Hello,

After much arm-twisting, my boyfriend has finally agreed to spend part of our July trip to Italy in Tuscany. The problem is he will agree to only 2 days (for some reason he says he is not at all excited about seeing Tuscany). Anyway, we will be leaving for the Tuscany area from Monterosso in the Cinque Terre so I was hoping to pick up a rental car from La Spezia and drop it off in Chiusi or Orvieto before training to Rome. I would like to spend the 2 nights in or near Montepulciano. The problem is that I went on the AutoEurope site and they don't seem to allow rental for 2 days. Does that sound right? Do I need to call instead? Also, the prices I saw on other sites (i.e., Avis and Hertz) were over $200 for a 2 day rental. That is steep! Is that price average? I would appreciate any suggestions for a car rental agency that is affordable. Otherwise, it looks like we may have to drive to Rome and save the cost of two train tickets from Chiusi/Orvieto to at least make the rental worth it.

I would also appreciate any suggestions for a nice hotel/villa/farmhouse in or near Montepulciano for 200 euro or less. Is it better to stay inside the town walls or outside?

Thanks so much!

That sounds very odd. WE rented for 3 days and it was around the same price it is to rent in the states. We reserved online. Also, I suggest training to Pisa from Monterosso before driving into Tuscany.

ttt

Short car rentals are more expenisive per day. It's not unusual to find a 3 day rental will cost not much more than 1 day.
Monterosso to Montepulciano will take about 3 1/2 hours. And that's if you don't take the more scenic route.
As much as I love the Val d'Orcia area,I'd recommend staying closer to Florence and training from there.Chianti makes a nice option.
You might stay in Lucca and not need a car.
Another idea is to train from Florence to Orvieto and stay there.

lawgirl, Montelpulciano.... hmm.... memories from some time back.... Try La Terrazza di Montelpulciano at Via Pie al Sasso. Great little hotel, in the middle of the walled town, and a very gracious host who takes personal pride. Well within $200 a night budget.

Have fun.

Does anyone have suggestions for rental car agencies other than AutoEurope? I really want to see Southern Tuscany but can't make it without a car. Thanks!

Hmm..for auto rental, try Nova Car Hire. Haven't used them myself but have read about them favourably on this board. For our summer stay in Montelpulciano, we are staying at Relais San Bruno..in our research, it stood out.
cheers,
CC

lawgirl
You can rent from Avis or Hertz, the Hertz office is right outside the train station in Chiusi and is really easy. Before i bought my car here in Tuscany, I always used them, and found their prices at the end of the day to be about the same as any other option. I don't think they get much cheaper than $100 a day in the summer...
If you're looking to stay in the town of Montepulciano, look into my friends who have the Locanda San Francesco. It is a new place as of last summer, with only a couple of rooms.

I'm sure it will be worth the arm twisting!
www.la-bandita.com

Call AutoEurope.

I used Auto Europe in March. Their prices were high, but they ended up matching Nova pricing, saving me over $150. They were very pleasant about matching. For 9 days, my rental was $375.