Tuscany Driving
 

Hi All,

We have finalized our travel plans. After Venice & Florence, we will rent a car from Avis in Florence October 1st(they matched autoeurope's price) and drive to Siena. On the way down we plan to do our Chianti wine tour. Is this feasible? and what route should we take to get the most out of our tour? We will be staying in Siena for three nights and want to get the most out of our short visit. This forum has been a great help for us non-seasoned travelers. Thanks to everyone who replied to our previous inquiries.
RobDeb

I recommend that you request a free Chianti map from www.monterinaldi.it right away. It was one of the best maps we had. You can take the big highway south, but I recommend the Chianti road, SS220. It is very picturesque. We stopped in Greve and Montefioralle, a tiny walled town just outside Greve that I fell in love with, and Castellina (see my trip report for the names of the winery and BEST gelato place). A lot of people love Volpaia, north of Radda, but we didn't get there.
If you do a search on wineries, you will get lots of recommendations. Just remember that signage is not too good...we passed several places on our list without realizing it! Once in Siena, try to have dinner one night in Monteriggioni (about 15 km NW). It is another small walled town on a hilltop and very charming. We enjoyed our meal at Il Piccolo Castello.

I think it's actually SS222. Take that into SIena. Greve is nice, we had a lovely lunch in Panzano I think. Castelfiorno (my spellings are a mess right now) was really cute and had some wineries. Driving was easy, navigating was a trick. the signs come up fast and just point in the direction of the town (no street or road name signs). From SIena head NW to San Gimignano and Volterra. S To Montalcino and the wineries! Have a blast!

RobDeb....Compare the insurances that Avis and AutoEurope give you. Avis tells you that you're fully insured but they only give you CDW because it's madatory. AutoEurope gives you theft, liability, personal injury, fire, etc, etc. You aren't fully covered with Avis. Check into it before you go and find that Avis will try to sell you more insurance when you get there or you won't be fully insured if something happens. All of the well traveled people I know wouldn't rent a car from anyone else but AutoEurope. No, I don't work for them, I'm just a happy customer.

I forgot to say that what I'm saying is for Italy. Each country is different.

I posted on another thread, but Ann1's advice is good. I had reserved a car from Avis, checked the insurances, and ended up renting from Auto Europe (a single day rental) for 17 euros more with all the insurance and no deductibles should anything happen. I feel more comfortable now. Also, in Florence they had the availablity of late drop off, where Avis didn't. I'm leaving next Saturday for 3 weeks in Italy and can't wait!