Trains, aching brains, and automobiles

Use the 'search' bar at the top of the page and search for ' rental car florence' you will get a huge list of replies--- read through them and find one authored by Roberto d Firenze-- its his home town

Take the train from Venice-Florence. 2Hr5m.

Taxi to the airport, 15-20min. pick up rental and head to Volterra 11/2 hrs.
Reverse when done with the car.

For the Amalfi Coast, are you traveling from Florence-Salerno then to Vietri for your lodging?

There is a train station in Vietri, and there is a bus that runs between the train station and our villa (a two minute walk away) but our host advised us to take the train into Salerno. I am loathe to go rogue and not follow her directions!

I have also wondered about training it from Venice to Pisa and grabbing/returning the car there. It's a bit out of the way, but it would avoid a taxi ride to the airport in Florence or having to drive out of the city centre.

No need to be overwhelmed as you have the done the hard part, deciding on the itinerary and booking your hotels. Honestly, I find dealing with trains much more stressful than driving in Italy., schlepping luggage, putting it in overhead racks or on out of sight racks and all. Do you drive on interstates at home? If yes, then you can do this whole trip by car. Easily.
Make sure you get an International Driving Permit at an AAA office before you leave.
In Florence the rental car locations on Borgo Ognisanti give you an easy way out of the city.

Vietri, just wanted to make sure you knew about the change at Salerno to Vietri and the fact the bus connected the two.

Going to Pisa is out of your way, and the train will stop in Florence for about a half hour anyway while you wait for the Pisa train. So it's a toss up.

Just to add, if you do decide to drive, print out a Via Michelin map Venice direct to your lodging. Choose the fastest route. It will give you turn by turn directions, tolls and notice of the speed cameras and speed limits.
It's kind of a waste to pay for train tickets and a rental on the same day.

We have heard so many nightmare stories about driving in Italy, but we live in the Chicago metro area, and we are used to driving in heavy traffic. I wonder if the horror stories are more from drivers who are used to smaller towns. In any case, thank you for the advice and the tips on printing maps. I will do that for sure!

If you live on the Chicago area, you will not have trouble driving in Italy. I lived in Chicago and have driven in Italy many times. I-90 and I-94 are more difficult than most of the Italian highways I have been on. I wonder where the people are from with those horror stories? Some of the autostradas have a lot of traffic too but still easier than taking trains.

Driving in Italy is not a nightmare unless you plan to drive in a city such as Rome, Milan, Florence, or Naples. Small towns are problematic, too, as there are ZTLs which catch a lot of people. With a GPS and a good co-pilot, it is not a problem, especially on the autostrada. We like to say it takes four eyes to drive in Italy.

Having lived in Rome, I will never drive in that city again. I would rent on the periphery and drive OUT of town.

There's no nightmare.

You need someone to be the navigator in the front passenger seat (we like Google maps on a phone), you need to familiarize yourself with what Italian road signs mean, you need to drive in the right lane except when passing, you need to get over the idea that Italian drivers are being "aggressive" simply because they will drive fast right up to your back bumper and then pass you at the last second, you need to leave a cushion of time for getting a bit lost, and you need to abandon the American obsession with being able to drive straight to where you want to go and then parking --- in Italy you often have to drive to the PARKING LOT or parking spot just outside of the historical center of the small town or the big city that is nearest to where you want to go, park there and then walk to your destination.

We live in Saint Paul, Minnesota (but have also lived in and driven in Chicago and other big American cities) and I can say that Italian drivers are way more skilled and way more CONSISTENT drivers than many Americans and Italian roads are better.

However, Italian trains are great, and I would probably take trains to as close as you can get to a rental car place, walk or take a taxi to the rental car place, then drive to the agriturismo. Train to Florence makes sense, or, according to Rome2Rio.com, change trains in Florence and go to a town called Pontedera nearer to Volterra. Is there a rental car place you like near that town? Your agriturismo hosts should also be able to give you good local advice. They surely have been asked about transportation many times before.

Thank you for the pep talks. I am cool with driving around in Tuscany, and it's really the only way. We wanted a "countryside" place with a pool so that the kids could have some fun, too. They are pretty good travelers, but there will be lots of art and churches and history, so a pretty place for tired kids (and tired parents and grandparents!) to kick back and splash around was a necessity.

I did check into Pontedera, and we actually are daytripping to Florence from that station. But, there is not a rental car place there. I'm leaning more and more towards grabbing an early train out of Venice, kicking back on the ride, then renting a car in Pisa. I know it's out of the way, but we can't check into our lodging until after 4:00, and we all want to see both Lucca and Pisa. Grabbing a taxi to the airport and picking up the car might allow us enough time to grab a late lunch in Lucca and explore a bit before heading towards Volterra. On the return, we can drop the car, drop our luggage at the Central Statione BagBNB and then stretch our legs on a walk to the tower before catching the train to Vietri. Looking at it this way, Pisa really isn't out of the way at all.

The additional info makes it a well thought out plan. Have fun.

If your parents are celebrating their 50th anniversary, I presume they must be around their mid 70s.
The problem with train travel is that you must haul your own luggage from the taxi stand in front of stations to the station platform and on trains. There isn’t a check in feature like with air travel. That means lifting the suitcases up a couple of stairs on the train and then up above on the overhead rack. Then again you must do the same to get off the train.
If you don’t know how to pack light (one carry on size suitcase per person max) and you are no longer fit, that can be stressful and tiring.
The drive from Venice to Tuscany is approximately 3 hours on freeways 4 to 6 lanes wide. That is not dissimilar to driving on freeways on your state of Illinois. Just make sure you use the left lane for passing only (no hogging the left lane allowed).
I don’t consider Volterra ideal for day trips within Tuscany (not in the middle of everything and quite a drive to get to it from most places) but if you have already booked something there, so be it.
Vietri Sul Mare is about 5+ hours by car from Tuscany (also freeway driving for the most part). If you prefer the train, I would return the car in Chiusi and take the train from there, rather than from Florence.
However remember what I told you about trains and heavy luggage. They don’t go well together.

Hello,
I highly recommend train travel in Italy- its easy, comfortable, affordable, and fun! Why go through all the hassle of getting a international permit, gas stations, pick up and drop off, and possible tickets for parking, tolls, ect- and seeing how people drive in Rome I would never want to drive there- its not the same as driving in any place in the USA- and Ive driven on the busiest streets and highways from NYC, Chicago, and Los Angeles. I use a site called Loco2- you can create a account/ its easy to use, will show you all train companies, pricing, ect,
https://loco2.com/en?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI68W8x-qW3AIVULbACh2hVwdcEAAYASAAEgIeSvD_BwE&utm_content=Brand+Pure+-+Exact&utm_keyword=loco2+com

Happy Travels✨💫