Wineandtravel

We will be traveling to Italy for the first time 10/8 - 24, starting in Rome, then AC, then Tuscany and leaving out of Florence. We are considering renting a car in Naples, driving to San Casciano dei Bagni (our home base for 7 days), touring Tuscany by car and foot and then Florence for 2 1/2 days prior to flying home. Is 7 days in Tuscany too long? We plan on visiting Sienna, Chianti, S G, Pienza, Monte Pulciano, & Montalcino on day trips and are also interested in seeing the Tuscan coast, Pisa, and Lucca. Do we have time to see the coastal area, Pisa, etc. on a day trip or will that require an overnighter? Or, Should we skip the coast completely in favor of Venice?
Based on forum recommendations, I think we will need at least 2 days in Florence. We have reservations at the Hilton Florence Metropole for the last night, but have at least 2 -4 nights yet to plan. Does anyone have any hotel recommendations in Venice should we go there or other recommendations for Florence hotels? Our flight leaves at 7:00 am, so we need to be close to the airport the last night.
Thanks so much for any and all suggestions.

ira

Hi W,

7 days in Tuscany is not too long.

The first week in Oct is likely to be a good time or a bad time to visit the Amalfi Coast. Weather is changeable.

>Should we skip the coast completely in favor of Venice?

I would skip anywhere (maybe even Paris) for 4 days in Venice.

What's your hotel budget?

bobthenavigator

Get you car in Sorrento not Naples.

Wineandtravel

Sorry for the delay in responding, internet was up and down for a couple of days.

Ira - our hotel budget is between $150 - $300 per night.

Bob - can you recommend a car company, the US companies don't have offices in Sorrento or so they say. We were also considering taking the trian to a stop near our home base and renting there, but can't figure out the train routes. Will look into that further though.

knoxvillecouple

Wine and travel - I'm not Bob, but you can rent a car in Sorrento through autoeurope, a company that uses a wide variety of auto rental companies. I just checked and you can rent in Sorrento, although obviously not at the airport. Simply go to autoeurope.com.

KC

Wineandtravel

Thanks, I'll check them out right now.

cmeyer54

We recently returned from 12 days in Italy - have already been to Rome so the itinerary was as follows: fly into florence, spend 3 nights there. Rent a car and drive to Montalcino and stay 3 nights there; drive back to Florence, drop the car and take the train to Venice for remainder of the trip. flew home from Venice. We stayed at Hotel Accademia in Florence - quiet, clean, very well located. Stayed at Crociona de Mezzo - agritourismo just outside of Montalcino which again was clean, excellent location and wonderful hosts. In Venice, we splurged at stayed at Hotel Des Bains on Lido. They offer free shuttle boats from Lido to Venice from 8am to around 1am so it was a great deal for us.

Lexma90

Two years ago, we stayed for 5 days in Celle sul Rigo, which is 4 km west of San Casciano dei Bagni. It's a beautiful area, but be aware of travel times. It took us 1 hour, 45 minutes (a beautiful drive, but it did get tedious) to get to Siena (a little longer than what mappy.com says), maybe another 45 min or sofrom Siena to San G., and about 1 hour to get to Montalcino. Chianti is quite a ways north of Siena, so that would be even longer. Most of our day trips were to the north, so we drove the same route several times. Another destination that's not quite so far away is Pitigliano, and nearby Sorano and Sovano. Also almost 1 hours away, but in a different direction (south).

Pisa would be a really long day trip, and IMHO, not worth the drive time. Same with Lucca, though I do like Lucca a lot. I would definitely skip those two, and the coast, in favor of Venice. I would even cut back on my time in Tuscany for time in Venice.

Have a wonderful trip!

ira

Hi W,

Check www.novacarhire.com and www.autoeurope.com.

They are brokers, and usually are cheaper than the rental companies.

AE often uses Europcar.

In addition, they usually beat other companies quotes.

For Venice hotels, check:

Pensione Accademia
Locanda Orseolo
Locanda Barberigio
Hotel Marconi

Enjoy your visit.

Wineandtravel

Thanks all for the responses and suggestions. Glad to hear SCdB is a beautiful area and we figured the drive times would be lengthly. I think we will opt for Venice at least 2 full days leaving Tuscany a day or 2 early and limiting our time in Florence. We'll skip the coast, Pisa & Lucca this time since this is a vacation after all and I don't want DH exhausted from driving constantly.
I'll definitely check out the car & hotel recommendations, but re. the train option, does anyone know which train station (that would have a car rental available)would be closest to San Casciano dei Bagni? That would eliminate 1 day of driving anyway.
Thanks again.

bobthenavigator

Yes, that would be Chiusi--always a good option. Autoeurope has an office there acrosss from the station---I think it is a Hertz office. Just be sure they are open when your train arrives.

toni_g_b

The location of Hotel Calzaiuoli in Florence couldn't have been better; right between the Duomo and Piazza di Signoria. We walked everywhere. The room was decent size, clean and quiet even on the second floor above a busy pedestrian only street. Ample breakfast.
http://www.calzaiuoli.it/