indyhiker

That's reassuring. But at the risk of whining, how will we get from the rail station to the rental office? They appear to be about a mike apart. I realize taxis at the rail station may be available, but I wonder about how easy it will be to get from the rental office to the rail station when we drop the car off. I'm not going to assume it's walkable given that one or the other may be in a more industrial area.

I just want to minimize any hassle. Frankly, staying the night in a town we want to see anyway sounds more fun than schlepping through Foligno!

sandralist

Flowers in the Piano Grande usually bloom in June.

dorkforcemom

So many helpful suggestions - both of towns to visit as well as restaurants to enjoy. It looks like there's easily 4 days filled with Umbrian delights.

Now I need to mull over the rental car pickup/dropoff.
I've rented in Orvieto and Chiusi before while vacationing in the Pienza area. Foligno would be closer but, as someone kindly pointed out, is not listed with Autoeurope. Hmmmm....

cafegoddess

Dorkforcemom,

You have received a lot of good advised, I would just like to add that picking up a car in Rome was very easy. We picked up our car at the train station with Europcar, and drove out of Rome without any problems, no traffic, no confusion. We found it easier to use our iPad for navigation. We are loving Umbria!

Had some delicious perch with mushroom and pici with fish and tomatoe sauce at a small village by Lago Trasimeno yesterday.

sandralist

If you don't want to repeat Orvieto or Chiusi you could also pick up the car in Terni, which has a Europcar office in the immediate vicinity of the train station. A one-minute walk. Getting to Terni by train is about the same amount of time as Orvieto, and the drive from Terni to Bevagna or that area is also the same as it would be from Orvieto. About an hour.

indyhiker

I just learned via SlowTrav's forum that there is a Hertz location in the vicinity of Spoleto's train station as well. Now I'm torn as well....

sandralist

Actually, it is shorter getting to Spello from Terni -- 50 minutes -- than it is getting there from Orvieto -- 80 minutes -- but the train time getting to either Terni or Orvieto from Rome are a about the same.

Don't know what bad things you have heard about Europcar. I often read bad things about Hertz (but I've never detected any difference between them)

http://www.slowtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=63261

indyhiker

The bigger rub for me with Europcar in Foligno is that it's not near the train station and I'm not finding much info online about the public transport options to get to the rental office. As for Orvieto and Terni, we know we want to see Orvieto, so getting the car there may kill two birds with one stone. But I don't want to hijack this thread any further with my own logistical issues. My apology to the OP.

sandralist

We were posting at the same time. It comes down to the details of when trains leave, how long they take, whether the rental office will be open when you arrive, and how direct a route the roads take. I was surprised that it was a half-hour longer to drive from Orvieto than from Terni. If you look at a map, you wouldn't guess that.

If I was thinking of spending a night somewhere, I'd pick Spoleto (or Orvieto or Chiusi) over Terni -- although Terni is such an untouristed town it might have the most fabulous food! Just guessing though.

But I don't think I would pay a double hotel bill to avoid picking up the car in Terni, and I think I would rather spend longer dozing on a train (if getting to Spoleto by train a is longer) than spending an extra 30 minutes behind the wheel if I was driving jet lagged.

sandralist

One more time posting at the same time. Hope the OP got something out of this hijack.

indyhiker

Thanks for your thoughts Sandra. Much appreciated!

Jean

If you decide to go with Hertz at Orvieto, compare rates at Autoeurope, Hertz directly and with AAA if you're a member. Our Hertz rental out of Verona a few months ago was cheapest through AAA.

Dayle

I've found Autoeurope will match the rates you find elsewhere. They have matched twice for me.

MarySteveChicago

TT