help deciding between Rome to Siena or Florence to Siena?

You might think about renting a car somewhere other than the bigger cities of Florence and Rome where there are areas you can't drive in (ZTL's) without getting a ticket. Perhaps you could take a train to Orvieto (easy hop from Roma Termini) and the rental cars are right at the train station and you could drive from there. Just a suggestion.

My dad (80), me (56) and son (17) visited Italy last summer for 12 days. (Venice-Florence-Rome) We rented an apartment in Florence and did one day trip to Sienna/Pisa using a tour company and one overnight by train to Viareggio -which is a shore town. We loved Viareggio - took train from Florence , stayed one night at Hotel San Francisco which was across from the beach. Everyone on the train was heading to the Cinque terre - but we found Viareggio to be lovely and convenient for a lovely day on the beach, evening stroll and a break from the museums. While it can be done as a day trip from Florence or Luca, we decided to stay overnight (It actually was one of the highlights of our trip = it turned into nice family time as we just hung out relaxing and enjoying a beach different than our own )
I would add a night in Rome and take one away from either Florence or Sienna.
We travel by train and have found that very easy. If you want to drive, I would train to Florence , rent the car and drive to Via Reggio for one night, then drive to Luca and Pisa ( we did not do Luca but loved Pisa ) and then to Sienna . While others may say differently, I would say one night there is enough - unless your plan is to arrive late evening and so sleep there 2 nights (one day to tour) and then on to Florence for remainder of your trip. You can also do a long day trip to Venice by train from Florence. I will look up the tour company for Sienna/San Giamiano/Pisa -it was excellent.
What are your boys interested in? That will determine a lot. I don't think your plan is too aggressive overall but do think you should get the beach day in that your boys asked for. My son loves art but after 4 days he had enough and needed a break!!! Enjoy!

Kshamatanga,

You don't really need a car if you plan to travel from Rome to Florence, then Florence to Siena.

You can easily visit Pisa & Lucca via train from Florence as well.

You can purchase discounted train tickets up to 120 days in advance as long as your trip dates are set.

Keep in mind that discounted tickets are unchangeable & nonrefundable.

This is the website for train schedules: http://www.trenitalia.com

You can also take a bus from Florence to Siena.

For bus schedules check this website: http://www.sienamobilita.it/EN/index.html

Thank you very much for all the suggestions.

As per your suggestion, We will do day trips to Pisa, Lucca and Viareggio.

We are more of nature loving family. I thought it would be nice to spend a day or two in countryside surrounded by olive groves. My husband would love to drive around and just take in the Tuscan scenery and make his own stops instead of designated stops.

Dan, I will look into Orvieto. Thank you for the suggestion.

Diane, do you mind sharing the address of the apartment in Florence? I would prefer to rent the apartments over hotel as it is very hard to find the suites to accommodate 4 people.

Thank you once again.

I don't see a lot of reasons to rent a car for what you want to visit. But if your husband absolutely craves being behind the wheel I would do the following:
Arrive Rome.
Rome 3 nights
Train to Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre 2 nights
Rent a car at La Spezia (near CT). Drive to Tuscany. Visit small towns while staying in a Central Tuscany location in the country or small town (absolutely don't stay in Florence while you have a car).
Stay a total of 3 nights with the car in Tuscany.
Drive into Florence. Drop off car upon arrival (I'll provide info on rental locations) and take taxi to hotel in Florence city center.
Florence for 3 nights.
Fly out of Florence early AM.

Roberto has given you great advice! His path makes the most sense.

We have stayed here.

http://www.collelungo.com/EN/index.html It's very centrally located.

Towns to see from here:

Siena 18 miles, San Gimignano 19 miles, Volterra 29 miles, Greve 12 miles, Montalcino 42 miles.

and Montereggioni 10 miles. Several towns can be seen in a day. We usually go to the furthest first,

and work our way back.

On your way from the CT, you could stop in Pisa or Lucca.

Have a great trip.

When you calculate travel times in Tuscany, consider that in most cases you will be traveling on very curvy 2 lane highways. So although distances may be short, time of travel is longer than you think. The average speed you will be able to sustain on Tuscan roads is typically in the 40 to 50 km/h (25-30 mph) range at best.

Thank you very much for all your suggestion.
Roberto, how would we travel in Tuscany if we do not rent a car? Are buses/trains available between the towns?

Please do provide me the location to drop off the car at/near Florence.

Thanks once again.

You can get to all the places you listed by bus and/or train. From Florence you can take a daytrip to Pisa and Lucca using public transporation, another daytrip to Siena using public transportation.

If you do decide to rent a car, use Roberto's itinerary.