We will be traveling from Venice to Poggibonsi and are debating whether to rent a car in Venice and drive the whole way or take the train to Florence and rent the car from there. Are there places worth stopping on the way to Florence that would make the car a better choice?
Posted by
Boston
1703 posts
Since there are no suitable car rental places in Poggibonsi, it seems to me your reasonable choices are a train or flight to Pisa or Florence, a train to Lucca, or driving from Venice. So it depends on how you want to travel and how much time you have. I could easily spend two weeks driving that route and not experience all the wonderful towns, cities and sights. Let us know what your choice is and what your interests are and the users of this forum will be happy to fill your dance card.
Posted by
California 🦋
5225 posts
Susan,
You can travel by train from Venice to Poggibonsi, with a change in Florence.
Will you be skipping Florence?
I’m intrigued; are you planning to stay in Poggibonsi?
I only know about Poggibonsi because the day I traveled from Siena to San Gimignano, the bus stopped at Poggibonsi’s train station.
Have a wonderful trip!
Edited to add...
If you have time, you may consider visiting Ravenna (amazing mosaics) for at least an overnight, en route to Poggibonsi.
You don’t need a car for this journey as it can all be done via train. You can take this route: Venice > Ravenna > Bologna > Poggibonsi.
Posted by
Firenze, Italy
1533 posts
The fastest train itinerary is Venice > Florence, then rent a car in Florence or take a local bus or a local train to Poggibonsi. IMHO the train between Venice and Florence is faster and more pleasing than driving, but maybe renting in Venice may work out to be cheaper than the train.
Major stops on the route are Padova, Ferrara and Bologna but I do not see how to schedule significant visit time in a comfortable time frame. Do not try Ravenna unless you have two days as it is off route an throws you in a maze of local trains.
Poggibonsi is the only town in the area not being colorful and interesting. A young lady I know is majoring in medieval history with a study on how Florentines completely destroyed the town in 1270 - Poggibonsi never recovered.
Posted by
Italy
3812 posts
an throws you in a maze of local trains.
It doesn't. There are many direct high speed trains from Venice to Bologna and 19 direct locals from Bologna to Ravenna every day. These direct trains take around one hour .
There is a luggage deposit in Bologna, if you are interested in mosaics do not miss Ravenna.
The only maze would be going from the underground tracks used by high speed trains in Bologna to the surface tracks used by local trains.