Hello! Getting married in the fall (October), and fly into Rome a day before our hotel stay begins in Cortona. Looks like a shortish drive of only a couple hours from Rome to Cortona but we arrive at 7am local time and don't check in until the next day in Cortona at about 3pm. Any suggestions for a night between Rome and Cortona? We will be staying in Rome the last night or two so I'd like to go elsewhere.
Cheers!
Hey Dan,
Congratulations on the big announcement. I would recommend stopping in the town of Orvieto or Chiusi for an overnight on your way to Cortona. You will specifically enjoy Orvieto. It's quite a charming town.
Congrats again Dantbarnes,
Rjean
Orvieto is a long drive from Rome with jet lag. I'd take the train. Have you been to Rome before?
Google map indicated that Orvieto is a 2 hour drive from Rome. However, the poster can opt to train to Orvieto from Rome after the flight, then rent a car from there to continue the journey to Cortona.
Hello, I don't mind the drive. I've had no issues before with jetlag on several trips, it typically doesn't impact me until the 2nd day if at all. 2 hrs is very manageable. I'll look up Orvieto for sure, thank you!
I have been to Rome, albeit briefly, and look forward to visiting again at the back end of our trip when we fly out. I could do a night there and a night at the end but was exploring options.
I suspect renting will be cheaper from the airport, and I do love Italy's train service but it won't allow us to self explore some of the areas we want to visit after the stay in Cortona but we are still in planning so we shall see.
Dan - There are several trains that goes from Rome to Orvieto on a daily basis. Train there from Rome. Get the rental car in Orvieto and explore nearby towns as you trek to Cortona the next day.
Thanks Rjean, I'll look into that possibility! Also thanks for the note of congrats! Cheers!
I agree that a car is useful in Tuscany and Umbria. I meant that you could rent IN Orvieto and return at FCO. What time is your return flight?
Hi @Tim thank you, my flight out of Rome is around 10am ish local time.
Pick up car at FCO and drive to Orvieto or another town. Orvieto is OK for one night but as it is on main train line north from Rome as well the Autostrada north from Rome, it is rather touristy, many day trippers.
We spent a week at IL Falconare, at the base of Cortona’s hill,set in the vineyards. We explored some of Tuscany and Umbria from there- Deruta, Lake Trasimeno,Arezzo, , Montalcino, Pienza, Assisi, and made a decision that we would return to Umbria on another trip to explore it more which we did.
There are actually quite a lot of sights in Orvieto for a town of its size.
We arrange our cars by calling up the broker Autoeurope [having the use of a toll feee number]; get zero- deductible collision, which covers any damage to the body of the vehicle. Read this about driving in Italy and restrictions involved [ZTLs]; never leave anything of value in a vehicle when parked:
http://driventoit.blogspot.com/
They stopped using Hertz in Orvieto because of complaints, not the case in Chiusi, 29 minutes up the rail line; half block from the station, closed Saturday afternoon and Sunday. Meanwhile, Orvieto is a very nice town, under 2.5 hours by train from FCO [Fiumicino Aeroporto].
If you return a car in Chiusi and take the train to Rome, get off at Tibertina, one stop from Termini.
If you drive to Orvieto [about 1.5 hrs from FCO], here is where to park [unless you find a hotel with parking--check the Hotel Duomo on booking.com]:
Thanks, the reason I asked about your departure is that you have to be in the check-in line at 7AM on your flight home day, then. That makes the decision about ditching the car and sleeping the last night, for you. You have to sleep at the airport, or a near-airport hotel - but make sure their shuttle runs at 6:30AM on that day of the week.
We were not happy about having to miss an evening in a town or city, but we did spend our night after Tuscany at the FCO Hilton. We returned the car sometime after 6PM (I forget exactly), making a few stops on the drive from Sinalunga. Type "FCO Hilton" into the Search box top left for many comments about that and other hotels near FCO.
EDIT: Sorry, when I wrote "have to sleep at the airport", I was assuming that you were thinking of sleeping in Tuscany up until your departure. Staying a night downtown in Rome makes better use of your time. It's a big city where it's not that hard to get a dawn-patrol taxi reservation, or even the Airport Express train early in the moning.
It does make the choice of a car return location different. I wouldn't want to drive in downtown Rome under any circumstances!
Ah good point! Ok well, this is where I’m at now for two weeks.
Tues - fly
W - arrive Rome, stay in Rome? Orvieto?
Th through Sun - Cortona (booked, wedding nearby)
Mon-Sun (open, probably book one place and day trip from there, maybe farm stay or similar.
Mon - Rome
Tues - fly home
Thx everyone for help this far, love this forum.
Hey Dan,
You can finalize the itinerary like this:
Tues - fly
W - arrive Rome, (Train to Orvieto) stay overnight and rent car in Orvieto.
Drive to Cortona Th am:
Th through Sun - Cortona (booked, wedding nearby)
Drive to nearby towns near Cortona to tour during Th to Sun stay.
Head back to Rome Monday morning
Mon - Rome
Tues - fly home
Ah I wasn’t super clear, we have a week there unplanned after Cortona. We are gone for two weeks total so maybe base out of Perugia or similar after the wedding until the Monday in Rome.
Is the week after your honeymoon ?
I guess you could call it a honeymoon but since we are in Italy the whole time it will all be pretty wonderful :)
