Hello! We are traveling in Como and Florence in June then we are off to L'Ise sur la Sourge for a week. I have been checking on cars and the drop off fees are very prohibitive when crossing the border. I think it would be great to drive from Florence to as far as possible then take a train to Nice and grab a car rental to use while in Provence. Does anyone have any idea what town would work best in Italy to drop off the car?
Any other advice is welcome! Isn't travel great!
Thanks!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15260 posts
I doubt you need a car at all while in Florence.
Just take the train to either Nice Ville or Avignon, then rent the car there.
You can leave Florence (Firenze Santa Maria Novella) at 9:00 and arrive at Nice Ville at 16:00 (4pm) with one change in Milan Centrale.
www.trenitalia.com
If you rent a car, you need to drop it off in Genoa or Savona, then proceed by train. I don't think you'll save much time.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15260 posts
You can also fly with Mistral Air from Florence to either Nice or even Marseille (which is closer to your final destination), starting with 49€ one way. They start flying from Florence this year.
http://www.mistralair.it/en/index.shtml
Mistral Air is a small airline owned by the Italian Postal Service that is being contracted by the Vatican for flights to holy sites. Their motto is going to be: "Fly the Holy Skies".
Posted by
Brisbane, Australia
7175 posts
Gee, I hope their planes don't fall through the holy skies and back to earth.
You could head right thru to Aix en Provence in one long day by train. Have a look around the following morning before you pick up your car.
FR 9508
Dep 09:00 FIRENZE S.M.N. (Italy)
Arr 10:40 MILANO CENTRALE (Italy)
EC 143
Dep 11:10 MILANO CENTRALE (Italy)
Arr 16:00 NICE VILLE (France)
TGV 6806
Dep 17:25 NICE VILLE (France)
Arr 20:24 AIX EN PROVENCE TGV (France)