Hello!

My travel plans are progressing nicely, and I am ready to book the rental car. A few questions I can't seem to find answers for (and I am somehow not doing something right on trenitalia's website because I can never get it to process my request...?)

Once my classes are over in Florence, and my husband has flown in, my plan is to rent a car from the Florence downtown office and drive it to Montepulciano where we are staying at the Politian apartments for 6 days.

Then, we are off to Sorrento. My questions are as follows:
- Should we drop the car off in Orvieto and then take the train to Naples, or drive to Sorrento? The price is the same for either drop off location. From what I understand, the drive is not particularly scenic, but we love roadtrips and moving at our own pace.

- How much will it cost me in gas to get from Montepulciano to Sorrento? How does this compare to the price of a train ticket from Orvieto to Naples? (Sorry, I can't seem to figure out how to get the price and time info from trenitalia!)

- Will there be traffic to be concerned about on the A1 from Montepulciano to Sorrento on a Saturday in late June? It looks like a 5 or 6 hour drive. Can you confirm this?

- Is 320 USD a good price for an economy car rental for 6 days in June?

Thank You kindly or your help!
Rye

If you put the info in ViaMichelin.com
, you get the following information.

Departure 53045 Montepulciano
Destination 80067 Sorrento
Stopovers
Date: 30/04/2007
Vehicle type: Automobile, Hatchback
Route type: Recommended by Michelin
Time and distance



Time: 04h23 including 03h19 on motorways
Distance: 415km including 369km on motorways
et 264km on pleasant roads
Costs 59.57 EUR
Toll costs: 19.80 EUR
Petrol costs: 39.77 EUR
Road tax cost: 0.00 EUR

ooops...someone beat me to michelin.com just pretend this isn't here since I can't figure out how to delete

I think you can also count on some additional time due to traffic south of Rome and Napoli, especially that time of year.

awesome. thank you so much for the viamichelin info! knowing there might be traffic definitely makes me lean towards taking the train from orvieto...

anyone have an opinion on whether 320 US is a good price for a six day rental?

thanks a million!

I've nearly always used Auto Europe. Is this a rate from Autoeurope or from some other agency? It seems I paid about $200+/- back in September for Tuesday pm until Friday AM (pickup in at Rome FCO and dropped at Milan MXP)

There have been a number of posts lately that you can get a better rate from the AutoEurope UK site. Be sure to know whether the rate is zero deductible or some other arrangement.

If you like driving then you could have an early start from Montepulciano and get down to the Amalfi coast by midday.
Some people find the Amalfi too crowded to drive on, though. We were there in October, when there would be less traffic. We spent a day driving from Salerno to Pompeii around the Amalfi coast, and really enjoyed it.

If you don't like driving in Italy I would go by train.

quote:

Is 320 USD a good price for an economy car rental for 6 days in June?

Does your car have aircon? If so, it seems to me that $320 would be an advantageous rate for a week (7day) rate.

The car has the advantage of point to point travel, no waiting in train stations etc.More flexible and since you already have a rental probably cheaper than the train. RR
RR

320 USD for one week makes about 32 euro per day. Believe me it's a real good deal in Italy.
I go one or two time per year to Sorrento (or Amalfi) and it took me 4 hours from Montepulciano. Car is definitely preferable to train especially at that price, and it may be useful once in Sorrento...

Actually this is a bit high, depending on the car type. You can get an economy car with zero deductible from Auto-europe.co.uk for $225-$250 for 6 days. It will probably be from Avis or Europcar. I think you'll find plenty of endorsements for Autoeurope on this forum. If you go through the UK site, it's cheaper than the US site.

Jack