This is our first family (of 4)trip to Europe (husband and I were in England 20 years ago, but that's it.) We'll be in Italy 15 nights. The first 4 in Rome, the next 3 in Venice, the next 3 in Florence, the next 4 unplanned and the final night in Rome (March 25, the Friday of Easter weekend.) We fly home March 26.

We would like to spend the unplanned days in Tuscany and Umbria. My 16-year-old daughter loves art but my 13-year-old son doesn't do well in museums (there are developmental issues involved.) We all enjoy just looking around by foot, train, bus or car (my husband likes architecture and metalwork) and we would like to see some of the Tuscany coast and the famed Tuscany/Umbria countryside. My main stumbling block has been deciding whether to rent a car for these 4 nights (being so inexperienced at travel planning, this seems a bit intimidating) or trying to plan a route with public transportation. At this point we're leaning toward car rental--pick up at the Florence airport on March 21 and drop off in Orvieto March 25 on our way to Rome for the last night (we're open to suggestions for the pick up or drop off.)

Any specific recommendations of what to do with these 4 nights (and where to stay!) would be greatly appreciated. Friends of ours really liked Assisi so I thought maybe 2 nights in Siena and 2 in Assisi might give us a nice perspective. The rooms we have booked in Rome, Venice and Florence are ranging 180-200E per night for quad rooms with breakfast in 3 star accomodations. I do not want to go above this price range for the final nights we need to book.

I notice AutoEurope is popular. Is there a reason that Hertz is not more popular on this site? The Hertz site gave me a price of 325E for a Ford Fiesta and AutoEurope was 303 for a Fiat Punto (I'm not familiar with this car.) They also gave an option for a diesel--is this type of fuel easy to get in the countryside? What kind of insurances do you suggest getting on the rental?

I've been on the Trenitalia site to look at transportation from Rome to Venice and Venice to Rome. Is trying to get discounts for the kids worth it (does it involve getting a special card?) I haven't been able to find many explanantions on the site (how to get a under 26 discount card and cost, how to pick up reserved tickets, the difference between first class and second class seats) so any insight here would also be most welcome.

My internet connection is extremely slow (and my computer tends to bog down.) It has taken me many long days to get to the point I am now so any specific help is greatly appreciated. Thank you, in advance. I'm sure I'll have many more questions in the next few days, so please bear with me.

Hi leah,

You can buy your tickets online at www.trenitalia.com/en for the special rate of 29E each, instead of 44E. This is about the same as the Yout railcard.

The family rate is only for kids under 12.

I suggest that you spend one of your nights in Orvieto. The kids will like the funicular ride up the hill.

It also has train service to Rome.

Did your quote from Hertz include all inclusive insurance?

As for a car for the other three days, you can bus from Florence to Siena for 6.5E and stay overnight or do it as a daytrip.

Florence to Lucca and Pisa is 7E pp.
You can do this as a daytrip

Florence to Orvieto is 14E.

You could take a daytrip to Bologna - 16E RT

Hope this helps.

Thank you, Ira, it helps a lot.

a punto(which i refer to as a puta) is a cracker box on wheels hardly enough room for 4 people and luggage. you neen to thing a station wagon or a van. if you can get a deisel do so the milage is much better and its cheaper than gas. watch the pumps it is called either deisel or gasolio the deisel blue being the preminum grade

A car is good for Tuscany/Umbria. And picking it up at the Florence airport is a good idea. However, driving in and out of Siena is difficult--assuming you stay inside the walls. In Assisi, it depends on where you stay. The easy-to-drive-to places are not close to the old town.

You should consider staying outside of town in an agriturismo. Maybe one in Tuscany and one in Umbria. Easier come and go, and your son in particular might really enjoy it.

Really 2 nights isn't much. Maybe just pick one of Umbria or Tuscany. In Tuscany you could do Siena, San Gimignano, Lucca, Pisa, and Orvieto. In Umbria, you could do Assisi, Gubbio, Spello, Deruta, and Orvieto.

leahz - we had never been to Europe before and rented a car in 2002, it is not at all problematic - neither is the driving. We did rent from Hertz, had no problems, picked up in Milan, dropped off in Venice.

We had a Punto - quite small. Italian cars are very small by American standards, so either prepare your kids for it (you won't be in the car THAT much) or go up a size.

Sounds like you have most of your planning done quite beautifully - enjoy your trip!

The backseat of a Punto is extremely small. I wouldn't subject teenagers to sitting back there for four days. Plus, the "trunk" is unlikely to hold all your luggage unless you are only traveling with carryons. Considering you are looking for last minute accomodation during holy week, when Italy is full of tourists and pilgrims, I'd pick one location, either Tuscany or Umbria, and try to find a hotel or agriturismo that has space four your family of four in your price range right now. Finding one place to stay might not be too bad, but trying to find two at this late date would be difficult. You could try something central, like Cortona. From there you could see much of Tuscany and Umbria.

Orvieto has an interesting underground tour that both your kids would probably like (mind did). Also, while in Florence, go to the history of Science museum.

In Orvieto we spent a night in a quad at the Palazzo Piccolomini. It was a 2 room suite. The hotel is very nice (4*), and reasonable as compared to hotels in the big 3. We also spent an afternoon in San Gimingnano just walking around. My kids enjoyed the little medieval like towns. If we had more time, we would have visited more small towns.

Autoeurope are brokers. I always rent through them and its usually an Avis car. Orvieto is an excellent choice. The Avis office is a three minute cab ride from the station. I certainly nominate Locanda Rosati, a few km south of Orvieto for charming rooms and memorable dinners. Go to I Sette Consoli near the top of the funicular in Orvieto. Terrific food. Also, visit the shop of Michaelangeli for outstanding wood sculptures. I shot my allowance and then some. Buon viaggio.

Another thumbs up for Pisa, Siena and Orvieto. We were there a week ago. Since these towns are relatively small and have 1-2 majot hotspots, you can easily cover them, if you have a car.

You could rent a car at Florence, drive to Pisa (1 hr) for photos at the tower. What we did after seeing Pisa was driving to Carrara for Italy's famous marble with an interesting mine tour (1 hour drive from Pisa; 1 hour tour).

In the 1 week of March driving into/ out of Siena was quite easy. Siena's Duomo (painting/ architecture) and Il Campo(people-watch at Italy's biggest piazza/ climb the clock tower) are the 2 major attractions. Enjoy at least one evening in Siena.

You can drive to Orvieto (1 hour by autostrada; but you could choose the Michelin scenic route to hop small [wine-producing] towns en-route). In half a day in Orvieto, you can see the impressive Ethruscan underground caves, St. Patrick's Well (your husband will surely find both very interesting), and the Duomo.

Assisi is just OK (after seeing Rome/ Florence, it may look quite ordinary actually), but parking in the old town was a challenge for us.