Driving in Italy vs Train: Vigoleno/Emilia Romagna
 

We plan to drive from Venice to Vigoleno in the Emilia Romagna region (about 2.5 hrs), then the next day drive to Rome (4.5 hrs). Although driving in Italy can certainly allow us to explore more, we also have a better chance of getting lost and/or paying more for a rental, but I don't even know if there is a train station near to Vigoleno to explore more options.

What I'm considering

1) drive to Vigoleno from Venice, then drive to Rome the next day

2) same, except stop in Florence to cut the drive in half, explore and take a train the rest of the way to Rome ....which would bring me to the question of
How far is the Florence airport from the train station since the airport is the main car drop off location?

Last, is it easy to pay for train tix on site or best to reserve? If reserve, what if you miss the time you reserve?

Thanks in advance!

You might also want to consider returning the rental car to Parma, and continuing from there by train to Rome.

Hi C,

It's only 4 hr from Vigoleno to Orvieto, where you can drop your car and take the train to Rome - 1 hr.

See www.viamichelin.com

((I))

It's easy to pick up tickets for the train in the station just before you board. There are machines in English which are easy to operate and understand.

Thank you. We couldn't find any train stations aside from Rome to drop a car off in, so that is what we'll do. Thanks again.

We did a similar trip on our first trip to Italy, Venice to a village south of Parma, Cassio. We did some of the trip via autostrada but then got onto the secondary roads and found it absolutely charming. South of Padua, at Monselice, we took S10 to Mantova and then S420 to Parma. The trip couldn't have been easier, and we had the opportunity to "discover" small villages not necessarily in the guide books, like Montagnana, our first experience with a truly walled city.

Thank you. That is certainly helpful to know that it was not too difficult of a driving experience.