How do I get from Venice to Montalcino?
 

What is the best way to get from Venice to Montalcino using maximum public transportion and minimal driving? I will want to have a rental car while in Montalcino. Where can I pick that up?

Train from Venice to Chiusi and pick up a car there.

Or Siena !

Siena may be better as you may have a better shot at the type of car you want. The rental agency in Chiusi may be too small to have the car you want. We got stuck with a gasser in Orvieto when we should have had a diesel-they only had about 5 cars at Avis. They don't have one sent in just for you, ya know....

The other option is Orvieto, but Chiusi is closer. The hertz location in Orvieto is essentially across the street from the train station. Book through auto europe though.

There is also a rental office in Arezzo, which is a 3-hour train ride from Venezia and a 90 minute drive to Montalcino.

Siena is about a 4 hour train ride and an hour to Montalcino.

Some of this depends on when you plan to leave Venice, and therefore what time you plan to pick up your car. Some car rental offices close from about 12:30 to 4pm, and that can change on weekends and at various times of the year.

But you if plan to leave Venice around 9am, you don't want a 4 hour train ride to a town unless you are interested in having lunch there, and perhaps doing a bit of sightseeing while you wait for the rental office to re-open.

i checked trenitalia's website and entered venice to siena and it gave me a direct route. but im skeptical b/c nobody has ever mentioned a direct route before. do you think it's true? if so, would that be the best option? but i've also read that the siena train station is a bit out of the way.

I'm not seeing any direct Venice-Siena trains on trenitalia.com. Every option I see has a change in Florence. What is the train # you're seeing?

Practice, practice, practice drinking!

Does this sound right?
From Florence, get a train to Siena and from Siena to Buonconvento. From Buonconvento, take the local train and the bus up to Montalcino.

If so, where do I get the bus?

dtph,
Once you get to Buonconvento you walk across the street to the left to catch the bus to Montalcino. Or you can take the bus from Siena that connects to the Buonconvento - Montalcino bus. Here is the schedule http://www.trainspa.it/train04/extraurbano.pdf

But what are you going to do about a car. There is no rental agency in Buonconvento or Montalcino.

I read that there are taxis in Montalcino. Do you think we'll be ok with relying on those for 3 days?

dtph,
There are no taxi in Montalcino but there is a car and driver http://montalcinotravel.com/intro_eng.htm