Really, it mostly depends on the interest and experience of your driver(s). I actually don't mind driving in Europe - on our last several trips, I've done about 90% of the driving, while DH is a great navigator. (He says I get a glint in my eyes at the sight of a narrow, scenic Europe back road - but I'm a conservative driver, and don't go too fast.) If nobody in your group is interested in driving, then maybe going part of the way by train makes more sense.

Hi TF - A convenient alternative might be to rent in Arezzo.

Steve

I suggest taking the train to Chuisi (I believe you will need to change trains in Florence- no big deal) and renting the car there. Or, if you follow Steve_James' advise and pick up the car in Arezzo, you can skip dringing the A1 and enjoy a very nice drive from Arezzo to the Val d'Orcia through the beautiful Crete Sienese landscape located south of Siena. I think that is what I would do.

Sounds like you have a great trip planned. Enjoy!

I should have proof read-

Should read "you can skip driving the A1"

hi travelfan

if you go to the trenitalia website, you can find a map of the train lines - here's the link:

http://www.viaggiatreno.it/viaggiatreno/

then you can find the nearest convenient station for where you want to go - as you can see, Arezzo looks a good bet.

personally, i would not want to drive out of florence - the route south from the main railway station, which is where the bus for siena goes from, was vile.

have a great trip,

regards, ann

We've stayed in/near Montepulciano several times, and Chiusi is the closest and most convenient station. Moreover, the Venice to Rome train stops there without having to change in Florence - at least it did a couple of years ago. The only potential problem is renting a car in Chiusi because of the limited number of vendors - but as Sheri points out, Avis is there, or was a couple of years ago. Have a great trip.

Chiusi has at least three rental offices right at/near the station. I've rented cars there through Auto Europe several times and never encountered any limitation issues.

We drove the opposite trip - Montepulciano to Venice. It was such an easy drive! If you pick up your rental car at the Venice airport you can get right on the highway and be in Pienza or Montepulciano in about 4 hours.

We opted to drive instead of taking the train because we wanted the freedom of leaving when we chose to - not according to the train schedule.

And the car rental at the Florence airport was also easy to navigate out of and get right on the highway. Didn't have to drive "in Florence" at all.

And we chose the Venice airport car rental location because it was open longer hours - again a convenience factor for us.

Chiusi does NOT always have convenient rental locations. Steve James suggestion to rent in Arezzo is excellent given your ultimate destination.

Oh and the other good thing about Avis, is that they're right next to a big grocery store. Handy before a road trip.

It seems the train is less time to Arezzo but the drive would be slightly longer. I had checked into Chiusi before and didn't even think of Arezzo. I was also concerned about arriving to pick the car up when they'd be closed as I wanted an early start from Venice. The AutoEurope site shows Arezzo open all day, Chiusi closing for a few hours in the afternoon. Can anyone confirm Arezzo does not close in the afternoon?

I would drive it--why have the hassle of schlepping bags on 2 trains?

Bob...why do I always agree with you....I hate schlepping bags anywhere.

stu

The center of Arezzo is a ZTL (traffic limitation zone) with traffic cameras, and a 75 Euro fine for violation thereof. Here's a map:

http://www.arezzoweb.it/zona_traffico_limitato/

I wouldn't want to have to deal with a ZTL when I've just picked up a car, and am a little disoriented.

I did the opposite trip with my college-age daughter as navigator, picking up the car in Rome, going to Tuscany including the Val d'Orcia, and then Cinque Terre. From Cinque Terre we drove to Venice where we returned the car. In part, I decided to rent a car because it gave us a lot more freedom and the train connections were not that great from Cinque Terre to Venice. I would not hesitate to do this again.