Pj O'Donovan

Will be sharing villa in Tuscany with family of 4 in spring/ summer
04.

Time is of the essence with them and they will be flying into Rome
from the US,
immediately taking a cab to the rail station in Rome and catching a
train to Florence area, renting a car and driving to the villa 35 km
SE of Florence same day villa rental starts.

Any suggestion of a convenient place to get off train to rent a car
as
opposed of attempt at driving out of inner Florence when exhausted
from long flight and train ride coupled with first time visit to Italy
for them.

Any suggestions I could pass on to them would be appreciated. Thanks

braque

My god...
After several flight hours, they intend to take a cab to Termini (at least
30 minutes if there's no traffic at all), then in Termini (hectic Termini)
they will try to understand where to go and queue to get a train ticket
(another 30 minutes at least...). Then they will wait for the train and
eventually get on it.
They maybe will travel "not seated" for at least two more hours... and when
in Florence they will try to rent a car and drive from the city centre to
the villa.
Drive 35 km away, if you don't know italian way of driving, can be a real
pain.
Anyway they'll be so tired that it can be really dangerous to drive.
Not to mention that they'll have to search on maps and plans where to go...
You'd better be well awakened to find your way out of Florence...
Not to mention that if they don't speak a word of Italian it might add
difficulty to this "already" difficult travel.

I suggest they take the plane from Fiumicino to Vespucci airport in Florence
(4 flights a day with Alitalia). They don't need to get out of the airport
and their luggages can follow them directly to Florence, without the hassle
to get them off the 1st plane!
The airport is 4 km away from the centre of Florence, they'll "miss" all the
traffic in the city center... not so bad for the first day of driving. It's
in the N-W zone of Florence, between the "Firenze-nord" highway entrance and
the industrial area near Prato.

Once arrived they can "calmly" rent a car. Six companies are available
inside the airport
Avis
(from 08.00 to 23.30) tel: 055.315588
Europcar
(from 09.00 to 18.15 and from 20.00 to 22.45) tel: 055.318609
Hertz
(from 08.30 to 22.30, Saturday and sunday from 09.30 to 22.30) tel:
055.307370
Italy by Car
(from 08.30 to 21.00, Saturday and sunday from 09.00 to 21.00) tel:
055.300413
Maggiore/National
(from 08.30 to 22.50) tel: 055.311256
Sixt
(from 08.45 to 13.45 and from 14.30 to 18.30, Sunday from 08.30 to 13.30)
tel: 055.309790

For me that would be the best thing to do...

Still if they decide to pass through Rome, they could take the train from
Fiumicino airport (the train station is just in front of the airport, don't
need to go far away, the escalator will bring them at the ticket office.
There are also automatic ticket office as well.
Take the train from Fiumicino (a train every 30 minutes) and arrive in
Termini in about an hour. In Termini they can leave their luggages for a
while and eat upstairs or downstairs, go to the "clean" paying toilet
(especially the lady, I know... I'm one , buy a nwespaper, some water or
anything else, since there's a big supermarket downstairs as well as a big
shopping mall (even a donut shop!)
They can buy their tickets at the main entrance (the big glass gallery), or
at the automatic machines.
I suggest they take a Eurostar (rapid train), it costs a litle bit more than
other trains, but the trip is worth it. Silence and fresh air inside,
they'll travel well seated and there's a lot of room for the luggages,
there's also a small restaurant on board and a bar for quick snacks and
drinks. They can arrive in Florence in about a 1.40 hour... that's not bad
at all... insn't it?
Still the problem can be finding a car rental ... there isn't one at the
station...
Maybe near the station, but I can't help you with that...
The "big problem" could be getting out of the crowded city...

Anyway, I suggest to take the plane to Florence... much less hassle...

Bon voyage
Braque


"PJ O'Donovan" <> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:...
    > Will be sharing villa in Tuscany with family of 4 in spring/ summer
    > 04.
    > Time is of the essence with them and they will be flying into Rome
    > from the US,
    > immediately taking a cab to the rail station in Rome and catching a
    > train to Florence area, renting a car and driving to the villa 35 km
    > SE of Florence same day villa rental starts.
    > Any suggestion of a convenient place to get off train to rent a car
    > as
    > opposed of attempt at driving out of inner Florence when exhausted
    > from long flight and train ride coupled with first time visit to Italy
    > for them.
    > Any suggestions I could pass on to them would be appreciated. Thanks

Luca Logi

[ B r a q u e ] <> wrote:

    > Silence and fresh air inside,
    > they'll travel well seated and there's a lot of room for the luggages,

well, this is a major design oversight in Italian Eurostar trains: the
place for luggage is somewhat limited, unless you use the racks at the
extremities of carriages. People travelling with very large luggage
probably will prefer intercity trains with their larger racks. However,
this is a minor point and the advice of preferring Eurostar trains is
quite sensible.

    > Still the problem can be finding a car rental ... there isn't one at the
    > station...
    > Maybe near the station, but I can't help you with that...
    > The "big problem" could be getting out of the crowded city...

Most of the car rentals in Florence are in the Borgognissanti area,
between the Hotel Excelsior and the Prato. Not distant from the station,
but if you have luggage even a relatively short walk may be
inconvenient.

Giovanni Drogo

On 7 Nov 2003, PJ O'Donovan wrote:

    > Time is of the essence with them and they will be flying into Rome
    > immediately taking a cab to the rail station in Rome and catching a
    > train to Florence area, renting a car

No experience with cars (but why don't you hire it directly at Rome
airport ?), but it seems a bit strange to take a taxi to go to Rome
Termini, while you can take a direct train from the airport to Termini,
and also can buy a through ticket to Florence from the rail ticket
office at the airport.

Joe Pessarra

"Giovanni Drogo" <> wrote in message
news:Pine.OSF.4.30.0311071612290.22421-...
    > On 7 Nov 2003, PJ O'Donovan wrote:
    > > Time is of the essence with them and they will be flying into Rome
    > > immediately taking a cab to the rail station in Rome and catching a
    > > train to Florence area, renting a car
    > No experience with cars (but why don't you hire it directly at Rome
    > airport ?),

I agree with Giovanni. We have been to Italy twice, flying into Rome
airport, picking up our rental auto, and driving to a location in Tuscany
once, and to a location in Umbria the second time. Lot less problems with
toting luggage around on trains, taxis, etc.

What time will your friends be arriving at Rome airport? It is 275 km (165
miles) from Rome to Florence, plus the distance from the airport into the
loop around Rome, and taking the loop to Highway A1 to Florence. Probably 4
hours or so of travel.

Joe in Texas

Judith Umbria

"PJ O'Donovan" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > Will be sharing villa in Tuscany with family of 4 in spring/ summer
    > 04.
    > Time is of the essence with them and they will be flying into Rome
    > from the US,
    > immediately taking a cab to the rail station in Rome and catching a
    > train to Florence area, renting a car and driving to the villa 35 km
    > SE of Florence same day villa rental starts.
    > Any suggestion of a convenient place to get off train to rent a car
    > as
    > opposed of attempt at driving out of inner Florence when exhausted
    > from long flight and train ride coupled with first time visit to Italy
    > for them.
    > Any suggestions I could pass on to them would be appreciated. Thanks

Try Chiusi or maybe Terontola. Another idea is Arezzo. Autoeurope will
arrange a car in Chiusi and Arezzo, not sure about Terontola. It is very
small and near to the A1. If you are to be SE of Firenze, then get the map
out and see how to encircle her to the south, or work out a more southern
route directly from the Arezzo exit.

Cathy Kearns

"PJ O'Donovan" <> wrote in message
news:...
    > Will be sharing villa in Tuscany with family of 4 in spring/ summer
    > 04.
    > Time is of the essence with them and they will be flying into Rome
    > from the US,
    > immediately taking a cab to the rail station in Rome and catching a
    > train to Florence area, renting a car and driving to the villa 35 km
    > SE of Florence same day villa rental starts.
    > Any suggestion of a convenient place to get off train to rent a car
    > as
    > opposed of attempt at driving out of inner Florence when exhausted
    > from long flight and train ride coupled with first time visit to Italy
    > for them.
    > Any suggestions I could pass on to them would be appreciated. Thanks

A few years back we flew in from the west coast of the US to
Florence. Rented a car and drove to our rented villa
about 35km SE of Florence in the same day. It was an
extremely long day. Although we got into the Florence
airport in the early afternoon it took awhile to rent (and
find the car) After getting lost in the lovely tiny towns
outside Florence we made it to our villa just in time
for dinner. If you can make a flight connection
into Florence, and rent a car at the airport it will make
their life easier, since even from the Florence airport
their day will be an adventure.

I also suggest you hire a cook for at least
your first night at the villa. Driving up and smelling
food was the best part of the whole day.

Sandra Griffiths

I would agree with the optin of collecting a car at Arezzo- Avis, for
instance, has an office almost directly opposite the train station, so
minimal schlepping of luggage. After previous experience of returning a hire
car to Florence, I now use Arezzo as a convenient alternative-from memory
the trains to Florence are approx 30-40 mins & quite frequent

Sandra
Judith Umbria <> wrote in message
news:FZPqb.100487$...
    > "PJ O'Donovan" <> wrote in message
    > news:...
    > > Will be sharing villa in Tuscany with family of 4 in spring/ summer
    > > 04.
    > >
    > > Time is of the essence with them and they will be flying into Rome
    > > from the US,
    > > immediately taking a cab to the rail station in Rome and catching a
    > > train to Florence area, renting a car and driving to the villa 35 km
    > > SE of Florence same day villa rental starts.
    > >
    > > Any suggestion of a convenient place to get off train to rent a car
    > > as
    > > opposed of attempt at driving out of inner Florence when exhausted
    > > from long flight and train ride coupled with first time visit to Italy
    > > for them.
    > >
    > > Any suggestions I could pass on to them would be appreciated. Thanks
    > Try Chiusi or maybe Terontola. Another idea is Arezzo. Autoeurope will
    > arrange a car in Chiusi and Arezzo, not sure about Terontola. It is very
    > small and near to the A1. If you are to be SE of Firenze, then get the
map
    > out and see how to encircle her to the south, or work out a more southern
    > route directly from the Arezzo exit.

Pj O'Donovan

(PJ O'Donovan) wrote in message news:<>...
    > Will be sharing villa in Tuscany with family of 4 in spring/ summer
    > 04.
    >
    > Time is of the essence with them and they will be flying into Rome
    > from the US,
    > immediately taking a cab to the rail station in Rome and catching a
    > train to Florence area, renting a car and driving to the villa 35 km
    > SE of Florence same day villa rental starts.
    >
    > Any suggestion of a convenient place to get off train to rent a car
    > as
    > opposed of attempt at driving out of inner Florence when exhausted
    > from long flight and train ride coupled with first time visit to Italy
    > for them.
    >
    > Any suggestions I could pass on to them would be appreciated. Thanks

Molte grazie for the responses.

Mason Barge

On 7 Nov 2003 03:56:38 -0800, (PJ O'Donovan) wrote:

    >Will be sharing villa in Tuscany with family of 4 in spring/ summer
    >04.
    >Time is of the essence with them and they will be flying into Rome
    >from the US,
    >immediately taking a cab to the rail station in Rome and catching a
    >train to Florence area, renting a car and driving to the villa 35 km
    >SE of Florence same day villa rental starts.
    >Any suggestion of a convenient place to get off train to rent a car
    >as
    >opposed of attempt at driving out of inner Florence when exhausted
    >from long flight and train ride coupled with first time visit to Italy
    >for them.
    >Any suggestions I could pass on to them would be appreciated. Thanks

I suggest they rent a car at Fuimicino and drive to the villa. It
wouldn't even occur to me to do otherwise.

I mean, really -- get luggage off the plane, find a cab, get luggage
into the cab, drive INTO ROME, get luggage out of the cab, find the
train, buy a ticket, get luggage onto the train when it arrives, get
luggage off the train, and I hope they don't have to take another cab
to the rental agency in Florence. Then they get to drive out of
Florence.


Mason Barge

"If this is coffee, please bring me some tea. If this is tea, please bring me some coffee."
-- Abraham Lincoln