Tuscany by car... Pickup at Rome airport or in Tuscany?

We picked up a car at Ciampino airport & it was very easy to exit the ap & get on to the motorway heading to Tuscany (Montalcino area)-probably easier than exiting U.S. airports.

Renting from FCO is just as easy as from any US airports. You will have instant access to the freeways and you won't have to deal with city traffic. The only negative is that picking up a car from airport locations in Europe carries additional daily charges compared to picking up from City locations. As such, if you want to save on the rental, you could pick up from a city location. However, if in order to get to that city location, you have to pay in taxi or train more than the additional rental charges for those few days of rental, then you might as well bite the bullet and go for the easy solution of renting directly from the airport.

So it looks like Chiusi is the big train interchange town? It's a 9.6 Euro ticket from Termini. Looking at visiting San Gimignano/Siena/the Crete Senese and maybe Montepulciano. I'm a little worried about logistics: FCO to Termini, train to some town, get to rental location... How much of my day am I possibly burning in Termini waiting?

Last May we picked up a car from Hertz at the airport. About 20 mins. It would have been quicker except the guy in front has a problem that sucked up some time. Traffic around the airport is nothing and three hour drive to an area outside of Florence was mostly express/toll ways. The toll was 17E. However, you do need a good GPS once in Tuscany. That would be much easier and more convenient than taking a train somewhere and getting the car.

You are just using it for 3 days to go to Tuscany. If you attempt the train to Tuscany the first day will be lost getting there. I don't know what time you land, but by the time you reach Tuscany by train, the rental place might be closed too. FCO rental offices are open 24/7. Also the train to Termini is 14 euro per person. If you go to Florence from Termini, add another 45 euro if you want to get there fast. With only 3 days at my disposal, I would pick up the car at FCO. Less than 3 hours after exiting the rental lot, you will be anywhere you wish in Tuscany.

Thanks, I think you are right. The hassle of all the public transportation would not be worth a very few dollars savings. Thank you for letting me know that the airport traffic and freeways there are doable!

The only really issue we had was staying awake during the drive. Added about 30 minutes or so at the rest stops running around the car and trying to get charged up with expressos.

Lol, Frank! That will be us! On a side note, it makes sense to rent at FCO because they have more automatic cars available - my hubby can't drive manual and some of the city rental offices had NO automatics!