sunnymonkey
New member
Buongiorno!
My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy in May 2015 after attending a wedding in Vienna. I was thinking that we could take the train from Vienna to Venice, and then train to Bologna for a couple days (do a food tour and possibly a cooking class). From there, after reading some posts on this forum, I thought that it would be nice to drive through Tuscany for a couple days on our way to Rome where we would spend a few days before flying home. We are trying to do the Italy portion in about 10 days. My questions are:
1) I'm having trouble locating an automatic transmission car out of Bologna (that allows drop off in Rome) from a reliable rental company. RentalCars and AutoEurope are only giving options to rent from vendors who have horrible reviews and everyone says to stay away from. Are there other resources or other locations that we can easily get to from Bologna to rent a car from a more reliable vendor? After spending the last 45 minutes reading about other people's horrible car rental experiences, I'm wondering if we should rent a car or go via other means... Also, with our schedule, it makes most sense to depart from Bologna on a Sunday - are do car rental companies normally open on Sundays? If it means getting more reliable service, I would be ok postponing until Monday...
2) Where should we go in Tuscany if we have a car? We are not big into art museums, but love eating, learning about how things are done (e.g. factory tours) and history/culture, and hiking. We are not wine aficionados, so wine tasting isn't a priority but if there was a tour that went through the wine making process, we would be interested in that.
3) What are the options to get from Bologna to Rome through Tuscany if we didn't rent a car, and still be able to enjoy some of the countryside (and maximize our interests as listed above)?
Thank you in advance for any advice you may have! This is my husband's first time to Italy, and my second time (though the first time was many years ago and to Rome only).
My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy in May 2015 after attending a wedding in Vienna. I was thinking that we could take the train from Vienna to Venice, and then train to Bologna for a couple days (do a food tour and possibly a cooking class). From there, after reading some posts on this forum, I thought that it would be nice to drive through Tuscany for a couple days on our way to Rome where we would spend a few days before flying home. We are trying to do the Italy portion in about 10 days. My questions are:
1) I'm having trouble locating an automatic transmission car out of Bologna (that allows drop off in Rome) from a reliable rental company. RentalCars and AutoEurope are only giving options to rent from vendors who have horrible reviews and everyone says to stay away from. Are there other resources or other locations that we can easily get to from Bologna to rent a car from a more reliable vendor? After spending the last 45 minutes reading about other people's horrible car rental experiences, I'm wondering if we should rent a car or go via other means... Also, with our schedule, it makes most sense to depart from Bologna on a Sunday - are do car rental companies normally open on Sundays? If it means getting more reliable service, I would be ok postponing until Monday...
2) Where should we go in Tuscany if we have a car? We are not big into art museums, but love eating, learning about how things are done (e.g. factory tours) and history/culture, and hiking. We are not wine aficionados, so wine tasting isn't a priority but if there was a tour that went through the wine making process, we would be interested in that.
3) What are the options to get from Bologna to Rome through Tuscany if we didn't rent a car, and still be able to enjoy some of the countryside (and maximize our interests as listed above)?
Thank you in advance for any advice you may have! This is my husband's first time to Italy, and my second time (though the first time was many years ago and to Rome only).