fernweh1

Thanks to your brain wave Jean. That may make for a good option, especially if there is an issue (or proves to be cost prohibitive) in terms of a one way car hire. You mentioned that it is easy driving out of Chiusi, is driving out of Siena much more complex? I’m going to do some research - I definitely have the time lol) on some of these towns that could be our bases if we opt not to stay in Siena.

Pienza on first glance (I’ve been cooped up in the house due to this dreary, dreary weather so I’m glancing a lot today!) looks like it might be nice. We’d like something not too small, with shoppes and the potential to go to a market or two, and hopefully gives us the ability to feel a part of the culture in this area of Italy. I’m looking forward to learning more! Thanks everyone!

TDudette, your posts and TRs are so wonderful to read and I’ve taken many mental and actual notes from them. I hope we can fit in Florence, but Siena is a must for us. Daughter just loved that place!

TDudette

Thanks, fernweh1! I'm looking forward to reading all about your trip.

Jean

Driving away from Siena isn't difficult, but....

Siena is a fairly big city now, bigger than the idea most people have of the place. (Its population is about 5x that of Chiusi.) On our last visit, pre-Covid so maybe 5 years ago, we encountered slow traffic both leaving and returning from daily excursions, generally in what we would call rush hours. Depending on where you're headed and where your hotel is can make a big difference because you can't drive across the city, you have to drive around it. The Hotel Palazzo Ravizza (I think I mentioned it upthread) is very convenient for most excursions and for getting away, just a few turns to leave and return, but the rush hour traffic is still there. Check the location of any car rental company you're considering. Some are in more convenient locations than others. We've used Hertz which is just a block or two from the train station. Europcar and Locauto seem to be in a fairly remote spots, so you'd need to taxi. I think Avis has left Siena. I don't know of any other companies.

Look at maps.google.com. Search "car rentals Siena Italy" and "car rentals Chiusi Italy" and note how tiny the town of Chiusi is in comparison to Siena and how close the rental offices are to the train station and to the road that takes you away from the city center. I suppose Chiusi now also has its version of rush hours, but the population is so much smaller that I can't imagine the traffic amounts to much. Chiusi also has an Avis office in addition to Europcar and Hertz.

KTtravel

We did encounter traffic driving in and out of Siena (from the previously mentioned Hotel Palazzo Ravizza, which we loved.) It is a great place to stay if you want to concentrate on Siena and perhaps just do a day trip. However, if your focus is being out and about, I think Jean's suggestion is a good one to consider. I haven't been to Chiusi.

fernweh1

I had a conversation with the kids about next year (Happy Mother's Day to all who are celebrating it!) and we are leaning toward staying outside of Siena and taking a day trip there. I have been looking and reading about San Quirico and Montepulciano. Both of these towns would be a short drive, like Pienza, from Chiusi after we pick up the car. (BTW, I tried plugging in a one way hire on AutoEurope, Hertz and Europecar from Siena just to investigate that first option, but had no luck. Kept showing a disclaimer about the added costs, but then would not let me choose a drop off site after trying to identify a vehicle. I did it with numerous dates in this calendar year just to see, but couldn't get anywhere. Maybe it would work later as time got closer)

All of those towns are options as they come in around/under an hour drive- according to Google maps- to many of the places we are interested in. I guess if we centered ourselves in that area of Tuscany, we may forgo seeing San Gimignano, Colle and Volterra, but I would rather not drive too much of the time. I think an hour or less to get to the first stop is enough for me. I just hope that keeping Siena as a full day trip will suffice. I also need to consider the timeframe for touring as I do not want to drive at night. I'd like to be back to our base for dinner each night, so keeping places to see a bit closer would be wise.

Thanks again for all your advice thus far!

KTtravel

You might try calling AutoEurope or Kemwel (owned by the same company but I have found they sometimes have different options) and discussing this by phone. I have found them to be helpful.

italynovice

I have stayed in both places in the past and will again stay in San Quirico during an upcoming trip, picking up a rental car in Chiusi. Your children, I think, will enjoy staying in Montepulciano much more than San Quirico. It’s a fun, walkable town to wander around in with lots of shopping and several good restaurants. San Quirico is a very small village, more a one butcher and one baker kind of place, though also with a few good restaurants, which is why I enjoy staying there. I think it might seem too quiet for them.

fernweh1

thanks Italynovice for information on those two towns. They both are definitely options for us. I should clarify, my two “ kids” are in their mid to late twenties, so not really what most would think are kids! (How old do they have to be before I stop calling them my kids? Lol)

I don’t think quiet would bother them too much at all. If one is less touristy over the other and is more conducive to getting a feel for the culture there, they would lean toward that. I think having the end of the trip in Rome and the day trip to Siena will give them enough of an urban “fix”. What are suggestions for accommodations for either SQ or Montepulciano?

Couple of updates on information I have posted, maybe sharing will help others looking at similar travel. I emailed EuropCar about the one way drop off from Siena to Chiusi. It is an option and based on 2022 would be an additional 40 euro charge pus VAT. I thought that was a reasonable charge actually, I was expecting much more. I’m still run leaning towards Jean’s Chiusi plan, but it’s good to know that we could do the other if we wanted to.

Jean

I much prefer Montepulciano too, but I hesitated to recommend it too highly to someone who is a bit hesitant about driving a stick shift car. The approaches to both Pienza and SanQ are flatter. Montepulciano isn't crazy difficult, but you might want to pick your lodging with ingress/egress in mind. (No shortage of charming lodging in Montepulciano!) All three towns are quieter at night, but SanQ is pretty quiet during the day, too.

A one-way surcharge of 40-45 euros doesn't sound bad at all and is only a few euros more than the train fare Chiusi-Siena x4.

kybourbon

** (BTW, I tried plugging in a one way hire on AutoEurope, Hertz and Europecar from Siena just to investigate that first option, but had no luck.**

You have to match brand to brand when choosing locations (AutoEurope doesn't have cars, they are linking you to other companies). I've picked up Hertz near the Siena train station and dropped at Orvieto (a bit south of Chiusi). Had some issues with the Hertz office in Orvieto (as have others) which was a franchise, not corporate. In Italy, I try to look for corporate locations to avoid problems. You also have to know which hours the various locations are open. Many are closed 12-3 or 1-4, closed half day on Saturday and closed on Sunday so if you pick those days/times, the OTA's won't show availability.

I've stayed in Siena multiple times and you can use buses to get places, but not on Sunday. Timing can be difficult though. If you took the bus from Siena to Montalcino, the return bus might not be at the time you are ready to return. The buses between Siena/Florence are frequent and faster than the train if you take the rapid bus.

Pre covid there was a bus from FCO to Siena (via Civitavecchia, Grosseto and Orbetello). I don't know if it's started back or will or whether the timing would work for your arrival. I think SitBus was running that so you might want to keep an eye out for that if you decide to start in Siena. If you are taking the train from FCO, you would need to take the Leonardo Express from FCO to Termini and change for a regional train to Chiusi. If you are going on to Siena, you would have to change in Chiusi to a train for Siena. Even if you picked up a car in Chiusi, if you arrive on Saturday, it's doubtful you would make it to Chiusi by 1pm (often rentals will close at 1 on Sat.). Orvieto has a couple of car companies and is a couple of stops before Chiusi, but you would likely get there after hours too.

Tiemme has one bus a day from FCO to Siena at 10:45. I doubt it sells out so if you were to arrive in time, you could probably just buy a ticket then.

https://www.tiemmespa.it/i-nostri-se...ino-aeroporto/

Pienza is tiny and you can walk across it in 5 minutes which might be smaller than what your group wants. It is easier in and out than Montepulciano or Montalcino. Of the towns you've mentioned, only Siena and Florence have much going on at night for twenty somethings. Most are fairly quiet by 9pm.

italynovice

I knew you meant young adults, I still call mine children in their 30s! I just meant a few more things to do like coffee shops, wine bars, and some shops for gifts to bring back home. San Quirico has no cars on their one primary village street, so we parked outside of the village and walked up stairs to our Air BnB. I recall one shop on that street, one mini store for basic grocery items, and a bar/cafe with coffee in the morning and wine/beer in the evening. We were across the street from their one bakery. There is a fancy hotel with a nice restaurant with outdoor seating. There is a peaceful Romanesque church. Villagers wandering down the street in the evenings, children playing. There is a butcher and true grocery store on the periphery but not really in the walking part of the village. I am staying again in an air BnB for my upcoming trip that opens to the main walking street. The village is fairly flat which is helpful given my knee issues.
I have stayed at the Politian Apartments in Montepulciano. The owner was delightful and location perfect. It was close to the entrance of the town and parking was handy very near by. We walked everywhere in the town and only used the car for day trips. There is definitely some hilly walking! Both of these trips were within the past 6 or 7 years, so fairly recent recollections.

fernweh1

KyBourbon, great information, thank you! One question though, how can you get that bus link to show in English? I’ve seen British flags that when clicked translate, but didn’t see anything for that link. I agree that arriving on a Saturday to FCO is going to make a car pick up outside the airport difficult. It’ll be our first time navigating all of this - well, my first time anyway- and I’m sure we’ll be slow due to that. I thought if we do go the car hire route I am going to need to leave DC either on Wednesday night or Thursday night regardless of where we base.

italynovice, the village “feel” information on SQ, Pienza and Montepulciano gives us more to think about, also. I’m going to need to see what my two are thinking along those lines. Jean mentioned Montepulciano being on some hilly territory. If I were able to practice some on a manual on ascending and descending hills , would it be too difficult if we decided on that size town? I actually looked briefly at those apartments. One site said they were temporarily closed. Not sure if it was accurate. Anyway, thanks to all of you for your thoughts!

kybourbon

**KyBourbon, great information, thank you! One question though, how can you get that bus link to show in English? I’ve seen British flags that when clicked translate, but didn’t see anything for that link. **

LOL. Many Italian websites have an English link, but no actual English pages. If they do have any English, they don't translate everything such as Trenitalia. Trenitalia has some discounts or special fares that are only on the Italian web pages. What did you want to know about the buses? I have a color coded map of the bus routes with bus numbers for Siena province (which is the area that includes Pienza, Montalcino, etc.) at home, but I'm traveling at the moment. Might fly home tomorrow and then I could scan it.

**Jean mentioned Montepulciano being on some hilly territory.**

Montepuliciano is hilly, but you can't drive in it anyway because of ZTL. Most of the hilltowns have parking lots at the edges and some hotels/apartments will give you a pass to park in one of those. You park and walk in. Montalcino is steeper to reach than Montepulciano, but the town itself is not as hilly. Pienza is not steep to reach (but has some sweeping views in places) and the town itself is flat. All have ZTL (as does Siena, Florence, Rome, etc.). Montepulciano has a little internal bus that runs from the edge through the town so you don't have to walk the steep streets if you don't want. The others don't. San Gimignano has a bus that runs around the edge, but the town itself is basically flat.

It appears Montepulciano has a spring fair in May so that may affect traffic/parking and hotel availability. Check for fairs/festivals for the places you are thinking about staying. I've been in Montepulciano right before the rolling of the barrels (they were practicing) and it wasn't so crowded, but I imagine it would be on the actual day.

You will need an international driver's permit and learn the road signs. You will have to wait until closer to departure to get the permit because they expire.

I have visited the area by bus (Montepulicano, Pienza, Montalcino, Siena, San G) so it's not impossible. It's just not as flexible because schedules are more for workers and students, not tourists. Siena is the only one that would have any nightlife for young adults because they have a college, but it's mostly outside the historic center in the newer parts of town.

I've stayed in these apartments in Pienza. They have a nice interior garden, but most don't have comfortable seating inside. Wicker chairs or just kitchen chairs.

https://www.ilgiardinosegretopienza.it/il-giardino/

https://www.portalepienza.it/

https://www.prolocomontepulciano.it/en/

Here's a trip report from Jaime and Scott that covers the towns you are thinking about. It's dead of winter, but still talks about parking, rental cars, etc. along with Jaime's fabulous pics.

Jamikins and Bikerscott hit Tuscany for New Years