On my way back from Montalcino to Rome, I am planning on returning the rental car at the Hertz at the Termini. My hotel for the night is also at Termini (we fly out next morning). Do you think it would be easy to drive into Rome and return car at the Termini?

It can be done if you have a really good driving - as opposed to walking street map - since most streets are one way - and often you can;t get there from here.

Driving in Rome or Florence is not for the faint of heart. You will need a really good street map, good navigator and somewhat agressive driving.

Have you looked at turning your car in at Orvieto and taking the train into Rome. It is very easy and will take away a bunch of stress.

My husband attempted this. Since he was able to do it in Naples, he thought he can do it in Rome.

His plan was to drop us off at the apartment near the Pantheon with all our luggages, and then return the car at Termini. No problem approaching Rome, but once you get off A1 and into central Rome, all streets become one way, and the traffic becomes unmanageable and unbearable and we got totally lost. So finally, he decided to just turn the car into Termini and we got a taxi to our apartment.

Be careful at Termini....the traffic forks and if you are in the wrong lane, you'll go round and round again.

Good luck!!

Drop your car in Siena and take the Sena bus to Rome.
http://www.sena.it/index_e.htm?CID=A...TAFWWQ03913123

If you don't have a time limit, are in a calm mood to begin with, don't have to go to the bathroom, are not hungry or thirsty, you should be ok driving right into Rome. Have a good map and a good navigator, and drive deliberately.

On one lengthy stay in Rome, I drove in and out of the city often, my son who was learning to drive drove in and out of Rome too.

Have fun, and I think it is a good idea to return the car to termini and then just stay overnight right near there.

or, like mentioned, drop off the car in Orvieto.

If you're going to drop the car first and take the train into Rome, it makes much more sense to drop it in Orvieto. Siena would be in the opposite direction from Montalcino to Rome.

Since you apparently have no plan to sightsee in Rome, why not return the car at the airport and stay in a nearby hotel?

We have driven into Rome from Montalcino twice , and plan to do so again this summer.

It is not easy, but manageable only if you have someone else to help you navigate (or a navigational system, of course) and like someone else said, a good road map.

We have dropped our car at the Borghese Rental return, so I can't comment on the Termini location.

Dina4 -
We are planning to drop off our car at the Borghese return also - a question - when I used mappy.com to get directions, at the end it said there was a "gate" - is this to enter the rental return area? We will be coming from Naples.

conlet, both times, my husband dropped us at our hotel, very close to the Borghese Gardens, and the valet directed him to the return. He said it was VERY easy, but i will ask him tonight if he remembers a gate.

where are you staying in Montalcino? We loved that town so much!!

Trying to drive to the Pantheon has no relation to driving into Rome from Tuscany and ending up at Termini -- you do not go near the harrowing historical center. It is quite easy so long as you have fairly detailed instructions before you do it. Frankly that sounds a lot easier than turning the car in at Orvieto, changing to a train with luggage and taking the train to Termini, then getting to your hotel.

okay, he has no recollection of any kind of gate.

Thanks for the info - we will not be in Montalcino - will be coming north from the AC.

Personally I am choosing the return to Orvieto plan for this quandary. Does anyone know if the Orvieto train station has a locker for luggage storage (or offers it for a fee)? We would like to explore Orvieto for a few hours before heading to Rome.

The time of day and day of week make a difference to how I would answer this question. We have driven in and out of Rome a number of times. Sunday at 9am, no sweat-Tuesday at 9am-no WAY!