taking our family, 10 persons. From ages 15 to 82 to Umbria in November’. Staying in villa on winery for,one week’. Husband and I have been several times but not rest of family. Will take them to Rome one day and Florence another’. Hopefully by train from Orvieto. Want to hired driver/guide in those areas’. Also any ideas for,other places to visit’. We are staying ten miles from Orvieto. Need to rent two cars when we land in Rome as large van now need bus license. Please let us know any suggestions or ideas you may have. Thank you

You mention you want to hire drive/guide, but then you say you need to rent cars. Please explain.

Unless the arrival in Rome is off a relatively short flight (not overnight, not multiple time zone change), I wouldn't be driving from FCO to Orvieto. In any event, 10 people plus luggage will probably require 3 cars. Do you have 3 drivers? Have you driven in Italy before?

Florence isn't a realistic day trip from Orvieto. 2.5 hours each way by train (plus time to drive between villa and Orvieto station). It's not significantly faster by car and more susceptible to traffic delays.

Rome isn't much better. The earliest direct/no change train Orvieto to Rome departs at 7:25 a.m. and the next one is at 11:20 a.m. Otherwise, your choices are trains with one or two connections that take 2.5 hours. There are late returns that are direct/no change, but even those take 90 minutes.

For me, excursions by car from Orvieto would have to be within a radius of about an hour's drive. Sunset would be at 5:00 p.m. (and getting earlier with each passing day), and I don't like driving back in the dark. So, for me that (barely) means Montepulciano, Pienza, the Pitigliano/Sovana/Sorano area, Todi, maybe Deruta. If the weather's nice, Parco dei Mostri in Bomarzo.

https://myadventuresacrosstheworld.c...bomarzo-italy/

Listen to Jean. She has much more experience than I do in Umbria -- I've only been twice . . . but even I know neither Rome or Florence are day trips . And especially with a group of ten over a huge age / stamina range. I'd concentrate on places close to your home base. And unless everyone travels with small carry-ons only it is unlikely you could fit 10 people and assorted luggage in two cars.

It would also be useful to us, and to you, to know what people want to do. Stay by the pool, wine tasting, museums, art galleries, religious centres (if religion, which religions)

Jean. Thank you for your advise about the trains etc’. My husband, myself, our daughter and friend have been to Italy several times. At the point we drove all over but since my husband is 82 I thought it was time for him to give up driving over seas. Our son and son in law would be driving. I had figure to get larger SUVs that would be tight but get us from the Rome airport to the villa the first day. I was talking about if we did a day trip to Rome to drive to meet a driver/guide to take us to the various sites instead of driving in Rome which is always a challenge. The tour book I have looked into mentioned Florence and Rome both being about one and a half hours away by car. So I figured a train might be better. Doesn’t seem to be. We have previously driven to both before but as I said that was when we were younger. Since neither driver this time has ever driven in Italy I was trying to make it easier on them. The villa that we rented is suppose to be 10 miles from Orvieto. I think the pool would be out that time of year as we are going the last week in November. My daughter in law is a teacher and our two younger grandchildren (15) could only do that week which has the Thanksgiving holiday in it for time off from school. Our flight is an overnight flight from Boston and Philadelphia area.

It is really hard to travel around with a group of ten like that. Especially with a team of three vehicles. I know from experience. Every step you take will be time-consuming. Stopping for something to eat will be an ordeal. I suggest you split up into smaller groups, in different configurations each time, no more than one vehicle per excursion. Go in different directions. And report back at the end of the day. And as others have pointed out, keep your excursions close by. You are already staying in a magnificent area, no need to go far afield. That's a different vacation.

Being in crowded cars for a 90 minute excursion means 3 hours of car travel each time. It gets wearying. The problem with a stay like that is you do a lot of backtracking. Togetherness sounds great, but it doesn't always work out.

For ten people everything (EVERYTHING) will take longer and be more complicated. Different mobility/stamina, different interests, different attention spans, and different 'dawdle factors'. Meals when out touring will be especially problematic -- either booking well ahead or eating separately - maybe even in different restaurants. I just think day trips to major cities will be fraught . . .

To get a driver guide will mean a mini bus -- probably a 16 passenger.

ps: I've taken groups of 6, 10 and 13 . . . not to Italy, to the UK -- so I have a ton of experience herding cats

What worked for some days on each trip was having multiple cars and having groups of 2, 4, 5-ish go their separate ways doing what interested different individuals. And also don't be surprised if some just want to rest/hang at 'home' now and then, and don't want to take long car trips.

(even 2 large SUVs might be a tight fit for 5+standard sized luggage since you will want everything in the car to be under cover / out of sight whenever you stop.)

Please do not drive after a long flight.
You need 3 cars, not two for that number of people. Big SUVs may not be available, and are probably not ideal for Italian towns and roads.

What we have done previously on family trips is split up during the day and come together in the evening - sometimes we ended up at the same place but mostly we didn't. Being with a lot of people, even if they are family, can be exhausting, and by having more vehicles you have more freedom to go in smaller groups whilst still enjoying your time together morning and evening.

Ditto -- definitely do not drive on arrival day!

"by having more vehicles you have more freedom to go in smaller groups whilst still enjoying your time together morning and evening." . . . and avoid fisticuffs LOL

May I ask what drew you to the idea of staying in a villa in late November? Was it the villa experience, this particular area, or...? Can you walk to a town, or is the villa fairly isolated? Although there are interesting things to see just about everywhere in Italy, "ten miles from Orvieto" is convenient for neither the best of Tuscany nor the best of Umbria. And, as noted, Rome and Florence are both a bit too far.

Depending on your aims/hopes for this trip, you might consider staying in Rome or Florence and making day trips by train and/or the occasional private guide. Florence in particular is very convenient for a number of easy excursions without a car. If your flights are set, you could train to Florence on arrival, spend a few days there and then train to Rome for the remaining days.

Jean our villa has been booked for several months. We have previous stayed with friends in a villa and loved the experience. Wanted our whole family together. We stayed in Iceland lastt year all together in an apartment and they still talk about the experience. I believe there is a small town close by or we can have someone come in to cook if we don’t feel like going out. Could you recommend towns to visit in Umbria and Tuscany for some day trips?

We have stayed in Orvieto several times and have fallen in love with the town and wanted to share our experiences with our family.

I recommended some towns in my earlier post (#2 above).

Have a great time with your family.