Train or car from Tuscany to Venice?
 

Hello all. We will be spending a week in a villa near San Gimignano the week before Easter and will have a rental car for the week. Then on the day before Easter we go to Venice for a few nights. I'm trying to figure out where and when to return the rental car. Should we drive to Venice and return it there (this seems like it might be the easier option) or return the car at the airport in Florence and then take a train to Venice. If we go to Florence I think we would have to then get from the airport to the main train station in the city. Am I right?

Of course, the fact that we're traveling right at Eastertime throws an additional logistical wrench into the planning.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

Why not drive--- the option will be too much hassle.
Return the car at Piazzale Roma as you cross the causeway. It is all autostada most of the way.

We drove and would do it again. Once you are in the car, you might as well just go on to Venice. The car return area at Piazzale Roma is right at the vaporetto stop, so it is an easy transfer from the car onto the water bus that will take you into Venice. One warning - we dropped our car on a Sunday after the office was closed, putting our keys in a drop box there. We must not have done it correctly though, because we were charged for an extra day.

Where will you rent the car? If it's downtown Florence why not return it there and take the short walk to the SMN train station. I've done that a few times and find it easy enough.
It's a lot less stressful to take the train to Venice and enjoy the scenery.

We drove into Venice and would take that option again. You drop it off in the big Piazzale Roma car park and take the short walk along with other thousands of people there, to the vaporetto. You will be charged the fee for using the car park however which was around 20-30 euro I think.

We dropped our rental car at the florence train station as the hertz location is across the street; then took the train from florence to venice; very easy!

I don't know about how very easy it is to drive in Florence; the entire ZTL thing is something I try to avoid.

You already have the car. Drive.

As long as you already have the car you may as well drive. Just be sure that there is an office of the company yu are renting from at the Piazzale Roma (end of the causeway from mainland to Venice).

Thank you so much everyone for your help. I think we'll go for the driving option. Now off to book the car!