Best Method of Travel from Siena to Cinque Terre

Nick, you are wise not to attempt parking in the CT in July. All available lots are usually stuffed during this period. Tourist cars are not allowed in the 5 towns. Second, I'm not aware that Avis has a rental car office at the La Spezia Centrale train station. They do have one about a mile away at Via Fratelli Rosselli 74/76
La Spezia, 19121, IT but not at the train station unless this is a recent change. Also, they do not appear to be open on Saturday. Pisa airport is a good choice but so is Siena. Travel time from Siena is close to 4.0hrs with a couple of train changes but from Pisa, you will have to return to the terminal, take a bus to Pisa Centrale as I believe that the train no longer runs there (they are building a people mover) and the travel time is 2.0hr-2.5hrs from Pisa Centrale. Overall, you will be over 3.0hrs from the airport rental car area.

You have good understanding of the trade-offs. While you'll be used to the freedom the car gives you for a week, you first have to find a return office that is open Saturday (morning, at least). While train will take a few connections, it is cheap and reliable.

Avis rent a car in La Spezia is closed on Saturday.
Hertz rent a car in La Spezia is open on Saturday until Noon.
Europcar rent a car in La Spezia is open on Saturday until 12:30pm.
Hertz and Europcar are near the port, near via Fra Bartolomeo. very close to the freeway exit, so easily reachable coming from Tuscany. You will need to take a taxi from there to the station, because it's too long a walk.
I think returning the car at la Spezia is your best option, just make sure you make it there by Noon.
The drive from Siena is normally 2.5 hours, however on a July Saturday morning you will encounter a lot of traffic between Florence and the coast. Coming from Siena I would not go through Florence on a Saturday morning. Take the raccordo FI-SI (motorway) then exit at Poggibonsi Nord. After exiting the Raccordo, at the roundabout follow the directions to Certaldo. Once near Certaldo, follow the directions to Empoli.
Once near Empoli look for signs to the SGC FI-PI-LI (Strada Grande Comunicazione Firenze-Pisa-Livorno). It's a motorway. Follow directions to Pisa-Livorno. Enter the motorway (no tolls) and go toward Pisa. Stay on it past the Pisa airport until you get to the A12 Genova-Livorno freeway entrance (toll). Follow directions to Genova (Genoa) on the A12 then drive to La Spezia, where you will exit. From the moment you enter the A12 at Pisa to the moment you see the La Spezia exit is about 30 min drive.
Follow these directions and you should avoid a lot of traffic. DO NOT TAKE THE A11 -FIRENZE MARE on a Saturday morning in July. It will take you forever (and the A11 is a toll freeway too).

If your wife makes you late (women take forever to get ready) and you don't think you can make it to La Spezia by Noon (i.e. if you are not in Pisa by at least 11 am) when the rental car closes. Then exit the SGC-FI-PI-LI at the Pisa airport and return the car at the airport. The offices at the airport will be open all day Saturday. The from the Pisa Airport, take a shuttle bus to the station (5 min) and take a train from Pisa Centrale station (you'll need to change trains in La Spezia if you go to Vernazza).

Turn the car in at the Florence Airport, and catch a bus to the train station. The catch the train over to LaSpezia where you'll you catch a local train into the Cinque Terre.
You could also turn it in at the Pisa Airport if the rental agency is open the hours required. You'd catch a train downtown to the main train station where you'd transfer over to the train to LaSpezia.

Don't return the car at the Florence airport, that would be a huge waste of time. It will take you all day to get to the Cinque Terre.
Your choices are two:
1-La Spezia (best) if you can make it there before Noon (must leave Siena before 8:30am)
2-Pisa Airport (2nd best)
Tertium non datur.

Thank you for all your suggestions. My wife laughed as much as I did at Roberto's post. We have changed our itinerary so that we will be leaving the Siena area on Friday instead of Saturday. I am assuming that Roberto's non-autostrada route would be preferable on Friday morning as well. Is this an accurate assumption?

Friday Morning the traffic should be ok.

The traffic will be bad Fridays afternoon and Saturdays with many thousands of Florentines heading to the coast. Every Florentine I know has a vacation home on the coast between the Elba island and La Spezia. In summer they go there every weekend (Fri/Sat) and come back to Florence on Sunday evening. I've made that trip on those days sometimes, and it takes twice the time because of the traffic.

However the itinerary I gave you from Siena is shorter than going through Florence, therefore even if there is zero traffic on the freeways, it's almost just as fast.

Take the train, it is fast, and you can just relax! It takes you just where you want to go and is cheap!!

Dear Nick,

The drive from Siena to Spezia is mostly on freeways and is easy. I wouldn't suggest that you rent a car just to go to the CT, but for someone coming from Siena who already has a rental car, it is more convenient to drive to La Spezia and return the car there, rather than returning the car in Siena and having to take the train to La Spezia.

This is especially true because from Siena to La Spezia you need to transfer onto 3 separate trains, presumably with all the luggage which I can bet your wife will duly delegate to you to carry, as the designated family Sherpa. The choice is yours, but this is the luggage your wife will likely ask (expect) you to carry on the trains after she's done shopping in Florence.

http://static8.depositphotos.com/1220004/914/i/950/depositphotos_9147188-Baggage-and-luggage-loaded-onto-the-trunk-of-a-car-going-on-holiday-with-hi.jpg

Roberto,

Thanks for the advice again. I would have replied sooner, but I have been laughing so much since the Sherpa comment and picture. We don't anticipate going to Firenze this year as we have been there 3 times in the last 10 years and missed Siena on the last Italian holiday. This year's itininary includes the Palio, hiking in the CQ, a 30K race from Pistoia to Marcello (sp?), a few days in Volterra, and cycling in Chianti; I think that we can forego Firenze and the leather markets and the mountains of shopping bags on this trip. Although you never know; a short train ride could bring us back to Firenze.

Nick