Car rental or Train???

The only way to get to Saturnia is by car, unfortunately. You do not want a car in Firenze, Pisa, Verona or Venice. Cars in those cities are useless and frustrating. And entering a ZTL is expensive. Rail travel in Italy is inexpensive , convenient and reliable. I’m taking my 12th trip to Italy and will be there for 24 days. I will have 2 car rentals, one for 3 days, the other for 4 because there is no rail service to the areas I wish to visit.

If you rent a car in Rome to go to Saturnia, get rid of it when you arrive in Firenze. Make sure you are aware of the ZTL’s in Firenze. Also make sure you have an International Driver Permit.

Aside from the drive to Saturnia and then to Florence, I'd do the rest of the trip by train. And I'd also drop the car at the Florence airport and take the bus or taxi into the city. Parking is a ROYAL PITA in most European cities and towns. You'll rarely find parking at your hotel, and will pay dearly for it. Many cities have ZTLs that, if you arent careful, can net you some expensive tickets that will arrive months after you return home. Then there's the mandatory IDP for each driver, tolls to pay, narrow (and I do mean narrow) streets in the old parts of the towns, aggressive drivers... I could go on.

The rest of the places you name are all well served by trains that take you from city center to city center with none of the hassle, and at good prices, especially if bought in advance (for the high speed Freccia trains).

I believe you got some good advice about trains, and how to use the Trenitalia website on an earlier thread. I'll add another excellent website for anyone new to European trains - it should be compulsory reading : https://www.seat61.com

It sounds like you're already aware of the need for each driver to have the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which are used in conjunction with your home D.L. Those can easily be obtained at any AAA / CAA office for a small fee, and are valid for one year.

You'll also need to be extremely vigilant to avoid the ZTL (limited traffic) zones which exist in many (most?) cities. Rome and Pisa also have ZTL areas. Do NOT drive in Florence as the city is just about saturated with automated ZTL cameras, and each pass through one will result in a hefty fine! You likely won't know about the fines until several months after you return home. You may find this website helpful - https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/dont-mess-with-ztl-zones .

I'd suggest looking carefully at which routes can be done by train, in order to minimize the rental car portion. For example.....

• Florence to Pisa is very easily done by train (about 1 hour as I recall).
• Pisa to Verona is also very easy (I can't recall whether the station in Verona has a Deposito Bagagli service?).
• Pisa to Venice is also very easy via high speed train.

There are also a few "issues" when using trains and other public transit. Be sure you're up-to-speed on those.

Rome to Saturnia to Florence by car.
The rest by train. Pisa is best done as a day trip from Florence by train, assuming you have 1/2day to waste on Pisa.
Personally I would stay at least 3 nights in Porto Santo Stefano (this is where I stay) and visit both Saturnia and the Giglio island from Porto Santo Stefano.
A week in Rome is a couple of nights more than I would spend. 3 or 4 nights in Rome is more than adequate for a 12 day trip. Your trip is too city heavy for my taste.

Ken, what a great explanation of ZLT;s. I will be renting a car for a few days. The only historical city I will be driving to is Assisi.

Are there ZLT's in Assisi. I read Rick's recommendation on where to park there, but I was concerned about ZLT's.
Lori