Driving from Florence to Rome

Straight driving time (road time, fastest route, no stops) from Florence to Siena is approx 1hr15mins, 45 miles. Siena to Rome straight road time is approx 2hrs45 mins, 150 mi. But the above times and distances having little to do with your trip, because you'll be making stops, won't be taking the fastest routes, and the above times don't include any allowance for stops, the time to pick up the car, the fact that you won't be taking the fastest route - everything having to do with driving a car in Italy will take longer than you think. To get times relevant to your trip, you'll want to get acquainted with the road trip planning resources available at online mapping sites such as Google Map and (for Europe) Viamichelin.com These sites are easy to use and will help you a lot in planning a road trip.

Re your additional question: "Can you rent car in Florence and return in Rome?" Yes, but picking up in Florence involves potential complications (called ZTL's). And returning the car in Rome can involve other complications (called traffic). If you want details on the potential complications, please get back to us. Briefly, the Florence thing with ZTL's can be abvoided by picking up the car at the Florence airport, what you want to avoid is picking up from a location that requires you to drive through the historic center of Florence. This advice will make more sense to you if you've driven in Italian cities in the past; or if you've seen the great number of posts on this site by people who had problems driving in Florence.

Pamela, IMO, it would be more efficient and with less potential for problems (as mentioned by Kent) to use well planned public transportation for that route. In addition to the problem with ZTL's (which will result in a €100+ ticket with each pass through one of the automated Cameras), you'll also need the compulsory International Driver's Permit for driving in Italy. This is used in conjunction with your home D.L., and is valid for one year. Failure to produce an I.D.P. if requested can result in fines on the spot! For that particular route, I'd suggest travel by Bus from Florence to Siena. The Corsa Rapide Express Bus is the easiest and quickest method, and drops passengers right in the centre of town (as opposed to the bottom of the hill where the rail station is located). You could spend a day or so exploring Siena and then carry on to Rome. With only two days for that trip, you won't have much time for any variations, but another option might be to stop for a night in Orvieto (a beautiful and historic hill town in Umbria). It's only about an hour from Rome by train. Good luck and happy travels!

If you have 2 nights consider taking a early bus from Florence to Siena.Explore Siena and rent a car and drive south staying in a hill town that interests you.Then drive south again stopping where you like and drop the car in Orvieto staying the night and taking the train into Rome the next day.

Thanks everyone for your good advice...will explore the public transportation options too.

If you do drive from Florence to Siena, you should consider having dinner at my favorite restaurant in Italy. It's called La Toppa and is located in the small Tuscan town of San Donato which is just off the SI-FI (Siena-Firenze) highway. For more information, go to www.anticatrattorialatoppachianti.com. Yum! I can taste their delicious homemade ravioli with sage sauce even now!