Car vs Train from Tuscany to Rome
 

Hoping someone can give some good tips here...

We are staying in the Tuscan hillside town of Montepulciano. We will be traveling by car that we are picking up in Florence. From Montepulciano we are next traveling to Rome. Should we keep the rental car and drive from Tuscany to Rome? We would return the rental car upon arriving to Rome.

Or, should we ditch the rental car in Tuscany or Siena and then take the train to Rome instead?

My inclination is to just keep the rental car and drive since it's only 2 or so hours and might be fun, but I'm hearing horror stories about traffic.

Thanks!

It would be less hassle to return the car somewhere close to where you are staying and take the train to Rome.

Thank you! We definitely want to have the car in Tuscany so we can explore the different towns.

There are nearby train stations in Torrita di Siena and Montepulciano. If we can take a train from there to Rome, that would probably be easy. Does anyone know if they are direct? I also need to find out if I can return our rental car some place nearby.

Maybe we can return the car in Chiusi and take the train from there to Rome...

Either Chiusi or Orvieto.

As Jean said, Chiusi and Orvieto are easy and popular places for car rental and return.

Chiusi is only 34 minutes from Montepulciano. Orvieto is listed as an hour and 3 minutes.

I've lived through car rental returns in Rome, and no one got hurt (well, maybe feelings were hurt, but no body parts). It just wasn't fun.

Thanks so much, everyone. It's looking like Chiusi makes the most sense. Only issue is all the rental companies require a 3 day minimum for a different city return, and we only need it for one day. I think a day/night in the Tuscan countryside is worth the extra price though!

I agree... sounds like Chiusi makes the most sense. :-)

>>>There are nearby train stations in Torrita di Siena <<<

There won't be a car rental in Torrita di Siena and it's not between you (Montepulciano) and Rome anyway. Closest is Chiusi, but Orvieto is also an option. Keep in mind that both will be closed on Sunday and after 1 on Saturday (also closed afternoons between 1-4).

>>>3 day minimum for a different city return,<<<<

I'm not sure why you would think that unless you are pricing with AutoEurope and they have a minimum of 3 day rentals. They book you with such companies at Hertz, Avis, etc. If you look on the Hertz website, you can book a one day rental in Florence and drop at Chiusi or Orvieto.

For a change, this time in October we will drop the car at FCO and get a shuttle to our apartment in Rome. There are. four of us, and we will probably have an extra bag or two of groceries to transfer from our apartment near Orvieto to the Rome apartment, so we're going to give it a try. Driving down the autostrada on the west coast of Italy is a pleasant drive. We have done it before, but only because were were leaving The next day and stayed in a hotel near the airport, so this transfer into Rome will be new.

@kybourbon, thank you for the tip. i was speaking with autoeurope so i will try hertz directly. also, we will be returning the car in chuisi on saturday before 1pm so should be ok.