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Two-tour itinerary - drive or train?

Posted by (Chicago) on

Following a one week choral group tour in late May (three nights each in Orvieto and Rome) we then have 3 1/2 days (Wednesday AM to Saturday afternoon) until we arrive in Poppi (outside Florence) for a week-long cooking school, then flying home through Florence. We plan to have a car that last week for side trips, and also want to make good use of our 3-day interim period. Our first thought is to try to get to Pompeii and Sorrento for a day or two, work our way North into southern Tuscany, then get to Poppi by Day 4 - afternoon.

First option is to take the first tour's shuttle to FCO (already paid for) and rent a car at FCO for the rest of the trip.
Second option would be to use trains for the Rome - Pompeii/Sorrrento - Rome trip - then rent a car at FCO and drive North
Third option would be to use trains for everything until we get to Florence, then rent a car at FLR for the last week.

My intuition is that I would want a car for the drive from Rome to Poppi, as we could stop at least one day/night somewhere in Tuscany. We have been to Siena and Florence, and will have opportunity to explore around Florence/Poppi during our "school week." I'm a bit concerned about using only trains for the interim trip, as we are not the best "baggage wranglers."

Any thoughts?

Posted by
10344 posts

Don't have a car while you're trying to see, or sleeping in, Florence or Rome.

Posted by
4 posts

No car is planned for any large cities. Rome airport (FCO) to Pompeii the Rome ring road to Tuscany. The only time we are going near Florence in the car is to drop it at the airport (FLR) Driving on Chicago's expressways (There's an oxymoron!) is more than enough traffic experience for me.

Posted by
16894 posts

If you take the train, then I'd look at the 10:30 train departure from Napoli Centrale, which runs direct to Orvieto (arriving 13:43), Chiusi (14:08), and Arezzo (14:53). You could pick up a car in any of those towns, but confirm the rental offices opening hours, since many are not open on Saturday afternoon or Sunday. It looks like Budget in Arezzo is open until 16:00 Saturday afternoon (I found them through AutoEurope).

Posted by
15221 posts

I would take the FIRST OPTION and drive wherever you wish. As long as you stay out of big cities you'll be fine. That will give you more flexibility. Also I always considered having a car a good option for the Amalfi Coast (which I'm sure you want to visit if you go down in that area).

On the way to Tuscany, you would totally bypass Rome. No reason to go anywhere near as the A1 bypasses the Greater Rome Area far to the east, therefore you wouldn't go through the GRA (Grande Raccordo Anulare=Grand Ringlike Beltway) at all.

You definitely need a car in the Casentino valley. I know the place well, my grandparents were from there, you'll like it, very bucolic. Don't miss to visit the Casentino Forest National Park. Make sure you learn how to make TORTELLI DI PATATE (potato ravioli) and NANA (duck in Casentinese dialect). Two of their specialties. There is also a nice restaurant at Ponte a Poppi called La torricella. Excellent view of the Castle.

When you wrote Poppi "(outside of Florence)" I smiled. It's not that close my friend. Just 35 miles or less, but you 'll see how close it is, after you drive the curvy road across the Consuma Pass. If your stomach can take the drive, stop for focaccia at the summit, there is a wooden shack that sells the best focacce in Tuscany.

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