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Please help with itinerary choices!

Posted by (Garwood, NJ, USA) on

We are going to Italy in October and have two ideas for itineraries, we arent sure which one makes the most sense:

  1. 2 nights in Rome, train to Florence, rent car, drive to Montalcino (or other hill town. 3 nights in Montalcino agriturismo. Drive to Florence in the am, tour the city, afternoon train to Cinque Terre. 2 nights in CT. Train to Venice, 3 nights in Venice. Fly home.

  2. 2 nights in Rome, train to Cinque Terre. 2 nights in CT. Train to Florence, rent car, drive to Montalcino (or other hill town. 3 nights in Montalcino agriturismo. Drive to Florence in the am, tour the city, afternoon train Venice,3 nights in Venice. Fly home.

So basically...Rome, Tuscany, CT, Venice OR Rome, CT, Tuscany, Venice.

Thank you!

Posted by
6898 posts

Julia, Kent is correct. There are restricted streets, neighborhoods and the historic areas where you need a permit to drive. Computerized cameras will get you. Big fines on the tickets. Driving to other areas of Tuscany is great. Just find a rental car area that will get you to and from the highway so that you don't stray into the restricted areas.

Posted by
479 posts

Julia, along with what Kent said, you'll have more flexibility without a car in the CT. It can be tough to park a car in the CT. I left a car in La Spezia, and I didn't feel the best about it. So do what you can to be car free in the CT.

So, I guess I'd vote for #2. Just make sure you connect from CT to Florence through Pisa so you can stop off for your obligatory tower photo shot.

Posted by
59 posts

Just to be clear...we will only be using the car to drive to and from the hill town. We will not use the car in any other leg of the trip and will be using public transportation. We plan to pick up the car in Florence, drive to the hill town, drop off the car in Florence in the am...tour the city by foot/public transportation....and take the train to the next destination. The car will only be for the Tuscany region.

Posted by
479 posts

Julia, oops, sorry, I missed "train to CT".

All you need to do is find out which option to Venice gives you the best connections. Either itinerary is fine. I don't like to backtrack when I'm traveling, but that's a personal opinion.

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