Hi all,
I'm planning my first trip to Italy and SO excited. We'll be flying into Venice late April 2020, flying back from Rome in May. In between, we'll be visiting Sirmione in Lake Garda, Florence, Montepulciano, and Sorrento.
I definitely want to have a car for the Montepulciano portion as I plan to take day trips to other hill towns, wineries, hot springs, etc. and want to be able to meander and make stops along the way. From there, we will head south to Sorrento, where I don't want a car as I'll do my day trips with ferry, train or someone else driving (on Amalfi Coast). So my question is... would I be better off to rent the car in Florence, drive it to and around Montepulciano, then all the way to Sorrento and drop it off (or Naples, from which we'd take a ferry, train, cab, whatever) OR would I better off to get the car in Florence, drop it in Chiusi or Orvieto and continue to Sorrento by train? OR a third option would be to drive back to Florence then take the train from there all the way to Sorrento. While that option makes the least sense to me since we're going backward, it seems like that might eliminate the one-way drop off fee. Also, while it's about 30 minutes from Montepulciano to Chiusi and about an hour to Florence, it looks like train ride from Florence to Sorrento is actually shorter, which makes up that time difference. (This according to Rome2Rio, which I've been consulting.)
Any tips for best making the transition from Florence to Tuscany hill town area to Sorrento would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!
Another similar question concerns the first part of the trip, from Venice to Sirmione to Florence. I'd initally thought I'd do both those legs by train since I don't plan to drive in Sirmione. However, I'm rethinking this as I'd like to have a car to drive up and around Lake Garda, stopping off at other little towns and going to Malcesine and taking the tram up the mountain. I don't want to necessarily be subject to the ferry or bus schedule, which may be more intermittent than it would be in the peak of summer. Would it make sense to rent the car in Venice, stash it in a parking lot in Sirmione for all but the traipsing around the lake and then drive it to Florence, dropping it off there? Or would I be better off to drop it at the Desenzano train station and take the train to Florence? Or simply rent a car for one day once I've reached Lake Garda? Are there any car rental agencies in Sirmione where you can rent for just one day?
Thanks in advance to everyone who can help with these questions! I know it's a long post and to anyone who has read to the bottom, I'm very grateful. :)