I am looking for guidance. My husband and I will be traveling to Italy in May of 2025. We will be starting our trip in Bologna for a few days and then traveling to a VRBO in Castelnuovo Berardenga in Tuscany. We have friends who are starting their trip in Rome and then meeting us at the VRBO. We will spend time together in Tuscany and then head to Florence together to stay at a B&B near the Duomo.
We want to share a rental car for our time in Tuscany so that we can easily explore the hilltop towns. We do not need cars in Rome, Bologna or Florence as they are all walkable cities.
Logistically, we have thought of two possible plans….
Take trains from Rome/Bologna and meet in Arezzo to rent a car at the Arezzo train station for the Tuscany portion of the trip. Return rental car at the end of that leg and then take the train from Arezzo to Florence.
Take trains from Rome/Bologna and meet in Florence to rent a car for the Tuscany portion of the trip. Return rental car at the end of that leg and do the Florence “city” portion of the trip.
From my research, the “pro” of the first option is avoiding driving the car in the city of Florence and risk confusion with driving incorrectly on the ZTL. The “con” of this option is that it is harder to get to Arezzo from Rome/Bologna and takes longer because there aren’t high speed trains.
The “pro” of option two is quicker and easy train access to Florence from the origination cities, but the “con” are the potential complexities of navigating out of Florence before getting on the easy Tuscan country roads. There also are likely more car options in Florence vs Arezzo, which is a plus since we need an automatic vehicle.
Does anyone have any advice on our best option or a better recommendation all together?
Thank you in advance!
Denise