Hello everyone
Will be arriving early in the morning on a red eye to Rome. Staying in Siena for a few days first. Wondering if we should take the train to Florence and rent a car there and drive to Siena or rent car from Rome and head up the coast? Has anyone taken the E80 and gone through Grosseto? We will be traveling with children and jet lagged. Thanks!
Please don't drive jetlagged.
Look into taking the Flixbus from the Rome airport to Siena --- it looks like there is one at 10:45am and takes 3 hours and costs about $15 each. Drops you off in Piazza Gramsci.
We have not taken this direct Flixbus, but we have taken the Flixbus from Roma Tiburtina station to the Siena train station and then got up the hill to the old center by a series of escalators --- you could instead take a taxi to your hotel.
Flixbus has a nice website and an app. Their buses are comfortable coach buses with a toilet and wifi. Your other option is to take a train to Florence and then a bus to Siena but that will take almost two hours longer and doesn't leave until early afternoon.
I do see the temptation to rent a car and drive, but besides the jetlag, a rental car will have its own hassles and expenses. Anyway, look into the Flixbus as an option.
If you don't already have plane tickets to Rome, have you looked into flying to Florence instead? Then taking the bus to Siena.
Thank you for sharing that. Will look into it.
Yes, unfortunately our flight there got cancelled and the only route/time that worked was to head to Rome and begin there instead. Would have preferred not to!
See if there is a flight to Bologna --- it's a quick train ride to Florence.
Yes, these cancelled or seriously changed flights have been an extra pain since the pandemic --- I hope yours works out fine in the end!
How many children? If there are 2 or more, renting a car may be sensible. I usually warn about cars in Italy, as there are many difficulties (low speed limits, ZTL). But with several children, esp if they are young, a car may simplify the problems.
Kids would enjoy riding the train, however.
Three. Hopefully the car will fit all the car seats. 😅
It is almost half price for us to rent in Firenze and return there, but then there's also the train cost. Fun details. :)
If you want/need to keep the car in Siena, then rent it in Rome. Reserve the car, but if you go direct to the car rental company, do not pay in advance so you can monitor prices - often quotes for a distant rental are high and will come down. If you use AutoEurope
the price adjustment is easy. The drive up the coast is quite straightforward and not congested so I wouldn't be concerned about jetlag in daylight.
Renting a car at FCO was a nightmare for us, especially when jetlagged. I would NOT recommend this at all.
Sorry, hit post too soon. I would train to Florence and stay there a night. Siena is best done by bus from there. After that, pick up the rental in Florence.
Do you plan to keep the car? The best option from Rome to Siena is the bus from the Tiburtina bus station.
If you plan to rent a car, and have children with you, maybe it would be best to rent in Rome. Taking the train to Florence then renting the car there would increase time and cost (trains aren't free). You could also take a Regional train (much cheaper) to Chiusi-Chianciano, then rent a car there (only Avis-Budget available in Chiusi, and the office is small therefore may not have availability of the right vehicle for you, also they close on weekends).
I've driven the E80 (A12 then Aurelia SS1) several times. Up to Grosseto it is mostly a 4 lane divided highway (a short stretch from Montalto to the Tuscan border is a 2 lane highway). From Grosseto to Siena, the route is a mix of 4 lane divided highway and 2 lane highway (God knows when they'll finish it and have all the 4 lanes completed everywhere). Because of that the route is a bit slower than the A1 on the interior, but it's toll free (except for the short segment from Rome to Civitavecchia). Don't expect great views of the sea from the highway as it runs mostly about a mile in the interior, so you'll be able to see the coast only near Civitavecchia and a few more places.
