Driving Itinerary...Civitevecchia To Venice

[Hlitner]

I would recommend Cortona for a short stop between Rome and Venice.

 

The village is on top of a hill and has lovely views. And it was the setting for the movie 'Under the Tuscan Sun'.

 

Or Assisi, another beautiful stop with lots of history.

 

We stayed in a small village in Umbria a few years ago and explored the region.

 

 

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While we agree with you on those two lovely towns, I do think the OP was looking to get from Civitavecchia to Venice in the same day. Assisi is far out of the way....and is best done by spending 1 or 2 nights in Assissi. As to Cortona, it would probably add about 1 hour to the driving time...plus time to stop and explore. It does make a reasonable lunch option if one gets on the road by 10 (from Civitaveehia). Unfortunately, ever since "Under the Tuscan Sun" was published...Cortona has become a popular day trip destination for too many bus tours. The last time we drove to Cortona...the tour buses were lined up for about 1/3 mile all running their engines and belching out fumes (yuck).

 

Hank

[kdooley]

I checked my map and both lovely cities are on the suggested route.

 

[Hlitner]

I checked my map and both lovely cities are on the suggested route.

 

 

Hmmm. What do I know...,but have driven the route a few times. The most direct route (and the fastest by far) is up the A13 (E80) which goes near Florence...but nowhere near Assisi...and some distance from Cortona. If you use Google Maps it will show a nice direct route right over Cortona....but that is the direct "airplane" route...not a road. If you have a fast helicopter it would be a great trip :).

 

I should add that picking one's way up the back roads from Assisi towards Venice is a very scenic ride.....but one best left when you have a few days. And its fun to detour over to San Marino...just to say you have been to that tiny country.

 

Hank

[Chellegau]

Sorry to hijack this thread but hubby and I are disembarking in Civitavecchia April 25th and plan to hire a car. I’m a little confused as to which car rental company to go with... which one is easiest/closest to get to from the cruise port? And is it difficult to drive out of Civitavecchia to Arezzo? Being an Aussie I’m a tad nervous about driving on the other side of the road, especially in terms of all the driving restrictions in the towns etc

 

 

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[euro cruiser]

hubby and I are disembarking in Civitavecchia April 25th and plan to hire a car. I’m a little confused as to which car rental company to go with... which one is easiest/closest to get to from the cruise port? And is it difficult to drive out of Civitavecchia to Arezzo?

Europcar, Avis and Budget are all just outside of the Largo della Pace port exit.

 

Check rentals with autoeurope.com and kemwel.com, they usually have better prices and insurance packages, plus they guarantee an English-language help number if you have a problem during the rental.

 

It's pretty easy to drive to Arezzo, you'll have slower country road options or the autostrada to choose from.

 

Do familiarize yourself with the concept of ZTLs, and the specifics of any town you plan to drive to/it.

 

https://www.accessibilitacentristorici.it/ztl/toscana/arezzo.html

[Chellegau]

Europcar, Avis and Budget are all just outside of the Largo della Pace port exit.

 

 

 

Check rentals with autoeurope.com and kemwel.com, they usually have better prices and insurance packages, plus they guarantee an English-language help number if you have a problem during the rental.

 

 

 

It's pretty easy to drive to Arezzo, you'll have slower country road options or the autostrada to choose from.

 

 

 

Do familiarize yourself with the concept of ZTLs, and the specifics of any town you plan to drive to/it.

 

 

 

https://www.accessibilitacentristorici.it/ztl/toscana/arezzo.html

 

 

 

Thanks so much for this. I’m a tad nervous having never driven on the other side of the road before! All very weird!!

 

 

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[Chellegau]

Sorry, I hope you don't mind my asking another question...

We are staying near Arezzo for three nights and then going to Rome and staying in Trastevere. So my question is where should I return the car to? The way I see it, I have three options.

 

1. Return the car to Orvieto and then catch the train to Termini Station and perhaps catch a taxi to our hotel in Trastevere. If we do this, is there a place we could leave our luggage so we could explore Orvieto before catching the train?

 

2. Return the car to Civitavecchia and then catch the train to Termini.

 

3. Return the car to the airport (Fulmini?) and again train it to Termini.

 

I mention Termini as this seems to be the most mentioned station... is there a better way to Trastevere or better place to return the car to. I'm especially interested in avoiding traffic as I haven't Driven on the the other side of the road before and would like to avoid ZTL's etc.

 

Thanks for all recommendations - I find this all quite overwhelming!

[euro cruiser]

I firmly believe in minimizing the number of transitions when planning transit from point to point, which usually means that if I'm driving part of a route I might as well drive all of it. However, when dealing with cities and ZTLs I do bend a bit, I'm willing to make my travel plan a bit more complicated to avoid them.

 

The trick, as I see it, is to find the most efficient route from the car drop off to Trastevere. That means finding a drop off point near a station on one of the regional train lines that goes to Trastevere. There are three to choose from, the FL1, FL3, and FL5 so you'd think you have lots of options but you really don't. The easiest is probably the airport, something I typically avoid.

 

Viterbo would be another option but before committing to it I'd want to look into the ZTL location and the distance from the car office to the train station.

 

Edited to add:

 

I just looked at the Europcar office near Viterbo Porta Romana station, it's very close to the station (one tenth of a mile) and well outside any ZTL, so that would be a good option.

Edited February 12, 2018 by euro cruiser

[akke29]

Great thread. I'm planning a self-drive pre cruise "road trip" for my family and I. I have loosely planned the following: We are flying into Venice arriving at 1615, picking up the car and spending the night at an airport hotel . The next day we'll drive to San Gimignano where we are staying at a farm house for 4 nights as a base and will explore the region. Ideally, I'd like to do this first drive via Pisa and anywhere else on that side of where we'll be. We'll then spending the next days exploring on the other side of our San Gimignano base. When leaving the region, we'll head down to Rome, drop the car at an undetermined spot (tentatively FCO) and then spend 3 nights prior to sailing from Civit. Questions...

 

1 - Should we not waste time spending the night near the VCE airport and just get on the road? It will be a long journey to Italy, so was thinking of not overdoing it on arrival afternoon. The only reason I chose to fly into VCE is that our cruise ends there, flight was cheaper and seemed more logistically sane at the time.

 

2 - Is driving via Pisa just a silly idea in order to catch the leaning tower and a nice lunch?

 

3 - Re: Dropping in the car in Rome. As I said, I've tentatively planned it for an FCO drop. Obviously we don't need a car in Rome and while not intimidated to drive in big cities, I just don't want to. With two older Parents in tow and all our luggage, FCO seemed like the easiest spot. Any other suggestions?

[marazul]

Get on the road and drive to Padua, about 30-40 minutes. Nice sightseeing and restaurants. It beats airport area anytime.

 

Driving through Pisa is ok depending on the time. After Pisa, you could drive through Volterra to get to San G. in the late afternoon.

[euro cruiser]

I agree, Padua would be a much better choice than staying at the airport. Even after the flight that short drive should be do-able, and that way if some members of your family want to go out and see/do things while others rest, you're in a good location to accommodate them.

 

Personally, I think Pisa is well worth a stop. Do read up on ZTLs because Pisa is full of them. You'll need to know about them for every other town of any size in Italy.

 

As for the car drop off, I wouldn't go all the way out to the airport. There are much closer downtown locations that are well outside the ZTLs in Rome.

[akke29]

Get on the road and drive to Padua, about 30-40 minutes. Nice sightseeing and restaurants. It beats airport area anytime.

 

Driving through Pisa is ok depending on the time. After Pisa, you could drive through Volterra to get to San G. in the late afternoon.

 

Thanks for this advice! I like this idea and will move our booking to Padua.

 

I agree, Padua would be a much better choice than staying at the airport. Even after the flight that short drive should be do-able, and that way if some members of your family want to go out and see/do things while others rest, you're in a good location to accommodate them.

 

Personally, I think Pisa is well worth a stop. Do read up on ZTLs because Pisa is full of them. You'll need to know about them for every other town of any size in Italy.

 

As for the car drop off, I wouldn't go all the way out to the airport. There are much closer downtown locations that are well outside the ZTLs in Rome.

 

Thanks for this as well. I'm aware of the ZTL's and will definitely research best options for both Pisa and Rome. Hopefully I can find a way to do the same for Florence if we decide to spend a day there.

[Hlitner]

Great thread. I'm planning a self-drive pre cruise "road trip" for my family and I. I have loosely planned the following: We are flying into Venice arriving at 1615, picking up the car and spending the night at an airport hotel . The next day we'll drive to San Gimignano where we are staying at a farm house for 4 nights as a base and will explore the region. Ideally, I'd like to do this first drive via Pisa and anywhere else on that side of where we'll be. We'll then spending the next days exploring on the other side of our San Gimignano base. When leaving the region, we'll head down to Rome, drop the car at an undetermined spot (tentatively FCO) and then spend 3 nights prior to sailing from Civit. Questions...

 

 

.....

 

If you already have a reservation to fly into Marco Polo Airport, then forget this post :). Otherwise, why on earth are you flying into Venice....to drive to San Gimignano? The ideal airport for San Gimignano would be Florence.....and even FCO (Rome) would be a shorter drive. We applaud you using the San Gimignano area as a base (we have done this a few times) as its a great location. Consider driving the S222 wine route (through Chianti) and perhaps visiting Volterra and even little Colle val d'Elsa.

 

As to Pisa, some like it and others do not. But make sure to read-up on ZTL's which are Italian restricted driving zones. Much of the area around the Field of Miracles are in ZTLs...so you should print out a ZTL map and plan your route (and parking) accordingly.

 

Hank

[akke29]

If you already have a reservation to fly into Marco Polo Airport, then forget this post :). Otherwise, why on earth are you flying into Venice....to drive to San Gimignano? The ideal airport for San Gimignano would be Florence.....and even FCO (Rome) would be a shorter drive. We applaud you using the San Gimignano area as a base (we have done this a few times) as its a great location. Consider driving the S222 wine route (through Chianti) and perhaps visiting Volterra and even little Colle val d'Elsa.

 

As to Pisa, some like it and others do not. But make sure to read-up on ZTL's which are Italian restricted driving zones. Much of the area around the Field of Miracles are in ZTLs...so you should print out a ZTL map and plan your route (and parking) accordingly.

 

Hank

 

Hi Hank, thanks for the advice. Yes, I realize VCE isn't ideal for what we'll eventually end up doing. I had initially planned to buy plane tickets that brought us into FLR and leaving from VCE (the cruise starts in Rome and ends in Venice). But then a roundtrip to VCE popped up and was a good deal so I pounced on it. I figured it could be worth the small logistics mess, in favor of plane tickets that fit the budget. Plus, I figured we could figure out some kind of drive to the Tuscany region that would be fun and make the most of the extra driving I have to do. If I could change the ticket I would, but I'm pretty sure the cost to do that will exceed the other costs associated with a night in Padua and the time/fuel costs of more driving.

 

Given the fact we'd be spending some time in Rome and then sail on a vert port intensive cruise, I wanted to keep the visit to Tuscany quiet, relaxing, picturesque, a bit rustic and sort of out of the norm. Settling on San Gimignano after much research seemed to be the ideal spot as a base, given our limited time.