Driving from FCO to Monteriggioni via Val d'Orcia

Are you really planning on driving 4hrs or more after what presumably is an overnight flight from Calif?

Hopefully you can tell us that is not what you are doing and save everyone the time of writing how driving after an overnight flight is a not good idea

Yes, we are driving after an overnight flight. I fly business class and have done this just about every time I've been to Italy. Last time we stopped for lunch in Orvieto and then continued to Arezzo. Unlike some I am able to sleep on the plane and have not had driving be a problem. Thank you for your concern though.

We did a slight variation of this drive 3 years ago. We had spent the night by Tivoli, then drove to Orte then to Bomarzo, grandaughter wanted to visit Parco dei Monstri. Headed over to the SR2 on the east side of lake Bolsena and visited Raticofani, than drove to our lodging in Castelione d'Orcia. The roads were good, not alot of traffic.
Getting off at Orvieto will cut your drive time compared to ours from Orte.

Have you driven right after an international flight?

Hi Gerri, Thanks for the information. Yes, I have driven many times after an overnight flight. All the previous times without the aid of GPS, just paper maps. This time the car has GPS built in and I have my phone with maps.

Hi Debra,

Just curious which hotel you stayed at in Monteriggioni? We are looking to stay in that town next year. Thanks.

Hi Kathy,
We haven’t gone to Italy yet, but I changed our hotel to one in San Quirico d’Orica. I didn’t want to go as far as Monteriggioni our first days driving and we met a couple in Cambria who stayed in San Quirico and said it was wonderful.
Have a great trip .

What kind of suggestions are you looking for?
The SR2 or Strada Regionale 2 or Regional Route 2 is a two lane highway that was built over the original Roman road (Via Cassia) that connected Rome to Florence via Siena. Buonconvento and Bagno Vignoni are two famous destinations on that route, as well as Siena.

Roberto, thank you for the reply. I changed our plans to stay the first night in Rome instead of driving after our flight. The next day we will take the train to Chiusi to pick up the car for two days. From Chiusi we will drive to Orvieto to get to SR2 and then to San Quirico d’Orcia. This should be a really nice drive. This is my husbands first trip to Italy or even Europe. I didn’t want to overwhelm him with hopping in a car after the flight and driving.

Not sure why you would rent a car in Chiusi to back track to Orvieto.
Much easier to rent a car in Rome and drive north to Orvieto.
It is actually possible to rent a car in Orvieto, if you choose Hertz.

I've never driven out of Rome itself, only from FCO. I have made so many changes to my rental with Auto Europe that picking up the car in Chiusi just seemed the easiest to do. Auto Europe isn't contracted with the Hertz office in Orvieto or I would have done that. I'll do a search on the travel forum to see if anyone has any suggestions about rental locations in Rome. I"m dropping the car off at the Florence airport. Thank you for your advice.

Try the rental location by the Roma Tiburtina Station. Quick 10 minutes taxi ride from central Rome. Easy access to the A1. Eliminates the backtracking if your first stop is Orvieto, which I'm assuming you want your husband to see.
Or you could pick up the SR2 just off the ring road and head up to Acquapendente.

Thanks Gerri, I changed the pickup to Roma Tiburtina Station. You are right, I want him to see Orvieto and an Auto Grill, that was my thought on driving from Chiusi down to Orvieto and then up the SR2 to San Quirico.

Thank you to everyone who contributed suggestions to my post.

Debra