Driving in Italy??
 

My Fiance and I are planning a 2 week trip to Italy for our Honeymoon. Destinations we plan to visit include Capri, Positano, Rome, Florence, Tuscany, Venice, Lake Come and Milan. We are trying to decide if we should 1. Rent a car and drive the entire time, 2. Rent a car to see southern Italy (Capri, Amalfi and Positano) and Tuscany but take the trains to see the big cities, 3. Take the train the entire time, 4. Go on a tour.
If we drove we are worried about getting lost, street signs in a different language, etc.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

IMHO, no matter what mode of travel you choose, you're making way-too many stops for a two-week trip. I suggest that you do some editing - and after you do that, the answer to your options question will become clearer.

You need at least four fewer destinations... and then, a plan to incorporate a three day car rental into a 14-day trip, with train travel between city A and city B, as well as between two other points in your 4-point itinerary. You should plan on flying into one gateway city, and back home from a different city, so that ideally... you only have three transportation legs total to plan (two by train, one by car).

In some cases, you have listed "nested pairs", so you could base in one and still explore the other (Florence, which is IN Tuscany... or Lake Como which is adjacent to Milan).

Time of year will likely be a significant factor in making some destination choices.

Whatever your decisions, congratulations on your new life in marriage... and...

Best wishes,

Rex

I agree that you're doing far too much for 2 weeks.

For Amalfi, Positano and Capri I wouldn't have a car. You can take a bus around Amalfi and Positano but the taxis are expensive. You can't take a car to Capri.

Cities like Milan, Rome, Florence you don't want a car. Walking, buses and taxis are the best. Taxis aren't expensive there. Tuscany and Lake Como would be great to have a car. Venice....that speaks for itself
....can't have a car there. It would sit in the parking lot

I'm not one to take tours anywhere. Especially if you're on your honeymoon. Do a little research and take your time to enjoy your trip.

Don't worry about street signs because the streets you're looking for are in the same language on the map or directions as they are on the sign. We've been to many countries where I don't speak the language and we've done fine finding our way. The fun of traveling is getting lost and finding new and interesting places. When my daughter was young she used to say, "Mommy and Daddy, lets get lost". So you get lost, you'll find your way back.

The point is to enjoy your honeymoon and have wonderful experiences and meet interesting people.

Agree that you are planning way too many places for a 2-week trip. You need to cut this down to 2 or 3 cities and a couple of days in the countryside.

Time of year is important - since Capri-Positano are really summer resorts.

Also - I wold bag Milan unless you need to use it as one of your gateways.

My choice for a first trip would be rome, florence, a couple of days in Tuscany and Venice. I would do by car - renting when you leave rome and dropping when you arrive Venice. But a lot of people will tell you to take a train between cities - to me it's too restrictive in terms of scheduling and the ability to explore as your like - plus luggage is a pain - vs easy with a car.

Driving in Italy is not a language issue - but the style is different than in the US - you need to be confident, assertive (but not aggressive) comfortable with higher speeds and follow the rules. (Italians take driving much more seriously than we do.) But since we drive this way anyway - it's just fun for us - and any competent driver will soon get used to it.

Thanks for the advise! So far it's unanimous - we are trying to do too much on this trip. It's hard to narrow down when neither one of us have ever been to Italy and there's so much to see. I do agree that Milan will be an easy choice to skip. We love wine and will be looking to have a romantic relaxing part of our trip as well as an exciting sight seeing part. Any other suggestions about what we might want to cut out? By the way - we are going in the beginning of May.

seeger222- glad you will be paring down your list. italy is a country to be savored and enjoyed, not rushed through. IMHO, i strongly suggest you include venice and florence in your final itinerary. a beautiful small city in tuscany is Sienna, (sp?), not far from florence. since this is your honeymoon, i recommend these cities for their romantic settings

I'm partial to Florence, Tuscany and Venice. They are the most romantic places to me.

I don't know how old you are, but you have plenty of time to see more of Italy in the future. Believe me when I say (and I'm sure most people agree) you will be planning your next trip to Italy before you finish this one.

I'd offer this suggestion:

Restrict yourselves to one 'region' i.e. North w/ Lakes, Dolomites, Venice - or Tuscany w/ Florence, Siena, San G, and even Cinque Terre - or Central w/ Rome, Amalfi Coast and Capri.

Seeger,
We were in Italy in June and had a car for a week. If a car helps in your travels then rent one. But there is no major Italian that you voluntarily want to drive into (not Rome, not Florence, not Venice).

If you plan a two week trip with say three city/hotel changes, then you have a reasonably paced itinerary. You should try to understand what the weather might like were you are planning to travel.

Venice is wonderful (no other city like it on earth). Have a wonderful honeymoon.

If you decide on some of the beautiful small hill towns in Tuscany you will need a car. Otherwise the trains are easy. The driving can be stressful but much easier away from the cities. What month are you going?