jjacob1029

Hi All,

I will be in Italy for 11 days this up coming March.

I will be staying in Florence with my niece. However, I do plan to stay in Cinque Terre a couple nights out of my stay.

Anyway, I have had people tell me that I should rent a car for the time that I am there so I can go off the beaten path and explore a little bit. Then I have other people telling me just to take the trains everywhere because it is a hassle to drive in Italy.

I will be traveling to Rome, Venice, and other places. But, only for day trips. The only place I will stay over night is Cinque Terre.

If anyone has any advice on this topic that will be great.

Thanks!

sandralist

In March I would definitely recommend sticking to train travel if you are not in the mood to deal with car rental offices and driving and parking restrictions. You can very VERY easily get off the beaten track using trains around Florence. Go to Pistoia. Go to Arezzo.

I would also recommend that you put le Cinque Terre into the "only if" category -- meaning: only if the weather is glorious. You will need to wait until your are in Italy to know what the weather is for le Cinque Terre during your target dates. Even if it is sunny in Florence it could hideous in le Cinque Terre. March is usually a time of quite unstable weather in that area.

You need to look at the 24 hour weather forecast before deciding to go and you will have no trouble booking someplace nice to stay in le Cinque Terre last minute.

Bookmark this link for weather forecasts:

http://www.ilmeteo.it/meteo/Monterosso+al+Mare

You need a plan B in case le Cinque Terre is being inundated with rain. Some marvelous places to go for a few days within easy train reach of Florence (easier than le Cinque Terre) are Perugia or Bologna or Verona or even Venice or Rome. Depending on your dates they more or less easy to book last minute but if those Plan Bs look complicated there are easily another dozen choices depending on your interests and the weather forecast.

adrienne

Driving in Italy is so easy and wonderful but the places you'll be visiting are not conducive to car travel. They're better accessible by trains, especially as you'll mostly be taking day trips.

Cars are better for the small towns that do not have train service or have infrequent bus service.

I would rather stay overnight in Venice than Cinque Terre, especially in March, and as you'll be traveling 4 hours round trip on the train plus time on either end to get to and from the train stations.

kybourbon

You can easily reach a few towns in Chianti by bus along with Siena.

>>>I have had people tell me that I should rent a car for the time that I am there so I can go off the beaten path and explore a little bit. <<<

Only if you want to go to towns with little to no bus or train service, but you don't say what you consider off the beaten path.

I agree about the overnight being Venice or Rome unless you are into hiking.

jan47ete

Positively never, ever, ever, never have a car in Rome, Florence and of course, no cars in Venice so no issue there.

We spent 10 days in Venice, month in Florence and week in Rome. Rented in car to get out of Florence and got 2 tickets doing so, same for trying to drop car off in Rome. But we had 3 weeks between Florence and Rome to wander.

Going back in Oct/Nov and will rail it everywhere.

nytraveler

Your itinerary does not sound as if it will lend itself to driving. Your time is limited and it looks like you will be doing lots of long-distance day trips (Rome, Venice, etc) so not sure where you willleave the car.

I would not reco the CT at that time of year unless you are sure it is a must for you - after you have investigated. I know rick Steeeeves has mad it one of the "IN" plaes to go - but I don't see it if off season unless you are determined to do the hikes (and they are open based on weather conditions).

If it were my choice I would do an overnight in Rome - where there is SO much to see/do - but I'm not a hiker - and prefer museums, churches, castles and history to seaside villages off season.

greg

It depends. On the rational side, the choice of transportation depends on the goals and destinations. On the subjective side, it depends on the personality of the person recommend as well as yours.

For quuite many people, traveling=driving. It does not matter one sees nothing, costs more, takes more time, more hassles parking or in traffic. As long as they drove, it was a good trip. If you are this type, just drive.

Others just want to justify whatever method they chose as a smart way. Never mind that you might be doing a different kind of trip.

Yet, others might be just a wanna-be. Just copy what others do.

Many first timers bring up visiting off the beaten path. These places don't just pop up driving the highways. You need to know where they are located and have time to visit them. First timers underestimates logistics involved with driving in Italy. For hilltown, it is quite time consuming to park and make way into the center of historic towns. You just cannot drive into the middle of these places. What underestimater end up is they lose time getting lost, perhaps picking up expesive tickets, and no time to visit off the beaten path places - all liabilities and no benefit.

I think the more rational way is to look at what you are trying to do and what a car means to you. Is it the trip or just a means of moving from A to B? Think of doing a wood work. If you are using nails, you need a hammer. If you are cutting, you need a saw. Yet when it comes to transportation, people just pick up a "car" and then ask what to do with it. If you drive in Italy, you must know about ZTL. All towns/cities with historic cennter, that means practically all places touritst go have them. Only the cars with permits can go in. They enforce this vigorously with video cameras with breathtaking fines to go with them.

sandralist

..>>>"Many first timers bring up visiting off the beaten path. These places don't just pop up driving the highways. You need to know where they are located and have time to visit them.

This really isn't true. One of the most startling things about Italy is how much there is to enjoy just about any time you take a chance on turning left or right and within 15 minutes you are seeing something charming or amazing or historic.

It can actually be a lot of fun to pick up a car and not have a plan and head off into an area of Italy to explore. So I wouldn't be so negative about the enjoyment other people get out of this. It is actually the way a lot of people used to travel in Italy and Europe in general. In fact some people used to BUY a car it was so cheap and easy and then sell it at the end of their trip.

Now you can hardly talk about the idea of going to Italy without 10 people popping out of the work with a mile long list of "DON'Ts".

crosscheck

We loved having a car for day trips in the Florence area. Trains are great for getting from point A to B, but we find it a lot more fun to explore, be spontaneous and create your own schedule with a car. We found local festivals, visited vineyards, stopped for meals, shopping and photo ops in tiny villages and saw terrain that would not have been accessible by train.

We just returned from Spain where we did a combined road/train trip in Andalucia. The train travel was efficient and relaxing, but the car travel was more interesting and inspiring.

bvlenci

Driving is the best way to explore rural Tuscany; I think we're all agreed about that. We've done several driving holidays in Tuscany, which is the next region over from where we live. However, this traveler hasn't mentioned any rural destinations. More important, she says she's staying with her niece in Florence, not at a rural agriturismo. Nothing in the world would induce me to drive into Florence, and most Italians would agree with me. People who live there or nearby know the roads and the ZTLs like the back of their hands, and they are practically the only people you see driving on the streets of Florence. This is true of all major cities in Italy.

All of the destinations mentioned are easily reached by train, and there are plenty of off-the-beaten path places that are easily reached by either train or bus. Buses go even to small villages, but their schedules are usually geared to high school students, who go to school in a larger town and return home in the afternoon. This is the opposite of the directions a tourist staying in Florence would take, so you have to do a bit of bus schedule research to figure out an itinerary. Also, buses to small towns rarely run on Sundays. Between trains and buses, though, you can work out a decent variety of interesting day trips.

Assisi and Spello are two other destinations that can be reached by train from Florence. Assisi is famous for its religious significance and its artistic treasures, but nearby Spello is less famous, and it's a little jewel. There are some direct trains, but others require a change somewhere. The trip is long, about two and a half hours by train, but scenic.

If the weather in the Cinque Terre is no conducive to hiking, you could spend two nights in Assisi and visit Spello as well while you're there.