My husband and i will be arriving in Rome on April 5th and plan of picking up a car and driving to Siena. would anyone recommend that we rail to Siena and then pick up a car instead? and if so why? <BR>thanks..

We did that trip last June. It can be confusing getting out of Rome but after that it was pretty smooth sailing. I used &quot;Mapquest International&quot; and it was right on. Enjoy!

Avoid central Rome by all means. Leave FCO head east until you hit the GRA (Grand Racordo Autostrada). Since the GRA circle Rome on both side you can go either way. GRA to the A1 and then north. Even the GRA is crazy, but nothing like central Rome. When you get further north there are a number of scenic roads off of the A1 that you can take to get to Siena. Make sure you have a complete map of Siena showing all of the outlying area, as there are a number of routes into Siena and getting around in Siena can be challenging for a first-timer. Most maps you find of Siena show just the old part of the city and believe me there's a lot more than that.

We've driven into center Rome and it was horrible but we did find the access from the termini area (where many car rentals are) to the autostrada fairly straight forward. I think rush hour would be bad from any location. If you're not comfortable with city driving I would recommend either picking up the car at the airport or take a train to Siena. The highways in Italy are a breeze and stops in the smaller town are fairly easy.

I would drive, but not the route many take. Look at your map for S-2, the old road Via Cassia from Rome to Florence, thru Viterbo, near Orvieto and the famed Civita di Bagnoregno, thru San Quiricio, and on to Siena. It is easy access from FCO and avoids the GRA and A-1. Frankly, I would stay in Orvieto the first nite, but that is your call.<BR>The total drive is about 3.5 hours but you will want to stop--too much to see and enjoy. We will be doing that route again in Oct. but staying outside Orvieto at a cute B&amp;B named Locanda Rosati. Holler if you need more.

&gt;&gt; bobthenavigator said: Frankly, I would stay in Orvieto the first nite, but that is your call. &gt;&gt;<BR><BR>I definitely agree with that. Orvieto is not too far. We stayed at a neat 12th century abbey hotel (La Badia). Great restaurant. Good spot to recharge your air travel batteries. Siena is an easy drive from Orvieto, and you can visit some great places along the way if you want (Pienza, Montalcino and Montepulciano come to mind). JimColorado is also correct that getting into Siena can be tricky. I always find that if a husband and wife can survive all the wrong turns and wrong directions attempting to drive into a European city without killing each other, the marriage should survive anything.

Thank you all for the info, i failed to mention that we were flying into the FCO airport, so it should be a bit easier, then driving from Rome city.

As soon as I read this question the other day, I thought the wrong ephasis was on Rome. Maybe the real question should be on &quot;how wise is to have a car for a stay in Siena?&quot;<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>[email protected]<BR>

If you need a hotel the day before you fly out from FCO, use the Hotel Riviera in Fiumicino. We had a very early flight and we left the hotel at 6:00AM and only passed 1 car before we got to the airport. It was a 5 minute drive to the airport car return. Drove down from Florence the day before, and got to the hotel at about 5PM. Hotel signs marked very well in Fiumicino. They guided us to a local fish restaurant for supper and we had a great meal(our American MC did not work at this restaurant). Walked around the area of the hotel and talked to very nice owners of a local grocery store. Everyone quite nice to us. We were a party of 4 ladies 46 to 60.