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Tours, Trains and Car Rentals...

Posted by (Seattle, Washington, USA) on

Hello all you experienced, helpful travelers! More questions: We leave Rome after 4 days on a Sunday in June to an agriturismo 10KM from Seina - il Canto del Sole. I think the best idea is to train it from Rome, taxi to agriturismo, then the next day return and rent a car. Question is - perhaps we don't rent a car at all? We are staying at il Canto del Sole for four days then heading to Florence. We would like to day trip to Assissi, Orvieto and ...? We are traveling with two boys, ages 10 and 12 so trying to keep it somewhat open and simple. Maybe we just cab it to Seina and train it to Assissi rather than renting a car for three days? Would LOVE thoughts on that....

Next: tours... Interesting that Uffizi is maybe 11 EUROS, but a tour is $85 for Uffizi and Accademia? We are only booking two or three tours because of cost and minimize strict time constraints, but should we book these tours? Are the guided tours worth it and which would you book? I am thinking Uffizi and Accademia in Florence, Colosseum and Vatican in Rome and Doge's Palace in Venice. Again, two boys, ages 10 and 12, but who are very excited to see Italy and very open to tours (go figure!). Again, any "must sees" and must have a guide areas please let me know - obviously we have to fill in more, but these I think should be perused with guides?

Trains: thinking we are just going to buy as we go. Rome then to Seina, maybe day trips, Florence, then Levanto, and to Venice with trips to Padua and Verona, then to Lake Iseo and Milan one day and home. Please, love to hear thoughts - days trips to Lucca and Pisa, what else is not to be missed?! From Levanto go one day to Cinque Terra?

Thanks in advance for all your extremely helpful advice! Early planning is key me thinks!!

Posted by
16238 posts

Sorry but you need a car in the location where you are going. Also you are better off renting a car before you get there.
Your options (in order of driving distance from the agriturismo, from farther to closer):

  1. Rent a car in Rome and drive to the agriturismo from Rome.
  2. Take a train from Rome to Orvieto, rent a car in Orvieto and proceed to your Agriturismo.
  3. Take a train from Rome to Chiusi, rent a car in Chiusi and proceed to your Agriturismo.

No. 1 would be my choice, but that is me.

Posted by
1637 posts

Of the above choices No. 1 would be my last choice by a wide margin. Any big city has confusing streets and terrible traffic. Rome in addition has a confusing maze of ZTLs you must contend with. Your saving grace in all of this is that you are leaving on a Sunday where traffic is greatly reduced. Even at that I would recommend getting your car on the outer edges of Rome.

For tours, look ay Rick's recorded tours that you can download or use on a smart phone or tablet via his App.

Posted by
11294 posts

Whether or not to see places by organized tour or on your own is up to you. As you note, the tours are not cheap, but many feel they do add value. One thing to consider is Rick's own audioguides to many of these places, which you can check out now for free. If you like them, you're set; if not, you can then consider booking guided visits. Here's the link; scroll down to "Audio Walking Tours"

For your trains, some are regional, in which case you gain nothing by trying to buy in advance; just buy these when you get to Italy. But some (such as part of your Levanto to Venice and Venice to Lake Iseo trips) will be on high speed trains. For these, if you buy in advance on-line and can commit to non-refundable, non-exchangeable tickets, you can save a lot.

To expand on Roberto's post with what he has posted before: if you are planning to stay in an agriturismo well outside of a town, you need a car, and there's little point to taking a train and renting a car on the same day, so renting a car from Rome makes the most sense. If you don't want to rent a car, you should stay in Florence, and from there you can take buses or trains easily to other places in Tuscany (you would see Orvieto from Rome).

EDIT: I just saw Bob's post about the difficulty of driving in Rome. It was years ago and before ZTL's, but a friend and I once rented a car at Termini Station and drove out of Rome. We were worried for the reasons Bob mentioned, but found it surprisingly easy. I believe that ZTL's are only found entering a city, not leaving it, but do confirm that driving away from your rental location does not involve the risk of entering a ZTL. This page from Ron In Rome says that Termini is outside the ZTL's, and that if you drive in certain directions (away from the center) you will stay outside them.

Posted by
16238 posts

ZTL not applicable on exit.
ZTL not active on Sundays.

If you can't drive out of Rome on a Sunday morning, you have no business renting a car at all in Italy and without a car you can't stay at the Agriturismo you chose. It's in the middle of the countryside with virtually no bus service. Actually you need to drive about a mile on a dirt path to the closest village (Cuna) where streets are paved. I'm sure the road is not lit either. Not only do you need a car, but an SUV might even be better.

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