bluemooseband

we are a group of 8 Canadians, and we are planning to rent two vans in Civitavecchia (post cruise) and drive to Venice for 3 days before we fly back. It's approx. 395 kms, and they estimate about 5 hours drive time. We plan to be in Venice by 6 pm.m so we have about 9+ hours to get there.

So, we figure we will have some time to stop along the way in Tuscany for a nice lunch.

Has anyone done done this tip, and, does anyone have any suggestions as to a nice place to stop enroute for a nice Italian lunch ?

thanks

zeppole

Having a nice lunch in Italy means having it within the time frame nice restaurants are open for lunch -- that is, between 12:30 and 2:30 pm.

Figuring that it will take you and hour to rent your car, what time are you getting on the road?

Use via Michelin or Mappy to see where that is likely to land you at noon, and then pick a smaller town near there rather than a big city. Start doing google searches for well-recommended restaurants in that town or area. Bear in mind that many Italian restaurants do not open for lunch or are closed for lunch somedays.

I believe the drive will take you closer to 7 hours. Were it me, I would consider going to Rome and taking the train to Venice.

zeppole

By the way, have you checked to see if you can rent two vans out of Civitavecchia for less than a day, dropping them off in another city?

Grinisa

If you plan to be in the vans and driving away from Civitavecchia around 9am, you are going to be already past Florence by 12:30, assuming you stick to the autostrada. 12:30 is the earliest most restaurants start serving lunch. I would avoid Florence anyway as trying to find parking for two vans in the city will be difficult. If you really want to eat in Tuscany, you might want to take a slower, more scenic route, like the S223 between Grosseto and Siena and the S222 (Chianti Road) between Siena and Florence. There are a number of smaller towns along this route that have great restaurants and it would be easier to find parking as well. Finally, if you want to take the autostrada, you could find delicious food in Emilia Romagna, south of Bologna.

ParisAmsterdam

You may be surprised at the cost of a one day, one way rental of a large vehicle in Italy... I just checked for a date in mid October and got the following prices from economycarrentals.com:

Ford Transit, Renault Master
Minibus 9 seats A/C 2.0

EUR 569
CAD 907



Fiat Multipla, Mitsubishi Grandis Minibus 6 seats A/C 1.6

EUR 572
CAD 911


Ford Galaxy, VW Touran
Minibus 7 seats A/C 1.6

EUR 575
CAD 916

bluemooseband

thanks for the info..... yeah, we seriously considerd the train, and it would be cheaper....I think if it were only my wife and I, we'd do the train..... but, with 8 adults, luggage, etc....renting the vans (Hertz) works out to about $150 a person for the 8 of us, vs. about $100 via the train.... so, we looked at the drive as an experience that we might not have sitting in a train car.... and, if the trip takes 8 hours, so be it, we're not in a hurry, the hotel in Venice will still be there , I hope !