Where should we rent a car? Traveling from Rome to Tuscany.
 

Hello seasoned travelers! My husband and I will be traveling to Italy for the first time in June. We will be staying in Rome for a little while and then traveling to the Tuscany region.
We are looking for advice on where to pickup and drop off a car?

In Rome we will be staying in the neighborhood: Esquilino. (It was very hard to find a place hope that area is alright?)

We'll be leaving Rome and going to the Valdonica Winery
Via Dogana 1, 58036 Sassofortino, Italy.

Then heading back to Rome and staying at the Marriott near the airport to get ready for our flight back home.

Where should we pickup and drop off our rental car? We have been told, 1) It is easiest to rent a car to get to Tuscany and it's a nice drive, 2) It is not fun at all driving in Rome. Should we take public transportation someone outside the city and rent a car there. Should we drop off the car somewhere in Tuscany and take the train back to Rome?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

standard advice is to get the train to Orvieto and rent there. this should be easy from your accommodation, which i suspect will be reasonably close to Termini station. [care to be a bit more specific than the Esquillino?]

orvieto has several advantages: it's reasonably close to Rome [about 90 mins in the train] the car hire offices are close to the station, and if you've got a bit of extra time, or feel so inclined, the town is easily accessible via the funicular and bus, which drops you right outside the fabulous cathedral.

no reason not to pick up and drop off in Oriveto that I can think of. then you can ensure that one way or other, you make enough time to see the cathedral and the town.

In August I drove from Pienza to FCO, because I stayed the last night at the Hilton, and dropped off the car the night before I flew home.
I did this by myself, with my Garmin's help, and felt it was very easy to accomplish. It was nice to be rid of the car so that I could just fly out the next day. The Hilton has a shuttle to and from the airport and I am assuming the Marriott does too.
It is very easy to rent a car but airport locations tack on a surcharge. Since you will be in Rome at the outset I would train to somewhere for the drive to Tuscany. Orvieto is a nice place to visit and you would easily take the train out of Rome there, and also avoid the extra cost of an airport location rental.
I have never found it a problem, in Italy to pick up a car in one city and drop it off at the airport. I have done this several times.

THANK YOU so much Annhig and Sher! I really appreciate the much needed advice!

Sher, you are my total hero. I don't even like to drive across my neighborhood.

Good going, my dear.

We've driven out of Rome - found a hertz location on viale Gregorio VII that was accessible to the GRA ring road. Problem is that even w/ advance research, GRA signage is confusing & we have 2ce ended up on the way to civitavecchia or on some other wrong road. On balance, train to Orvieto may be simplest. Hertz, wh I think has an Orvieto outlet, has no drop off charge if you drop off at a major airport. I'd definitely drop off at FCO not Orvieto

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate it! I followed annhig's great advice. We reserved the car and we are good to go.
I really appreciate you telling me about the cathedral in Orvieto. My next post/question will be about how to tackle Rome ;)

Leen, I'm pleased that you've got the car hire sorted out.

do try to make time to see the cathedral on the way out or back - it would be good to be able to see the inside [it shuts over lunch] but even if that doesn't suit, do go up and see the front. it is truly remarkable.

if you want a meal there are also some good restaurants up in the town, but if you don't have time for that, but want a snack or drink, the station cafe we found to be reasonable and friendly.

Thank you so much annhig! I am making a note that it shuts down around lunch time. You are super helpful and I really appreciate it. Do you know Rome too ;)?

Leen - i happen to know that the cathedral in Orvieto shuts at lunch time as that was when we wanted to see it!

here are the opening hours according to lonely planet: [wish I'd known this at the time]

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/italy/um...ieto-cathedral

There are others here with far more experience in Rome, but I will help if i can!

tuscanlifeedit. I don't think I would have done it by myself without my Garmin. But come to think of it, my first trip to Italy was with my daughter in about 2002 and we drove eveywhere winging it. But we did get lost a couple of times.

I don't think I would do much driving by myself without the Garmin help. Let me tell you that I always use it when I am going anywhere unfamiliar around your neighborhood too!

Thank you so much!