Driving in Italy
 

Hello,

1. I am considering renting a car from Sorrento to Rome. I thought it might be cheaper and save time than using train for four of us. I would have to drop the car in downtown Rome. Am I crazy thinking of doing this? Private transfer is 300 euros. Is that a good price?

2. After my stay in Rome, I am also planning on renting car in Rome - not far fome our Hotel Concordia. I would like to drive to Tuscany where I will be staying 3 nights at Fattoria Il Colombaio. We would like to make one full day and one day we would drive to outside Florence then take train into the city. First of all, is it going to be really tough to drive out of Rome towards Tuscany? Any reccomendations where we could go when we are in Tuscany? Pisa? Coast?

3. From Tuscany, I would drive to Venice and drop the car at downtown Venice location. Again, any idea how this will be?

I have driven in almost all major US/Canadian cities including NY City, LA, and Boston. Thanks.

Are you landing in Naples and starting from Sorrento?

Or are you landing in Rome? If the latter I would do rome first, then rent the car - drive to Sorrento, up to Tuscany and drop at Venice. That way you avoid 2 cars (it's often cheaper to rent for a longer time - as well as driving both in and out of rome.

(And you can;t drop in downtown Venice - there are no streets. You drop at the end of the causeway at the Piazzele Roma - where you pick up the water taxi or vaporetto to get to your hotel.)

In mid May, rented a car in Palermo; drove to Taormina 3 n); then to Ravello (4n) and finally, FCO. US$381. incl d/o.
Piece of cake and would not be there without a car - even 'tho we took a bus from Ravello to Amalfi and the ferries from there to ...
Buen viaje.
M

When we rented a car in Rome to drive to Tuscany a month ago, we rented thru Europcar and picked it up in Borghese Gardens. They gave us written directions on how to get out of town. We did make a wrong turn tho,ended up in the same place we started, then tried again.
Warning: Directions, street signs, highway markings, etc. are no where near as good as the US.

We also picked up our car rental near Borghese, followed the clerk at the rental office's directions, and wound up going in circles. Once we got the right directions from a street vendor, it was very simple getting out of the city and onto the Autostrada.
As for where to go in Tuscany - in my opinion the most scenic areas are between Florence and Sienna (Chianti area), and south of Sienna in the Montepulciano area. I wouldn't consider the seacoast or the area around Pisa to be the most memorable.

I woud also consider getting an IDP (International Driving Permit).
M

I am not familiar with where you are staying in Tuscany. How far is it from Florence?

Would it be easier to take the train from Rome to Florence and rent the car there?

Are you driving from Tuscany to venice simply to turn the car in or are you planning to stop and see things on the way?

If the former, how about taking the train from Florence to Venice or would that involve backtracking from where you are actually staying?

Thanks you all. I fly into Naples, go to Sorrento first. No plans to go to Naples - Canadian gov. advisory issued about garbage piling up in streets. Basically we are 3 nights in Sorrento (Hotel Gardenia), 3 nights in Rome (Concordia), 3 nights in Tuscay (Fattoria Il Colombaio), 2 nights in Venice(Concordia). Then 4 nights in Wengen, Switzerland to wind down.

I did check about train to Florence and then renting the car but it does not seem to be cost effective for 4 of us. Because the car rental would still be 3 days regardless if I rent in the morning or evening.

I did the directions using Google map. It seems to be pretty simple. I even made movie using Google Earth Pro which hovers at 70 feet above the roads. I got a price of $C369 for Audi A4 for 3 days(CAA/AAA discount).