OT: Off week question about travel to Italy;

[DanoRU]

We're making our 2nd trip to Italy in May and I have a couple of questions. Our first trip was a cruise with a 3 night stay in Rome afterwards. This year, we're going to rent a car for part of it and was hoping someone can help.

When driving to Venice, is it easy to get a motel outside the city and take mass transit in? If so, any hotel recommendations that have parking and convenient mass transit nearby? If better to get a motel in Venice, where do you leave your car and what's a good place to stay?

Any car rental suggestions/recommendations? I assume a GPS is available too?

 

[OTBOTOR]

Not sure about car rental, but if you're going mostly from city to city (Rome, Florence, Venice, etc.), I'd recommend using the rail system. It's inexpensive, drops you off right in the center of each city. Very easy way to travel in Italy and almost anywhere in Europe. We found some decent yet very inexpensive hotels in Rome and Florence right in the center of both cities. I'd imagine you could find similar deals in Venice.

Maybe you have some plans in the countryside that the trains can't reach, but if you're sticking to the cities, nothing beats the rails.
www.italiarail.com

 

[DanoRU]

We have a couple of things we want to do where the trains won't run but after that, we're turning in the car and using trains. I'm thinking it would be easier to start the trip with a car but maybe we should train to Venice and get the car when we're leaving.

 

[SirPerceval]

Highly recommended that you stay in a hotel within Venice itself to experience as much of the city as possible - We parked our rental van in a parking deck near the cruise terminal and train station outside venice - then took a public water taxi to our hotel (public taxis are essentially like public buses/subways and cost something like 6 euro per person - you can reserve a private taxi but cost is closer to limo type price 120 euro total) - it was maybe a 15 min ride to our hotel which was located right off the Grand Hotel. We use Trip Advisor to find and book all of our hotels in Rome, Florence, Venice and were happy with all of our selections.

We elected to rent a van for similar reasons - we had a group of six and were venturing into some areas where car travel was much more convenient. Rented a Mercedes van from Avis which accommodated our group very well. I believe Avis was the only agency that had them.

 

[retired711]

As was said above the rail system is very extensive. It should be able to take you anywhere you want to go. If you have only a week, focus on one or at most two cities; I'd say Venice and Florence since you already have had a taste of Rome.

 

[RAA-1]

You can avoid a great deal of unnecessary car travel by booking a multi-city trip at no additional cost. During the high season(I don't know if May is included) there are non-stop flights directly to Venice from JFK. You can book a return trip from Rome to JFK non-stop service. This eliminates a lot of wasted time in a car and you will only need to rent a car if you doing Tuscany or the Amalfi Coast.

Thus, you fly directly to Venice, visit this great location and train to your next destination (such as Florence or the Lake Region). You can rent a car in Florence for a few days to visit the countryside of Tuscany and towns in the vicinity of Siena.

Drive back to Florence and train to Rome. You will not need a car in Rome. If you are planning to do the beautiful Amalfi Coast you can train to Naples and rent a car there.

I have laid out above the most popular destinations, but Italy has many places to visit. If you let me know what cities you are planning to visit, I can give you additional details. (do you plan to visit Lake Como, Pisa, Sicily, Sardinia, the Italian or French Riviera or the Cinque Terre?)

 

[knightfan7]

As was said above the rail system is very extensive. It should be able to take you anywhere you want to go. If you have only a week, focus on one or at most two cities; I'd say Venice and Florence since you already have had a taste of Rome.

My sister and Brother in Law just did 2 weeks in Italy earlier this month. Flew into Milan, returned from Rome. Used the rail system exclusively.

I've never been overseas so I found this interesting. She said of all the place she's been in Europe including England, France, Germany, Czech Rep, Austria, and Germany, the Italians are way in front in the friendly department. Not only in the tourist areas but also just the average person on the street. Of course they did have their seemingly obligatory theft story as their camera magically disappeared from a backpack a couple feet away.

 

[DanoRU]

We already booked round trip Newark to Rome. We visited Cinque Terre already and wanted to drive from Venice to Puglia along the coast then Sorrento where we'd turn in the car and use trains the rest of the time. People had mentioned Bologna as worth seeing which was the reason we'd drive to Venice from Rome but maybe we'll skip that. The drive from the airport to Venice is less time than train to Rome then Venice including waits for the train.

 

[RUinPinehurst]

We take the train into the area. Then water taxi/bus. Stayed here a few times: http://www.hotelserenissimavenice.com/

 

[RAA-1]

We already booked round trip Newark to Rome. wanted to drive from Venice to Puglia along the coast then Sorrento where we'd turn in the car and use trains the rest of the time.

First mistake is flying in and out of the same city in Italy. You will be doing a lot of wasted travel.

Second one is not having a car in the Sorento area. The drive from Sorrento to Salerno along the Amalfi Coast is one of the top 3 driving experiences in the world.

 

[DanoRU]

RAA - we actually did that drive with a stop in Positano a few years back and we're still open to changes but are just looking for some suggestions. Airline prices were much higher when we looked into using different cities - Newark to Rome was the cheapest.

Pinehurst - If we did train into Venice and rent the car when we leave, how difficult is it to get to Venice from the train station?

 

[RUinPinehurst]

RAA - we actually did that drive with a stop in Positano a few years back and we're still open to changes but are just looking for some suggestions. Airline prices were much higher when we looked into using different cities - Newark to Rome was the cheapest.

Pinehurst - If we did train into Venice and rent the car when we leave, how difficult is it to get to Venice from the train station?

The Venice Santa Lucia train station is right on the Grand Canal. There is a vaporetto stop as you exit the station. You can't miss it.

 

[BigLou]

We did Italy this summer. Flew Newark to Venice, train to Florence, train to Rome, train to Naples and car service to Amalfi. Flew home from Naples. If you would like any info send a private message.
Regarding Venice, you definitely want to stay in the city which means no car while there. If your hotel has a dock, pay the extra for a water taxi so you don't have to drag your bags though the alleyways which they call streets.
Great trip. Loved the whole country.

 

[RUinPinehurst]

As was said above the rail system is very extensive. It should be able to take you anywhere you want to go. If you have only a week, focus on one or at most two cities; I'd say Venice and Florence since you already have had a taste of Rome.

This. Also can rent a car in Florence and drive to Tuscan hill towns nearby.

 

[DanoRU]

Thanks for all of the suggestions. We're not doing a tour and will be there 11 days. We're definitely seeing Venice and working our way to Sorrento so we can ferry to Capri. In between, we want to visit Puglia to see those cone shaped Trulia(?) buildings. We already spent 3 full days in Rome so that's only a starting and ending point. Based on what you're saying, it looks like train to Venice, stay in Venice and get the car when we leave is the best idea.

 

[onesimus]

European resident a frequent Italy visitor here (I'll be there this week - Como).

Anyways I'm in the camp that believes renting a car is the best option - so my advice in regards to rentals are as follows.

1. If you do a different city pick up/drop off of the car there will be a 50 EUR fee for most car rentals. BE ADVICED that if you borrow a GPS, you will be charged an additional 50 EUR on top. It's in the contract so don't bother arguing that logic.

2. Be wary of "Locals only" streets when visiting Tuscan villages. The sign will be tiny, 2 feet off the ground, and in Italian but it's a 90 EUR fine (they have cameras and will send the rental company pictures) for driving on said roads. On that note - be aware of speeding cameras as well (it's not like the U.S where you have to be pulled over to receive a traffic violation).

3. The FIAT 500 is convenient and "cool" in that "I'm driving in Italy" kind of way. But that thing barely pushes 70 mph, and you'll have a lot of angry Italian drivers tailing you on the highway.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[SkilletHead2]

Find a small town in Tuscany and book yourself in for a few nights. There are a million of them, and they all seem to be incredibly beautiful.

 

[DanoRU]

Thanks for the driving advice. Those camera fines are steep but Italy's having budget problems so they need the money.