We will be traveling by train from Cinque Terre and plan on picking up a rental car somewhere before we head to our agriturismo just outside of Siena. I read somewhere that we should avoid renting the car out of Siena. Would La Spezia be a good choice? If so, do you have any suggested scenic routes? And suggestions on where to stay for lunch?
TIA
You could take the slow local train down to La Spezia and pickup the car there.
An option would be to take a train to the Florence train station and take a 2 mile cab ride to Hertz on Sansovina. They can give you good directions out of town avoiding the ZTL. You can be to your accommodations in maybe 30 to 45 minutes.
When we last rented a car to see the Tuscan/Umbria hilltowns, we drove about 90 minutes south of Siena and left the car across the street from the Orvieto train station at Hertz. The roads are great.
Many people that are heading to Rome leave their cars in Orvieto and take a 70 minute train ride into Roma Termini. It all depends on where you're flying out of.
Not sure why u were advised to not rent a car in siena. We used Avis in Siena , all was fine, it should be no prob just get your cr after u SE Siena on foot.
If you are going from the Cinque Terre to Siena, renting a car in La Spezia will save you three train rides. It is not an easy route by train. We took it several years ago: Vernazza to La Spezia, L.S. to Pisa, Pisa to Empoli, Empoli to Siena. At one station we had a 7-minute connection and we had to lug luggage up and down the stairs at every station. Soooo, rent in La Spezia and drive to your agriturismo. I would take a route that passed through Volterra and make that lovely town a stop. Rick Steves' guide has a good self-tour of Volterra, as I recall.
La Spezia should be your first choice.
If, for whatever reason, La Spezia doesn't work (for example most La Spezia locations are closed on Saturday afternoon an Sunday), in that case my second choice would be Pisa airport.
The drive from La Spezia to Siena is just over 2 hours all on a freeway. It makes no sense to subject yourself to a 4 hour trip, which entails at least 3 trains to go all the way to Florence or Siena to rent a vehicle that you could have rented much closer to your departing point.
Ok great. La Spezia it is. Agree. We don't want to take unnecessary trains or take more time on a train.
We really don't mind getting off the highway. No rush to get to our destination as part of the reason for renting a car is to be able to hit some spots on the way. No plans on going to Pisa -- but any suggestions on places to stop?
Avis La Spezia is an fairly shortwalk from the train station (Centrale), however mind the hours - it's closed at lunch and on Sat. & Sun.
We are picking up on a weekday but I plan to return the car in Orvieto on a Sunday. Had to go through Hertz directly because of this. Spoke to them and although the Orvieto office is closed - I just need approval that we can drop the car off in their after hours box. They said it will be three days before we hear back from them.
If for some reason you can't drop in Orvieto, the next best pick would be Chiusi.
We are starting our trip in Florence.... heading to Cinque Terre...from there Tuscany... and then flying out of Rome. So basically slowly making our way south. We will be in Tuscany for 5 days before we head to Rome. We will be making day trips from the agriturismo.
The last day we plan on hitting places further south on our way to Orvieto to drop off the car.
Will then take the train into Rome. Stay for a few days before we depart.
thanks for the recommendation on Chiusi!
Great adding Volterra to the list of stops. Anywhere else?
I would hire out of La Spezia, and drive via San Gimignano. we stayed there in June this year and the whole family fell in love with it. After 7 weeks in Italy/France/England we all agree that San Gimignano was our favourite place in the whole trip. Im sure everyone has their own view so what suits one may not suit another. We were disappointed by Volterra, but you may love it. Are you interested in Pisa. We picked up our hire car in La Spezia (after staying in Montrerosso) and drove to Pisa, spent several hours at the leaning tower and walking through the town, then headed to San Gimignano. It was a lovely day. Which ever was you choose - have fun.
sorry, read the original post but didn't see the reply saying you were not interested in Pisa until after I posted.
Chiusi rental offices will also be closed on weekends (Sat afternoon and all day Sunday).
If you return the car on a weekend your only options are likely the offices at Rome stations (Termini or Tiburtina, although the latter is easier to reach) or the airports (Fiumicino or Ciampino).
Personally,since you are going to Rome anyway, I would return the car there. The traffic on a weekend shouldn't be too bad unless you drive in on a Sunday late afternoon or evening, when all Roman weekenders drive home.
There are no rental locations in the Cinque Terre, so that isn't an option, but La Spezia is just a few minutes away by train.
If you are going to Siena, I don't recommend to go all the way to Genoa to pick up the rental car, as suggested above, because Genoa is in the opposite direction from your intended destination and much farther away from the Cinque Terre, than La Spezia.
Regarding the toll roads, they won't impact your budget much at all. If you go to Siena and take the A12 to the A11 to the A1, the total toll will be €13.90. But you could also choose to take the FI-PI-LI Freeway (which takes slightly longer since the speed limit is lower, but is toll free) and maybe stop in Volterra or San Gimignano on the way to Siena, then you would be on a toll freeway only from La Spezia to Pisa Airport exit, and the toll would be only €8.30.
Most of the driving throughout Tuscany, is likely to be on regular roads, not toll roads, because the famous hill towns aren't really along the A1 or the A11 toll roads. Even those which are (like Lucca or even Cortona) can be reached through alternate toll-free highways.
A rental car from La Spezia to Siena is very similar to my plan too. Would it be trying to pack in too much in one day to pick up a car in La Spezia, stop briefly in Pisa to see the tower, stop in Volterra in mid-day and stop in San Gimignano in the late afternoon before getting to our agriturismo outside Siena?
Sounds like you are staying at the same agriturismo!
Thanks for the recommendations!
Yes. Not worried about tolls. I am thinking my original thought is a good plan. La Spezia and drop off in Orvieto.
I spoke to the Hertz office and I can drop off on Sunday. You just have to pre arrange it 😊
