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Rental Car in Rome driving to Siena, Volterra and drop off in Florence ?

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I am considering renting a car in Rome and keeping the car for two days to travel around Tuscany. We would leave from Rome AM on a Monday, drive to Siena and spend the night there, leave Tuesday AM and travel to Volterra and San Gimignano for the day (unless anyone has better suggestions for another Tuscan town?) then drive to Florence that night and check into our hotel returning the rental car that night or Wednesday AM, depending on when we arrive and if the rental car location is open, stay in Florence until Friday AM and onto Venice by train. Does this sound plausible? Does this sound like a good plan or would it be better to just go direct from Rome to Florence by fast train and take day trips by bus to Siena, etc?

I know I need an International Driver's Permit, and I have looked into car rentals from Auto Europe. What would be the best and easiest destination to pick up and drop off cars in Rome and Florence. We can drive stick and I do know about the no car traffic zones. Any advice or recommendations would be most helpful! Thanks!

Posted by
8253 posts

Two days is not really a great amount of time, seeing that a good chunk of one day you will want to be in Siena and even driving will take several hours from Rome. But if you want to hit more than one town, a car is probably the way to do it.

To maybe reduce some of the stress of driving in Rome or Florence and avoid drop off charges at a different city, consider renting a car at one of the train stops between Rome and Florence. Orvieto or Chuisi would work. In addition to the cities you mentioned, Orvieto in itself is a nice town, Montepulciano and Cortona are as well.

The only other option is as you said, Train to either Chuisi or Florence and a Bus to Siena, stay the night, then bus to Florence.

Posted by
8371 posts

Sounds as if you're a little short of time to see two great cities and Tuscany.

I agree that you should just go direct from Rome to Florence by fast train and take a day trip on a 1 hr. bus ride to Siena. It's very congested around the center city, and auto parking is just terrible.

You could rent a car for one day in Florence to visit San Gimignano and Volterra--two cities we really enjoyed. Florence to San Gimignano is about 32 miles, and it's just 18 miles from San Gim. to Volterra. The roads in Tuscany are easy to navigate.

It's always best to rent cars in the city rather at the airport, to save tolls and airport charges. They can give you directions out of town to avoid the ZTL's in Florence.

Posted by
238 posts

Being in Siena, on Il Campo, is magical at dusk. The day trippers are gone and it's amazing!

Posted by
2456 posts

I agree that an evening in Siena would be very enjoyable. I first arrived in Siena in the afternoon and found it so congested and full of tourists that I didn't enjoy it very much, and wondered what all the excitement for Siena was all about. Then the sun went down, the crowds went away, and wandering around the Campo and nearby streets became magical! That said, there are also some wonderful sites in Siena, including the beautiful Duomo complex and the new upper reaches tour, which likely requires advance reservations. For those who go to Siena as a day tour from Florence, I would recommend staying into the evening and take a late bus back to Florence, especially if you will have other evenings in Florence.

Another idea would be to stop for a day and night in Orvieto between Rome and Florence. It's a wonderful small and ancient hill town in Umbria with lots to see and do, also magical to just stroll around in the evening and early morning, totally different from bigger cities like Rome and Florence. It is an easy 70 minute train ride from Rome, and then also an easy, but somewhat longer, train ride to Florence.

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