We are planning a trip to Italy next spring in a family group of 4 adults and 2 school aged children. We already have a week booked at an agriturismo near Pienza and are looking at spending about 3or 4days in Rome beforehand . We are wondering whether it would be better to use a rental car to go to between Rome and the agriturismo or to take the train to Chiusi and pick up and drop off a rental car there. Any advice would be appreciated.
Posted by
11156 posts
It really doesn’t matter but starting off in the car from Rome sounds a lot easer to me, especially with children and luggage. That is what we did one time.
Posted by
Atlanta
967 posts
Sounds like you may need a large car. Your choice of cars is likely to be much better in Rome. If you can get to Tiburtina station, by train or taxi, it's a pretty easy and short road to the autostrada that takes you to Tuscany.
Posted by
Beverly Hills, MI
797 posts
As to the car situation, were I in your position, I would reserve a car for pick up at the airport in Rome. This gets you outside of Rome but still at a site that should have a large enough turnover/inventory to have the type of car you want. This is particularly important if you want an automatic. The problem with rentals is that the contract says you will get what you reserved OR A SIMILAR VEHICLE, a term that covers a vast multitude of sins. You could drop the car off in Chiusi on the way back to save some driving.
Posted by
OP
36 posts
Thank you all for your replies! Booking a rental car for pick up at the airport definitely looks like our best bet, particularly as we will need a large vehicle.
Posted by
NW Ohio
200 posts
I would encourage you to take special note on how to navigate to the car return at the airport. Maybe it was just our inexperience but we found it confusing.
Posted by
OP
36 posts
A good reminder. We had a big problem a few years ago trying to return a car at the train station at Avignon. Had to make several circuits of the station and finally ask a workman by the road. Since then we always take note and set the rental return on GPS if we have it or look it up before returning the car.