Rome/Tuscany/Florence trip--where to fit in a car

Thanks to all of you for the help--now I understand the suggestion. Sorry--I misunderstood. I can see what you mean. We'll sit down with calendars and all at dinner this evening.

It looks to me like wherever we go from the airport (Rome or Florence) we start by going to Termini station? I don't see a train that would take us to Florence that wouldn't mean changing there. (I looked at that link under "favorite links.")

Meantime, I've gotten myself all excited about all the places in between Florence and Rome and am already feeling there isn't enough time. It's always that way, though, isn't it?

Thanks for you help.

If you are flying into Rome (FCO) then you would take the Leonardo Express train from the airport to Termini and then hop another train to Florence. While it is possible to get a train to one of the other stations, as far as I know, there is no train from Rome's airport that goes outside of Rome.

I also agree that Ron's suggested plan is a good one, especially since you never know what might go wrong at the beginning of your trip. A missed connection (there are no direct Italy flights from Seattle), being too tired from jetlag, etc. could affect your ability to enjoy your first day on the ground, so it's better to not have anything critical or demanding on that day.

True enough--the travel does take it out of you, not to mention the ten year old and the fourteen year old who'll be with us. But we're actually flying Boston/Rome, so the time change isn't quite as bad as it seems.

Our one constraint is that the key dates are fixed--we bought plane tickets with miles months ago and the time in Montisi is in a Sat/Sat rental villa. So we have more time on the front end than the back end, which is why we thought of Rome first and Florence at the opposite end.

I do see the problem of splitting time in Rome, however. Would it be crazy to spend our last night in Orvieto and then train back to Termini and thence to the airport? Plane is at 2 or so in the afternoon, and Orvieto looks like it is worth an overnight stay. (And then we'd have all our Rome time together (at the front) and perhaps less land travel on our arrival day.)

Thanks for letting me bounce ideas off of you all.

I would take the train to Orvieto and pick up a car there. Then I would drive around and see everything that I needed a car to see. I would drop the car somewhere outside of Florence (maybe the airport) and use public transportation and the train the rest of my trip. My husband and I drove in Florence once...huge mistake. My husband will drive just about anywhere (Manhatten, Washington DC, all over Euope etc) without thinking twice. However, he will NEVER, EVER drive in Florence again. And that was before you had to worry about ZTL zones, etc. Taking an express train from FLorence to Rome is a piece of cake (as is taking a train to Orvieto once you get to the main train station)

Consider flying "open jaw" into Rome and then out of Florence or Pisa to save backtracking.

If you are locked into Rome/Rome for whatever reason, then suggest you train to Florence immediately on arrival. Spend your time in Florence.

Then either rent the car at the airport in Florence to avoid the ZTL ticket zones in inner Florence or train to Arezzo to get it. spend your time in Montisi.

It looks to be about an hour and a half from Montisi to Pitigliano. You could possibly do a daytrip or stop by on your way to return the car to Orvieto.

Then train into Rome.

This way you won't burn a sightseeing day having to be in Rome for the one night before the flight.

We are flying in/out of Rome and some time in Rome at the beginning is non-negotiable--our son must see the ruins, etc.

So we're thinking Rome to start, then travel to Montisi and then Florence and then basically back to the airport (FCO). It looks like Orvieto is worth the time and a good place to pick-up and drop off a car? And that it isn't too hard to get from Orvieto back to FCO? I take it we have to go via Rome Termini?

You would still see Rome, just not split it up at the beginning and the end of the trip. Just put all your Rome time at the end of your trip.

I really like Ron's suggestion for an itinerary. He's not saying that you shouldn't visit Rome, just that rather than spend time there at the beginning, plus a night at the end, you should spend your Rome time in one go.

If it's non-negotiatble to not start in Rome, then get out a calendar and notice how you would all have more time if you did all of your nights in Rome at the end.

Orvieto appears to be a good place to drop off or pick up a car. I've never done it, but possibly would do so if I was going to Rome after Tuscany.

In theory, getting from Orvieto to FCO on your departure day is doable. It should take 2 to 3 hours to get to FCO depending on making connections at Termini.

there is a train that leaves Orvieto around 6:51 am and you should be at the aiport no later than 9:30 am.

Another leaves at 7:57 probably getting you to FCO between 10 and 10:30

The one at 8:57 would probably get you there around 11:30.

Whether or not that is a reasonable option I'll leave to others who may have done it. I'm not sure how easy it is to get from the FCO train station to departures etc.

If I were going to try it, I'd probably plan for the 6:51 train and get there early. That way if something happened and that train did not get to Orvieto, I'd still have 2 more shots at it.

Since I have my own share of anxiety about catching planes, we might aim for that very early train, since it is an option.

You all have been so helpful. Our current plan (devised, you will see, with your points in mind) is to spend a few days in Rome, train out to Orvieto or somewhere to pick up a car, allowing us to spend a night in Pitigliano, then drive to Montisi. We'll return the car in Florence at the beginning of our stay there, then train back to Orvieto and thence to FCO. We're all very excited, even though it is months and months from now.

Thanks to you all. Anything we're doing that seems glaringly wrong.