Travel from Rome to Cortona, Italy

Train to Orvieto, get car there or take train to Chiusi, get car there.
We drove from Rome on a Sunday, not too bad.

The fastest trains from Rome to Cortona take around 1 hour and 55 minutes, covering a distance of approximately 157 kilometres.

On weekdays, the first train leaving Rome is scheduled to depart at around 05:40. The last departure is usually at around 20:15. On Saturdays and Sundays, trains leave Rome at around 06:02, with the last train leaving at around 20:15. There are frequent services on this particular rail route. On average, there are about 17 trains per day travelling between the two cities. They leave approximately every 19 minutes.

Prices for a single ticket between the two cities start from US$13.87.

Make sure you know which train station is closest to your villa. One is Camucia and the other is Terontola. There should be a taxi (or two) at either station. There is also a shuttle that runs up and down to Piazza Garibaldi in Cortona.

The train trip is easy! And Cortona is lovely. Enjoy.

Cortina’s two train stations are about 5 miles apart, but on the same line. Last October, we got off at the Terantola-Cortona station, and got on the bus that showed up about 3 minutes later. It was a longer bus ride up to the Cortona old hilltown than it would’ve been had we stayed on the train for one more stop, and gotten off at the Camucia-Cortona station. When we left Cortona a few days later, we realized that the Camucia-Cortona station was better (for us), and caught a bus to that station for the train to our next destination, Siena. I hadn’t researched the most convenient station ahead of time, but as Susan suggests, you’ll benefit if you do. By the way, I don’t remember seeing any taxis waiting at either station, but there’s a bar at each one, which can call for taxi if need be, and they also sell the bus tickets.

Thank you everyone for your valuable input. We appreciate ALL the information, and very helpful to know when the last trains leave Rome, etc. I need to check our flight schedule again, hopefully it's not too late to get a train that evening. Looking at the map it appears Camucia is definitely the closest to our destination near Cortona. We will need to rent a car for our week stay, and my husband was curious about preferred car rental agencies? (US rental companies VS. local agencies) Thank you everyone!

We always rent our cars through AutoEurope and have for many years. They are in US, based in Maine.

Auto Europe is a third-party consolidator that gets lots of favorable reviews on this Forum. We’re using them for Ireland in May. Hertz, Enterprise, Dollar, etc. operate throughout Europe. A couple of European companies that we’ve used pretty regularly are Europcar and Sixt. However, a quick search on the Internet suggests that none of the above offer rentals picking up near Cortona. You might need to pick up/drop off a rental car in another town or city, some distance from your villa.

It also appears there may be some rental operations close to Cortona, Italian businesses. They may be involved in more than just car rentals, like bus tours, for example. One seems to have an Italian-only Website; I can’t figure out how to get an English translation right on the Website. As many Americans as we saw in the Cortona hilltown last October, and at least one couple had a rental car (didn’t ask where they got it), some got cars somewhere, but maybe drove to Cortona. I’m a bit surprised there aren’t more obvious rental agencies, but, Frances Mayes’ books notwithstanding, Cortona may still be a bit more “off the tourist radar” than many other places in Italy.

Thank you Suki for your Auto Europe suggestion/recommendation for car rentals, I did a search and was uable to find anything close to Cortona. Cyn, your thorough reply was very well received and I appreciate your quick search on the other companies as well. I thought I may be doing something wrong in my search! I like to inquire here on the Forum for first hand comments, however we may end up contacting our host at the villa and see if she has any suggestions/recommendations as well. By the way, I didn't connect the movie til my husband nodded in agreement with the author you mentioned! This is our first out of the country big trip planned on our own, so the logistics and timing in getting from point A to B are a little daunting. After our week in Cortona, we'll be headed directly to Priano, so that will be an interesting leg to plan. Have a wonderful time in Ireland!

I know tourists love Praiano, but since this is your first time abroad you might consider staying in one of the Amalfi Coast villages served by the TravelMar ferries.

This way you would simply drop the car in Rome, take a direct high speed train to Salerno and board the first ferry to your final destination.

Update to my original question, we found a rental car and have reserved it for the Cortona leg of our trip. The next portion is getting from Cortona to Praiano (a little north of Amalfi) Dario, your suggestion of getting a highspeed train to Salerno then getting on a ferry sounds like a delighful and smart idea. However, we had already reserved with a deposit our 2 weeks in Praiano, so now we are looking into taxi/bus service going from Amalfi, (which appears to be the closest the ferry comes to Praiano) and it appears its do-able and fairly inexpensive. It appears the bus system runs frequently on the hour. Basically, we are trying to get from Cortona to Praiano in one day, so we will have to get from the train station at Solerno to the ferry which may require a taxi, then get off at Amalfi, as the ferry doesn't seem to go to Praiano. From Amalfi, then a bus or taxi to our destination in Praiano. This seems a bit complicated, but we are wondering if its possible to catch a taxi or bus easily or if that is something that must be reserved ahead of time. Also, we are looking into a few of the Rick Steves day trips, but they begin out of Sorrento, and we will need to get from Praiano to Sorrento by 9am. Best way to do this? Thank you all for your helpful tips. If anyone had travelled out of Praiano in particular, we are interested in your experiences.

My husband had a more concise question and posed it a little differently than my long-winded one. "Is travelling via taxi from Salerno to Amalfi, and then Amalfi to Positano a viable option? Any guess as to cost?"