At long last our trip is falling into place and we have our accommodation booked in Lucca, then La Cretaiole ( near Pienza) and finally Case Le Galle near Bevagne - everything booked after all the wonderful advice and info the I found on this great site (I've been telling everyone about it so expect more hits for Oz).

Our final little dilemma is a couple of questions on car rental. We want to pick up in Lucca which does not seem to be a problem. We would like to drop off the car near our last agriturismo which is near Bevagna and then get the train to Rome to catch a flight to London. Neither Assisi or Spoleto seem to have drop off points, the closest town is Foligno. Any advice from anyone would be appreciated. Also any recommendation on type of car to hire - there will be four of us for our second week and we will drive from Lucca to Pienza with all our luggage. My husband and I are proudly sporting new luggage which when packed weigh about 12kg each ( yes we have had a holiday with them already) As we get older and wiser, each time we get new luggage it is smaller than the last lot - might even get to just cabin size yet. We have decided that too much luggage to schlep around spoils your holiday. (we are away for a total of 7 weeks - going to Eastern Europe too and doing a river boat cruise from Nuremburg to Budapest, followed by train travel to Vienna, then Venice and then Lucca) So that was a bit of a of a waffle round the car question but just to say that we shouldn't have too much luggage.

Also driving from Lucca to Pienza, any advice on how long it will take(preferably not on the autoroad, where to stop for lunch where our things in the car will be safe.

Maybe I should be posting all these things separately.

Thanks

Liz

Hello liz in Sydney - I too have been blabbing re site to all and sundry and we are staying at le case gialle also. But to the car hire thing I have used autoerope.com and can return car to Perguia - train station no probs & approx 30 min tops from le case gialle and then you'd get to see perugia again perhaps. Look forward to your feedback from your trip cheers jax

Re what sort of car - suggest just big enough for 4 and luggage. You will undoubtedly find yourself in some very narrow streets etc - by design or not -coupled with driving on the other side of the road.

As far as the car dropoff is concerned, Foligno is closer to Bevagna than either Assisi or Spoleto, and the rail connection with Rome is excellent: easier, and closer than Perugia (which I'm sure you'll have seen during your week at Case Gialle). You'll have a great time at CG, I'm sure: Mauro and Silvana are lovely hosts, and the setting is superb.

Jonathan