we have rented a villa in the Castelfiorentino area and were planning to take sidetrips to rome, venice, florence, etc. i have been told that the roads are so narrow that we will probably just want to stay put. how long does it take to drive between these cities? supposedly it's only 3 hours to rome. and are the roads really so bad that i won't want to leave?

The roads in Italy are pretty much like the ones in the States. Go to Mapquest or one of the other map sites for driving distances.

The only roads that I have found that are narrow compared to those in the States were in Ireland.

Driving in Italy is a piece of cake.

I don't know if I would take sidetrips to Venice or Rome from Tuscany. I would go to those places for 2-3 days.

Enjoy Tuscany!

It is about 3 and a half hours to Rome or Venice from Castelfiorentino and about 1 hour to Florence. By sidetrip do you mean a daytrip to these cities? That might be feasible to Florence although it would be hard to see the major sites in Florence in a day but a few hours in Rome or Venice would not give you much time to see anything in those cities.

We stayed for a week in Montepulciano last summer. Although we drove around Tuscany and from Venice and the Dolomites for that matter, we decided to take the train into Rome for a day. We had previously visited Rome and just wanted to do a short visit for our kids. So we drove to the nearest train station and took the train. It was great. We had a long but very enjoyable day in Rome. We thought it would be easier than negotiating the driving in Rome.

Just be picky about what you would want to see in Rome to utilize your time well.

Travelatte

I just love all the "we have been told" myths.

If you want driving distances and times between places you can consult www.mappy.com for pretty accurate descriptions.

Even on my first visit to Tuscany more than 25 years ago the roads weren't so narrow you'd "just want to stay put." The roads aren't any different from the roads in New Jersey or Virginia or California. It's not a third-world country, and they take driving pretty seriously.

I also wouldn't take "side trips" to Venice and Rome from Tuscany. I'd plan my trip so as to spend a couple of nights at least in each of those places as well as the villa in Castelfiorentino. For one thing, you don't want to drive into Rome, and you can't drive into Venice. You could do side trips there by train perhaps, but it would depend on how much travel time you have all together.

thank you so much. we have a few days before going to the villa and i had planned on spending those in rome. our travel agent is the one that said to use those days in florence instead of driving there while staying at the villa. also, would you rent a car? or just use trains and taxis?

I would use a rental car for getting around to all the small villages/towns in Tuscany. Once you are in the large cities, you don't really need a rental car and can get buy using local transportation.

Italian roads are fine, but I've never stayed (or would want to stay)in a villa on a road.

Without exception, every villa I've ever rented has been several hundred yards off the road up an unmade track. Many of these tracks presented a challenge at the best of times: all could be tricky when first encountered, at night, or in severe weather.

And however good the public roads' construction and maintenance might be (and maintenance can be variable), going up a twisty hill road in Italy when there's other traffic about, or driving through a town, isn't the same as switching on the cruise control in the American West.

And Italian autostrade are nothing like US freeways. They're narrower, bends are a lot sharper and other drivers a lot faster (and, mostly, better). The chiaroscuro effect of coming out of an unlit tunnel into brilliant sun, at 110 mph, repeatedly, is unusual indeed.

Getting from a villa to any major town (and in "major", I'm including Cortona, Montepulciano etc) will always involve some or all the excitements I've listed above. To some people, they're part of the fun: to others they're a real nuisance, and a strong incentive not to leave the villa.

There's no way of predicting how your party will split on this, and no location information about any villa ever tells you enough about all of this.

So P Texas' agent may be correct in predicting P Texas' desires, or he may not. But P Texas should expect that not everyone in the party will be equally keen to do a lot of driving, and shouldn't assume P Texas will either.

thanks again for the info. i am definitely going to do my research about this particular villa. as this is my first and prob. only visit to europe (there is not enough xanax in the world to get on a plane), i really wanted to see everything i could. i do prefer the countryside to big cities, so little towns are preferable to major ciites. but the art......

Hi PT,

There is a train station in Castelfiorentino.

It will take you about 3 hr to train to Rome, 1 hr to Florence, and 4:30-5:30 hr to Venice.

You can drive to Venice in as little as 3:30 hr on the autostrada - 5:30 hr by the scenic route.

How far is your villa from the train station?

You certainly don't want to drive in Rome or Florence, and you can't take a car beyond the parking area in Venice.

>we have a few days before going to the villa and i had planned on spending those in rome.

I think that that is a good idea. You can get to Florence easily.

How long will you be at the villa?As much as I love Venice, if you will be in Tuscany for only a week, I suggest that you spend your time there and keep Venice for another visit.

PS,

Train schedules, prices, and tickets are at www.trenitalia.com.

Bus schedules are at http://www.sitabus.it/wps/portal

Car rentals are at www.novarentacar.com and www.autoeurope.com

You might want to visit Montaione.
http://tinyurl.com/992mp

The highways and country roads are fine. I would not drive into Rome, that's requires a lot of patience and a good navigator, and even with that, it's tough. The smaller cities are more manageable.

once again, thanks for your invaluable info. i am a novice traveler and never even thought about looking for the transportation schedules. i'm going to download the schedules and if the road to the villa isn't too treacherous at night, just make day trips to close-by places. we're staying at the Podere Montaione so montaione is a definite.

Hi PT,

>...if the road to the villa isn't too treacherous at night,...<

If I may suggest:

Upon arrival at the villa, drop the luggage, get in the car and drive around the neighborhood.

Drive from the villa to the train station and back several times around dusk so that you learn the route with the street lights on.

When you first get the car, make sure that you know how to:

open the fuel cap (is it gas or diesel?),
raise the hood,
release the parking brake and
put the car in reverse.

Have a very nice visit.