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Driving from Genoa to Siena

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We are planning on taking a train from Nice to Genoa, then renting a car in Genoa and driving to Siena. We want the car to drive around Tuscany for a few days. We would take a train from Nice all the way to Siena, but the train from Genoa to Siena looks to take longer than driving would, due to connections. We will return the car to Florence and take a train to Milan. I need some advice.
1) Is there a preferred train from Nice to Genoa? We hope to be traveling on a Sunday morning.
2) Any suggestion of an American owned car rental company( Hertz, Avis, etc.) near the train station in Genoa?

3) Are roads from Genoa to Siena easy to navigate?
4) Is there a preferred train station to depart from in Florence to Milan?

Thanks

Posted by
15199 posts
  1. It’s up to you. Most require a change at Ventimiglia, but a few do not. If you can get those, it’s better. Check the schedule for this coming Sunday (if you travel far in the future schedules may not be available yet, but hey don’t change much). Nice main station is Nice Ville. Genoa has two main stations: Piazza Principe and Brignole. Trains generally stop at both. https://www.bahn.com/en/view/index.shtml
  2. Both Europcar and Hertz are relatively near Brignole. Avis is only at the airport. Europcar and Hertz have better prices anyhow. I use a consolidator: www.autoeurope.com. Most people on this forum also do. They work with all the major companies above. They are not American companies. They are franchises, so don’t expect they are manned by Joe Doe from Kansas City.
  3. It’s all on freeways. If you can navigate freeways at home, you can probably navigate them in Italy.
  4. FIRENZE SANTA MARIA NOVELLA. Timetables below (two train companies to choose from) www.trenitalia.com www.italotreno.it Or if you want schedules of both in the same website: www.trainline.eu
Posted by
15199 posts

Before driving in Italy you need to know about:
-International Driving Permit
-Limited Traffic Zones (Zona Traffico Limitato, or ZTL)
-Road signs and rules used in Italy (and the rest of Europe).

If you don’t know about the above yet, Ken of Vernon BC will give you a brief lecture shortly from his extensive boiler plate library.

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