TUSCANY

JP,
See http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm

maybe you've heard of this guy...

http://travelstore.ricksteves.com/

JP - Tuscany is a big, rural area. Public transportation is limited, but available on certain routes. Renting a car is your best option to get to affordable agriturismos, small towns and wineries.

If you do rent a car in Italy, DO buy a GPS with European Maps. I prefer Garmin products. Learn to use it before you go. Just be aware that many, if not all, of the historic hill towns will have restricted traffic zones which help to reduce traffic in their historic centers. Don't venture into these zones or you will be heavily fined, especially in Florence. There are scads of posts about the infamous ZTL (zona traffico limitato) in Florence and the fines that can be racked up there. If you rent a car in Florence, do so from the airport to avoid driving into or around the city center.

Once out of the cityscape and off the autostrada, you will truly enjoy driving the Italian countryside.

If staying at an agriturismo, a car is a must. I did a weekly rental through Autoeurope last May, and it was under $250. Picked up at Rome airport and dropped off at Florence airport. Adding gas and tolls, total cost for the car was about $350. Be sure to take or rent a GPS, which will make navigating in rural Tuscany much easier. I stayed in Montalcino, but somewhere in the Siena area would be more central for exploring Tuscany and provides for shorter day-trip drives. Try a search if people don't post argiturismo suggestions, as that topic has come up several times in the past.

Let me echo Scott & Frank. A Garmin Nuvii that will accept an SD card will be your best friend. I spent under $50 for an Italian map set card and it worked with excellence. Got us from Florence to Siena, to Montelcino, to Lucca, to La Spezia, to Pisa and back to Florence.

We had a great time driving to Montelcino, routed back through Volterra and on to Lucca. We simply enjoyed the freedom to go where we wanted, when we wanted and the confidence that it was accurately guiding us.

Just to repeat what others are saying: 1) rent a car and 2) get at a minimum a good detailed map- but you really should get a GPS if possible. I was Italy in April and Tuscany is very difficult to navigate (several Italians agreed with me on this point). Getting lost is fun (if you're going to get lost in Italy) but the road signs are confusing and frustrating.

Wow! You have just been given some excellent advice by a lot of great people!

We just got back last week. We spent one week in Tuscany/Umbria, and absolutely loved it. It would have been impossible to do without the rental car.

We flew into Rome and picked up our car at the airport, and headed North. Our first Agri (Agri. Frallarenza) was just outside of Orvieto, and we used it as a base to explore the area for four days. It was fantatic. Wonderful helpful owners. Only two self-contained apts. Our spacious well equiped one bedroom apt only cost $75 EU/nite. The place was out in the countryside, located in a beautiful area. Very rustic, but they had a pool. Maybe 10 kilometers from Orvieto, so we dined there each nite.

Our next stop was in the Chianti area, and the self contained apt was wonderful at the Agri Borgo Sichelle. For only $65 EU/nite we had an apt overlooking the pool and with a view to die for. It proved to be in an excellent location to explore the area; it was only about 2 miles from the freeway, but out in the country just the same.

Both agris were self-contined, giving us the option to dine in or out. We found that dinners out were so cheap, and fantastic, that we could not pass them up. Our favorite restaurant in Orvoieto was La Palombo. In Chianti there was a wonderful!osteria right down the road.

Both places were central locations that we used as bases to explore the surrounding hill towns and places of interest. Both had great owners who would spend as much time as you wanted providing tips on what to see, where to eat, etc.

Thank you ALL for your advice! I will
1) Rent a car.
2) Rent/buy a GPS (and Italian maps that are compatible w/ GPS).
3) Visit the named Agri's

This will help me as I plan our trip. Thanks again. If any of you any have other valuable recommendations, please send them my way.

We just got back and spent two weeks driving throughout Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio. Definitely get the Garmin with European maps. There is also a 30-day trial program you can download that will ding dong the heck out of your ears warning you about the traffico controller cameras. We were rather suspicious about the accuracy of this as the Italians went zooming by while we were going the speed limit. Be sure to buy a Michelen print map to take with you! The GPS will sometimes try to take you on routes that aren't the way you really want to go. You can look at the map and add a "way point" on your GPS route to keep you going in the right direction. Also, I suggest adding your routes in as "favorites" before you go. AND, I would print out detailed city maps for the smaller towns from Google or Mapquest to also use as references. These detailed maps will be very helpful in navigating to parking areas. Make sure you get a small car like a Fiat Panda (we got a great rate from Hertz and it made checking in for the car a piece of cake because we reserved stateside prior to our trip). I would also go to the slowtrav site (http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/road_signs/index.htm) and gather/print (in color) all the road signs and rules into a handy reference guide. We used this continuously when we came across a puzzling sign. Also, you might add hot springs to your list of things to do. Visit the slowtrav site, check out these directions (http://www.ballofdirt.com/entries/8228/163992.html) to Saturnia, or google Saturnia hot springs. There are some incredible knock-your-socks-off free hot springs in Saturnia. Also, do some research for holidays during the time you're going. Sagras are a local festival that lots of towns have. First 2 weeks in October is a fabulous (free) chestnut and jazz festival in Soriano nel Cimino near Viterbo. Buon viaggio!

Wow, Kay, some more great tips!

I would add one more thing. I stay away from Hertz because they automatically charge any fines you may incur to your credit card (don't drive in Siena or Florence or you will loose many $$$$$ in ZTL traffic zone tickets!)

We usually use Auto Europe, an rental broker in the US, to find the best price. We use their web site, and then book and pay for our car here. (Note; you pay many more $$$ if you pick up a car at an airport, but nothing extra if you drop your car off at an airport).

The best price they offered this time was with Hertz, but I paid a little more and used their second choice; Europecar.