Transportation in Italy - rent a car or stick to trains?
 

My soon-to-be husband and I will be traveling through Italy on our honeymoon this fall.

Right now, we are struggling with our transportation situation getting from Venice to Tuscany (about 30 minutes south of Florence) and then down to Rome.

We thought of 2 options:

- take train from Venice to Florence, rent a car for our 3 days in Tuscany, return the car in Florence and take the train down to Rome.

- rent a car in Venice and drive to Tuscany, then drive down to Rome and turn in the car at the Rome airport.

I would love to hear any advice you all have regarding the whole "driving" situation in Italy. I have heard traffic in Rome is a nightmare, but figured the airport would be removed from the city, so it may not be that bad to drop the car off at Rome airport. Thanks in advance!

I would take the train from Venice to Florence, rent the car outside of Florence, then return it at the Rome airport and taxi into the city.

I agree with ekc with one modification. Don't return the car at the Rome airport. Instead - return it in beautiful Orvieto and from there take the short train ride to central Rome.

Are you going to visit Florence or just want to go Venice to your tuscan abode? If so you may want to rent the car in Venice or Mestre across the lagoon and drive all the way - but if wanting to spend some days in Florence too then yes take the train as cars are a complete liability in Florence as in most Italian cities.

If you take the train you can get discounted tickets if you book well in advance - walk-up tickets IME are usually available, especially in first class but you can save at ton by book at www.trenitalia.com - for loads of great stuff of what to expect on Italian trains check www.seat61.com - great advice on discounted tickets; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Dropping the car off at Orvieto if possible is a great idea - chance to see that fab hill town to boot - trains from there to Rome are mainly regional ones that have a flat fare so just buy your Orvieto-Rome ticket once in Orvieto.

I agree--train to Florence---get car as you leave--drop it in Orvieto. Just pay attention to the hours open

Awesome - thank you everyone. It's great to know about Orvieto. It looks like that will be a great solution.

PalenQ, We did plan on doing a day in Florence, but we're arranging a day tour through our hotel so we won't be doing that in transit from Venice to Tuscany. Although, now I may consider the alternative so we don't have to backtrack. It might be worth doing Florence on our way down and renting the car in Florence on our way out. Also, thank you for the train ticket links. I will keep these bookmarked for when my trip is a little closer. We're still about 8 months out.

I will look into Orvieto - I think it will be nice to 1) do some more scenic driving through Tuscany and 2) not backtrack and waste extra time in transit. Thanks again, everyone!

Orvieto is a good place to drop a car PROVIDED you paid attention to Bobthenavigator's last sentence.

"Just pay attention to the hours open."

Many rental offices outside big cities are closed 1pm-3pm weekdays. Also on Saturday, it is open only a half day and completely closed on Sundays. You would follow the closed hour car return procedure if you are comfortable doing it and the rental offers this option.

Some people reported problems even when returning to an attendant. Something similar to this: http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...harge-scam.cfm

Near Orvieto is Civita di Bagnoregio.

Oh yikes - that is good to know. We would be returning the car on a Monday so will be mindful of the lunch time hours.

Thank you!

If you're returning a rental car in Tuscany, you might want to use the car as a luggage storage space and turn it in after you've visited the city (and maybe had lunch). Otherwise, there's no place to leave your bags in Orvieto.

I wouldn't drive from Venice to Tuscany if I could help it. The train from Venice to Florence is quicker than driving, and the drive is terribly tedious: many tunnels, heavy truck traffic, etc.

I don't know much about automobile rentals in Italy, as we live here and drive our own car. However, I'd try to find a place to rent a car that's not far out of your way and has a train station or easy bus connection. One possibility would be the Florence airport. You can catch a bus to the airport from a stop right outside the trains station in Florence.

I meant to say,

"If you're returning a rental car in <b> <i> Orvieto </i> </b>, you might want to use the car as a luggage storage space and turn it in after you've visited the city (and maybe had lunch). Otherwise, there's no place to leave your bags in Orvieto.

My husband and I are also traveling this itinerary in early May and were the same thing. I was hesitant to pay for train tickets if we would be renting a car that day anyway.
I need to decide if we would spend any time in Florence.
Could we take the train in, rent a car, put our luggage in it, then take public transportation into the city and explore for a few hours? Then drive down to San Gimignano late afternoon?

travelgal64

"Could we take the trian in." Are you talking about the Venice-Florence leg? If so, the sequence does not make sense unless you are arriving just before the rental office closes and you have to retrieve your car the first thing after your arrival in Florence.

If you can rent a car after your visit, then the sequence is:
1. Arriving by train from Venezia St. Lucia to Firenze Santa Maria Novella station.
2. Use Deposito bagagli at the Florence station to leave your luggage. It is AT the Firenze SMN station. You don't have to worry about someone breaking into your car and taking the luggage.
3. After done with Florence, retrieve the luggage, and then rent a car. Again, this assumes you can get to this point while the office is still open.

Thanks Greg.
The above suggestion looks like a great idea. We would be arrive from Venice to Florence on a Sat., so I will need to look at the car rental hours.

Is there car rental near the train station in Florence, or will we need to take a cab to get to the car rental office?

There is car rental near the train station, but you have to be very careful of the ZTL (you aren't allowed to drive in the center of Florence) so you don't get expensive tickets after you return home. ZTL is controlled by cameras, your license plate gets snapped and traced to the car rental. They charge a fee (30-40€ - it's in your rental contract) for supplying your info to the police, then you get the ticket when you get hom(price varies).

The airport is a short ride from the center of Florence (about 6€ by the airport shuttle bus from the train station). The car rentals are open a lot more hours there.

http://www.fsbusitalia.it/cms-file/a...nbus_gen15.pdf

Taxi from the train station to the airport is about 20€.

There are also car rentals at Rifredi station, a few kms out of town and thus out of the dread ZTL zone - and easy to access the autoroutes - take a shuttle train there from Florence or the tramway.