This is our first trip to Italy and sometime the logistics feel overwhelming! Thanks to the assistance of the folks on this site, I have determined that we will take the train from Venice to Montevarchi and pick up a rental car there for a few days of exploring. We are then heading to Rome and I was wondering what an easy spot would be to drop off the car and head in by train. Orvieto looks good and even has a car rental place at the train station, can anyone tell me how long the drive would be from Castellina to Orvieto? Would Orvieto be easy to navigate and find our way to the train station or do you have another suggestion? Many thanks for your help!

Orvieto is a good choice...but check about car rental location's proximity to rail station. I believe I had a Hertz rental there through Auto Europe and the office was several miles from the train station. May have changed, or maybe using a different company, but do check.

I'd say two hours from Castellina to Orvieto - but allow extra time for finding the drop location. It's about 90 miles.

The most popular car rental dropoff point on the main line to Rome is Chiusi. There is an Avis right across the street from the train station. I am not sure as many trains stop at Orvieto as they do at Chiusi, but I am not an expert on the Italian train schedule.

Castellina to Chiusi...something over 1:30, to Orvieto is 15 minutes or so beyond Chiusi. Why not return it back to Montevarchi...only 45 minutes or so.

Of course, the other variables are whether the offices are open and the train schedules.

We picked up and returned an Avis car in Chiusi last fall. As Jim said, the train station is just across the street from Avis. I do know that the Avis office closes at 1:00 on Saturday and is closed on Sunday.

No expert either, but a quick gander at the train schedules yields the surprise info that Chiusi (officially: "Chiusi/Chianciano Terme") is actually a slightly more frequent stop than Orvieto; Chiusi is boldfaced in the schedules, Orvieto is not. For practical purposes, the same.

Now Jaisy, repeat after me: I will not worry, I need not panic, things are simpler than they look, this is Italy (where by and large, things work out: save any leftover worry for France!) Seriously, you've designed a sensible trip, distances are short, and Chiusi is good advice; you'll be fine.

My head isn't working well today! Yes, from Castellina, Chiusi makes much more sense trhan Orvieto as your drop point and a straight shot into Rome. The rental company will be Avis (one that Auto Europe uses), since the Avis office is directly across the street from the small rail station.

Names can be very confusing: the town is Chiusi. The rail station is in Chiusi Scalo (lower town). The rail station name is shown as Chiusi/Chianciano Terme! But, it's all the same place and there is good signage for the station.

I just checked about six trains from Chiusi to Rome...they all stop in Orvieto. But Chiusi is considered a more major stop than Orvieto is...but I don't know why.

Well, now I have another dilemma. Montevarchi is Hertz and Chiusi is Avis - Autoeurope says that is a no-no. you must stay with the same company. Taking the train from Venice to Chiusi (via Florence) and then driving back up 1.5 hours to Castellina does not seem to make sense. Any other thoughts? Perhaps another pick up site that is Avis that is closer to Castellina?

That sounds like a good idea - drop it off where you pick it up. The added bonus is that you will know where the office is and can double check on their dropoff hours when you pickup the car.

I am in favor of doing lots of planning for these kinds of logistics. On our fall trip I was too confident about our dropoff in Rome - figured I could find my way there with a good map and rough directions. We got hopelessly lost, caught in heavy traffic, then had to drive all the way to the airport when we gave up trying to find the place. I don't like to plan all my days and what I will do each day, but I do like to be sure I know exactly how to get to a place, and figure out ahead of time the best places for picking up the car. It is well worth the time planning when all goes smoothly on the trip.

quote:

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Chiusi is considered a more major stop than Orvieto is...but I don't know why

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Because Chiusi is more accessable by car and/or bus than Orvieto is.

The other variable connected to returning the car in Montevarchi (aside from breaking my rule that one should avoid driving the same route twice if possible) is that the train connections to Rome are not quite as good as from Chiusi and Orvieto. The direct trains take over an hour longer but it is compensated for by the fact that the drive to the car dropoff is about an hour shorter.

Bill, thank you for your advice and the links. I have found Via Verdi on the map PagineSi's map but have not been able to locate the thumbtack or the train station on the map. Can you hold my hand a little longer on this???
Many thanks.

Jaisy, I'll put this on a private message, since the simplest is to lift the map: which is copyright, so not legal for me to do it publicly, but legl as private distribution. (Give me a few more minutes.)

>>Montevarchi<<

One more point....the trains from Montevarchi to Rome take longer than the trains from Chiusi and Orvieto; they make more stops en route. But the difference is compensated for by the shorter time needed to reach the car rental dropoff in Montevarchi from Castellina.

I will add another option (from the Anti Change in Transportation Mode Lobby--ACTML for short).

Consider this: drive from Castellina to Rome Airport. Drop the car at the airport car rental office. Take a cab or arrange for a car and driver to pick you up there and take you directly to your hotel.

As opposed to:

1) Drive to Car Rental dropoff in Tuscany.
2) Take train to Rome.
3) Haul bags from train track to taxi stand.
4) Take taxi to hotel.

Sounds good to me...

No worry about making the train connections or car rental office hours...and probably less expensive.

This seems simple, too. Anything to keep things simple!

Mind you, on a 9-day trip, you should be carrying almost nothing in the way of bags: a carry-on will do nicely. I've travelled comfortably for three months with just a carry-on; that's extreme (if extremely convenient) but shows clearly that it'll do fine for 9 days. That in turn eliminates the need for cabs, which are indeed expensive.

The downside of car-to-Rome has been beaten to death onboard, with every opinion on the scale: it boils down to how you feel about driving thru the suburbs and highways around Rome. The dropoff in Rome may be a bit more difficult or time-consuming than in a small Tuscan town, or the reverse: I wouldn't know, I don't drive.

>>The downside of car-to-Rome has been beaten to death onboard<<

Bill, I specifically noted that the car should be dropped off the airport, which entails no off-autostrada driving at all.

Carry on luggage is the plan; one for each of us on wheels. Can't imagine living in that for 3 months - but 10 days - definitely.