Hi everyone,

I'm not sure my husband and I want to drive all over europe (we are a bit intimidated). We are going to Venice, Lake Garda and Tuscany. We want to rent a car in Tuscany. However, I'm not sure we want to rent one sooner and drive from Garda to Tuscany.

How can we get from Garda to Tuscany. I'm staying in the northern part at Villa Feltrinelli. Can we take a train? If so where to where? I'm staying in San Gim.

Thanks in advance,
Natalie

Lakw Garda - Desenzano to Verona to Florence and on - the best rail route i think.

www.trenitalia.com for exact schedules - there could be other routes as well depending on time of day. take you about 4 hours i suspect with changes.

Thank you, i will look up the route now.
Natalie

Let's assume you go from Villa Feltrinelli in Gargnano to San Gimignano some time in the summer. The place to catch the train is Desenzano del Garda. Here are the Ferry timetables (you want Riva del Garda/Desenzano):

http://www.navigazionelaghi.it/itali...ndicegarda.htm

Assuming for the sake of argument a weekday, June 1, 2007, the first boat from Gargnano leaves at 9:36 a.m. and does not go all the way to Desenzano. You arrive in Sirmione at 11:01, and run to the boat leaving Sirmione at 11:05 to arrive in Desenzano at 11:25.

Now you go from Desenzano to Firenze. Which station in Firenze you go to depends to whether you are taking the bus or train from Firenze to Poggibonsi. Lets assume you intend to take trains to Poggibonsi.
So you take the 12:13 train from Desenzano to Padova(!) arriving 13:36, and depart at 13:56 for a train to Firenze Rifredi station which arrives at 16:19. You catch the 16:33 train to Poggibonsi, which arrives at 17:48. At this point you've had it and take a taxi (provided you can find one) from Poggibonsi to San Gimignano, or you wait for the bus.

Anyway, the point of the above exercize is that you have chosen to stay in places which are not easily accessed by public transportation.

If you drive from Gargnano to San Gimignano, it's about 250 miles, and will take around 4 hours. From Venice, Piazzale Roma to Gargnano is 125 miles, or 2 1/2 hours.

Even if you were to take public transport to San Gimignano, the nearest place to pick up a rental car would be Siena, I think. Anyway, logistically I think you'll have to rent a car. Public transport would be a nightmare.

thank you! The schedule is pretty hard to read... i have to take a better look at it. I would like to train to the Florence area where we'd rent a car. That is my goal right now.
Natalie

AutoEurope shows a rental car pick-up site in Desenzano and includes cars with automatic transmissions. I really think it would be easier to pick a car up there than in Florence. Navigating in Florence is really difficult - not the place you want to start your Italy driving experience.

You indicated elsewhere that you were apprehensive about driving to Fiumicino airport and were thinking of Orvieto as a drop-off point, and then train to Rome. Another drop-off point to consider is Chiusi - it's on the train line, 1 1/2 hours to Rome with no transfers, closer to San Gimignano and more rental companies are represented.

I would not rely on the train to get you to your 1;30 plane. I would either drive to Fiumicino and spend the night in an airport hotel, or drop the car in Orvieto or Chiusi and spend the night in Rome near Termini Station.

thank you lovisa, our flight departs rome 1:30pm, does that still warrant a Rome overnight? or could I train/drive to the airport that same day?

Get down to Milan, Venice or Brescia - anywhere virtually thats got a station, and catch the train to Florence, Siena, Lucca, Pisa or almost anywhere in Tuscany! It's that easy. Go to www.trenitalia.it on the web for timetables. Rail Europe is also very good. Italian trains are absolutely the best.
Best of Lucca
WH

Dear natc:

Have you checked the ferry connections for Desenzano to Gargnano when you arrive from Venice? I see only 5 boats a day stopping there, and some of those require a change.

Whether you arrive the day before really depends on how risk averse you are. Local trains can be late, and there's always the possibility of a short term wildcat strike on the train. With driving, there's always the possibility of an accident, construction detours, etc. If you miss your flight will you have to buy a new ticket? Yes, if all goes well you could get there for a 1:30 flight, but I wouldn't count on it.

If you don't want to spend your last night at an airport hotel, I would at least get west of Rome along the coast, so you don't have to drive through the worst of Rome area traffic. People on this and other boards have suggested staying in Fregene or Lido di Ostia. A little further north there are Santa Marinella or Ladispoli. I've seen good reviews for La Posta Vecchia in Ladispoli, though for what they charge, it should be nice:
http://www.lapostavecchia.com

Maybe Lido d'Ostia is not such a good idea. This was posted on Tripadvisor in February 2007:

" I live in Ostia Antica, I suggest you to book your hotel in fiumicino, if you don't want to waste your time in the morning it'll be not a good idea to stay in Ostia ,you'll find a traffic jam going from Ostia to fiumicino 'cause just one bridge connect them "ponte della scafa" ."

Re getting to Gargnano, I should amend the above to say I see only 5 direct boats after 10 a.m.: leaving Desenzano at 1015, 11:20, 14:15, 15:00, 16:55.

Here are bus schedules for Desenzano to Gargnano:

http://www.apt.vr.it/pdf/80.pdf

It's a little confusing because the main page for orari e linee calls this route 80 (in zone C), while the schedule calls it LN027

Hello Natalie,
I second the rec to take a look at Chiusi versus Orvieto for car rental return. We've used both and found Chiusi to be easier. I know you're working very hard on your planning....good for you!

thank you Lovisa! I appreciate all your advice here.

I guess I really wanted to spend my last night in tuscany. I thought it was a 3 hr drive to Rome from Siena? My thought was to drop my car in Siena and have a driver pick us up at like 7am, bringing us to Rome around 10am to noon depending on traffic.

Do you think it would take more than 5 hours to get to Rome? I dont mean to keep asking the same question, but i'm used to driving in New York and I guess I'm optimistic in thinking we could stay in Tuscany... Maybe i'm just naive?

Thanks in advance,
Natalie

Thanks dorkforcemom! I appreciate your input on this board! Its wonderful!!!! =)

I'm a natural-born worrier, so I wouldn't enjoy the last night knowing how far it is to the airport. If you can tolerate that uncertainty, go for it! However, I would bet that a transfer service from Siena to FCO probably costs more than a whole week car rental.

Your right its over $500. I'm not a natural born worrier, more of an semi-obsessive planner.

Once i have my itinerary planned, I feel confident!

Maybe its just stupidity hehe

Thanks again!!!
Nat

On viamichelin I plotted departure Venice, Piazzale Roma to FCO aiport with stops in Gargnano and San Gimignano. It shows a total distance of 875 km, about 525 miles - hardly driving all over Europe. For the kind of money you're talking about for car services you could rent the fanciest car in the fleet with GPS for considerably less.

Hertz shows a Premium BMW w/ automatic transmission for 8 days (assuming May 31 - June 7), for EURO 993, and an economy car with automatic, a Ford Fiesta for Euro 435.

The logistics are easiest the fewer times you change modes of transportation. If you just get a car as you leave Venice, it really is the simplest of all. (Also viamichelin shows its more like 2 hours to Gargnano, not over 3 for 125 miles.)