Car versus Train

I'm betting that Assisi is off the track for car rentals. I could find nothing using my favorite (kayak.com). But, I could get one for a couple of days from Thrifty at Perugia for $130 plus the cdw. That's returning there. Droping at La Spezia adds another hundred bucks - - but that's another hell-and-gone place. Dropping it at a more major point would probaby drop the price, but I got bored playing with it. Another thing is that the per day price goes down with a longer rental period (I typically rent for a month and figure 25 to 30 bucks a day.) Maybe you could use the car for more than a couple of days and see what it does to the bottom line compared to train tickets. Mixing modes of transportation seems to always cost more.

Thanks Ed, You are right about mixed modes of transport. I'm dropping it off at La Spezia because weare planning to stay in Cinque Terre for three nights and on to Nice. I need to ditch the car some place. Thanks for the suggestion. Maybe I ditch it in Siena more cheaply. If not, I guess it is the train. Tom

Thanks Ed, You are right about mixed modes of transport. I'm dropping it off at La Spezia because weare planning to stay in Cinque Terre for three nights and on to Nice. I need to ditch the car some place. Thanks for the suggestion. Maybe I ditch it in Siena more cheaply. If not, I guess it is the train. Tom

Last fall a 5 day rental cost me about $310 in Tuscany, pick up in Siena, drop off in Orvieto. By the time we paid for a 2nd driver, gas, tolls and parkign, it was $500 for the 5 days. We're takign the train and some daytrips by bus this year.

Cheapest way I rent is in and out of Florence at the airport. If you could make that work somehow it might help, but you would have to figure in the additional cost of getting there and then to La Spezia by train. It is also cheaper to do a weekly rental rate, and on a few occasions when I have had to return early I was not penalized. I am now renting a car in the US for 12 days and it was $50 less than the weekly rate... its such a game. Keep trying different scenarios however if you want to see Tuscany by car. To me it is so worth it to have the freedom to roam the countryside and stop whenever I feel like it. When are you going? Rates change daily, so keep checking. Check with all car companies as well, on any given day one can be cheaper. I usually use Budget, Hertz or Avis.

Thanks to all for your prompt comments. Unfortunately, is seems like my nunmbers were pretty right. I will try the "in and out of Florence" that Terry Kathryn suggested as well as a and a few other companies too. Maybe I can snag a better deal. If not, we'll probably stick with the train and have a real fancy dinner in Paris instead. Thanks again. Tom

For a fancy dinner in Paris $275 will have you dining at a table for one

Thanks Otariidae I've never been to Paris. I'll adjust my expectations; ;)

For Paris, you might want to browse this blog, which is posted by an expat American chef living in Paris. For many years he was the pastry chef at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, the starting point of California cuisine. http://www.davidlebovitz.com/

Tom, I've done the Tuscany and Umbria countryside both ways (car and public transportation). I use trains and busses now rather than rent a car. All the cities you mentioned are served by trains and/or busses, and usually there is a local bus from the train station to the center of town (hillside towns usually have a train station at the lowest level, for example, for Assisi the train station is about 5km away). An intercity bus usully drops you at the center of town. If you do opt for trains, keep in mind the cab fares to and from the stations if you decide not to take the local bus into town.

Thanks Zoe. The good news is that I have options from which to choose. Tom

Take the train. No need to get crazy it did not cost much. Ahead of time my family got a Eurail One Country Pass- this is to reserve your train but to get a ticket we got global pass tickets. I believe they were 10 euros. We had a 3 days within 2 months country pass. The machines for the train tickets are all around. Take your time. It can be crazy at first.