kybourbon

>>>Thursday- take train into Rome (dropping car in Orvieto) need to make a train reservation<<<

As pointed out, the majority of these trains are regional trains so you just buy your ticket at the station. There is no reserved seating or discounts and advance purchase regional tickets have more restrictions.

>>>I'm curious as how it is too much (not being sarcastic!!!) I've seen so many itineraries on here where people are moving around every 2 day<<<

I think it's too much on arrival day. Driving that far after an overnight flight is really not very safe.

>>> We live outside of a big city and basically that is what we do..we drive in for a fun activity in the morning<<<

You won't be "driving in" a lot of these places because you aren't allowed (ZTL). You can't drive in the center of Pisa, Lucca, Orvieto or any of the CT towns. Deruta is a long drive from Orvieto, not in miles, but in curvy roads and backed up traffic.

dc2002

Ky...I didn't mean literally driving in..we know about the ZTL zones. We never drove into the towns before but parked outside and walked to the walls. As mentioned above we will be parking in the free lot outside of Lucca and taking a cab in with our things.

It is what it is with us driving to Lucca . We need to make the best of it which is why I asked for good places to stop. Hopping on different trains at different stations much less paying for it (we are a family of 5) is not going to work for us. As a mom I can tell you that our ability to function with little sleep is amazing. Not saying that I think it is a great idea but we will make it work safely. We have driven staring at 2 am for 15 hours straight with 2 gas stops only more times than I can count when they were babies...in blizzards I might add.

Thank you for the great Rome suggestions everyone! Just got back from the library (more tour books!) and will be making a more concrete plan with all of the suggestions

bvlenci

I'll add that you could also take the coastal route to Lucca, in which case Orbetello would be a nice stop, a seaside town on a little peninsula, with great views. We ran into heavy traffic on this route; I don't know if it's common.

annhig

bvl - i was in Orbetello for a week a few years ago and mostly it was pretty easy to get in and out of traffic-wise except at weekends when it is apparently invaded by romans escaping the capital.

if the OP is arriving mid-week, then it would be a good option. they could even head for the lagoon and have a swim!

bvlenci

It wasn't just getting in and out of Orbetello that caused us problems. The entire route, from Lucca to Cerveteri, was running rather slow.

kalnalcl

bvienci - totally agree about Collodi, nothing to see it's so run down. We much preferred Vinci especially for the kids. A beautiful little village, scenic olive groves, great Leonardo museum with interactive exhibits the kids loved. But I suppose it's really not on the way to Lucca from Rome, so not a stop-on-the-way contender.

annhig

bvl - i can't help about the rest of the route and whether it's always slow as I got the train there and back. But when we were going on day trips, the traffic did not seem to be a problem, except at the weekend.