Inexperienced international car renter...

[hawaii]

...And not the greatest with directions. My boyfriend and I are backpacking around Europe and we'll be in Italy for about 9 days. Starting in Rome for 2 or 3 nights, we then wanted to head north to Florence (2-3 days), Pisa (a quick stop), and then on to Cinque Terre (2-3 days). Somewhere in the middle, I really wanted to see postcard Tuscany: tour a winery, have a romantic picnic, do some wine tasting, maybe stay at a villa, eat delicious food and just relax in the beautiful countryside for a couple nights. Here are the questions:

1. Is it possible to rent a car from somewhere near Rome or Florence or even Siena, then return it to another city far away, say Pisa?

2. Will we have an easy time getting lost?? Would trains and buses suit us better?? (I only speak English)

3. Suggestions for a good route? place to stay? vineyard to visit?

4. We like riding bikes. Where could we rent those? (considering we'd like a place to put our backpacks before that adventure)

Quite a lot of questions...I'm very excited if you can't tell. Any answers to any questions would be greatly appreciated.

Mahalo!!

[Lourdes]

Ciao hawaii and welcome to our DT forum!

I think if you dread renting and driving in a foreign country that you should just skip the headache of driving and getting lost and enjoy your vacation by taking trains! They are really easy to use and understand how they work.

Take the train from Rome to Florence. Stay in Florence and from here take day trips to Chianti. If you want to visit a winery and do wine tasting, you could do it by joining a wine tasting tour from Florence. Or if you want to go to a particular winery, you could rent a car with your own private driver to take you there, drive you through Tuscany or anything else you want. There are companies that rent bikes (some offer bike tours if you don't feel like heading out on your own - remember there are lots of hills around here!)

If you want to stay in the Tuscan countryside at a villa, I recommend Villa il Poggiale near San Casciano (www.villailpoggiale.it - look at their special offers, some might be a good option to see Chianti and do wine tasting from here as opposed as from Florence). Contact them to see whether they could pick you up from San Casciano (you get there with a SITA bus from Florence) to take you to the villa and back that way you don't need a car.

There are many options, but I think you won't be able to do everything.
I do think that you could do 3 days in Rome, 4 in Florence/Tuscany and only 2 in Cinque Terre (we went recently to hike and 2 days were just right to see all five towns) - that would leave you more time to see both Florence and Tuscany.

Have a great time not only in Tuscany and Italy but on your trip through Europe!

[Lloyd]

I think when travelling around Tuscany car hire is the best option because you can also enjoy the smaller towns and villages which are amazing in this region! You don't have to spend a bulk of money for guided tours, with some research before and GPS navigation you can do it by yourself. As far as I know Decode car hire at the Rome Airport offers to drop off a car also in other destinations in Italy, but it could add some costs.

Wish you to enjoy your trip at maximum! Tuscany is really wonderful.

[Mathieu]

Trust me, if you don't want to get lost, just buy or rent a GPS