Rome to Val D'orcia

There are no trains IN the Val D’Orcia

You could train to Chiusi or Orvieto to pick up a car
( only Hertz in Orvieto)

I would make the decision based on the cost of the rental. Travel time between the two places on the Autostrada is not much.

Hello haddadroula,

This is an interesting request - are you planning on a scenic one day drive to cover the day from Rome to La Spezia?
If this is what you are asking I'd say train from Rome to Orvieto (~1.5 hours) renting a car there by the train station and then heading west towards Lake Bolsena and then north through the "heart of Tuscany" and then ending up in Pisa or Lucca. Both of these cities have good train connections to La Spezia - around 1 - 1.5 hours - with Pisa being more direct and slightly faster but I consider Lucca a more interesting city to visit.

If this your plan I admire your aims but I would point out that this is probably going to be a very expensive car rental versus taking the train and I'm not sure if you'll have enough time to make all the expense worth it. If you have a couple days to make exploring this area worth it then I think it's a good plan - you really do need a car to see the small towns of Tuscany like Pienza, Montalcino, San Gimignano etc - but I question if you'll have time to do more than just drive past these places and maybe have lunch. The drive itself is probably 4-5 hours and after the time to get to Orvieto, rent a car etc I don't see too much free time to wander and explore.

If I had one day to make this trip I would look at getting to one city by train - spending the day there exploring - and then moving on by train to La Spezia the next day. If you need to be really close then Lucca or Pisa make sense, but if you want the Tuscan hilltown experience then Siena, Arezzo or one of the other train accessible towns might make sense. (Either Arezzo or Siena to La Spezia is probably 3-4 hours to do.)

I'm not trying to talk you out of your plan, but I want to be sure you're being realistic about the realities of the time involved.
Either way have a great trip,
=Tod

Check the price of rental for your dates
Pick up in ROME ALL LOCATIONS (or pick up in CHIUSI, which is close to Val d'Orcia)
Drop off in LA SPEZIA
www.autoeurope.com
or
www.kemwel.com
(same broker company but prices my vary).

If you need to have automatic transmission, picking up in Rome is the better option. Chiusi has small offices and their available models may be limited. All Europeans know how to drive a stick, so they prefer to rent a manual car since it's cheaper.

Thank you Roberto for your response and the links you provided! and thank you Christine. I am having a hard time picking up a car from the smaller towns and dropping it off at a different location. it says the location is closed when it clearly says they're open . did any of you encounter that before? and if yes what do you end up doing? when picking up from Rome & dropping off in another city, the prices are ridiculous. So thank you John and I agree with you.. not worth it!
Hiredman, I have a hard time knowing that I have 24hrs and not take advantage. I wanted to stay in montepulcino/pianza for one night then head to La spezia the next day. If the rental wasn't an issue I would have done it. Thank you for the recommendations.
Thank you all and if I end up finding something else, I will post an update!

Pick up and drop off day and time matters

Most agencies are closed mid day, closed on Sunday and close at 12 or 1 on Saturday

yes that's why I looked at their location hrs and put in the pick up and drop off times within those hrs.