driving italy
 

i want drive from rome to venice, an get back to rome by tuscany, some one has an idea about what is it better, get a train o drive to venice? i only have a week i will appreciatte any help.

If you are going straight from Rome to Venice then it's a no-brainer. Train is by far the easiest. You can check schedules at www.trenitalia.com. Trains from Rome to Venice take just under 4 hrs. They depart hourly, at ##:45 all day long. The non-discounted 2nd class fare is 73 euros. You may be able to get a small discount if you buy your tickets a few days in advance once you arrive in Italy.


If you want to explore rural Tuscany then you can rent a car when you depart Venice.

Well, if you are flying into Rome and want to go straight to Venice, you might want to fly to Venice. (I like using my brain! and really hate no-brainer advice!)

If you haven't already bought your tickets, see if you can fly into Venice, even if it means switching planes in Rome. It's an easy connection, and better than trying to book a separate flight. (I would give myself at least a 2 hour layover between flights).

Flying can be cheaper than the train when booked as a single ticket -- and you don't have to haul your luggage from the airport to the train station.

Depending on where you want to go in Tuscany, you can either rent a car upon leaving Venice or take a train to a town close to the area you want to explore and rent the car there.

Zeppole is absolutely correct: the drive will really eat into your one-week time. Either drive from Rome to a base in Tuscany so that you can explore there what you want to see, then take the train from there to Venice, or get on a flight straight away out of Rome to Venice, spend your allotted time in Venice, then drive to an area in Tuscany as a base to explore and train back to Rome or even keep the car to drop off in Rome; at least that way you are only driving maybe 3 hours from Piazzale Roma to your chosen base in Tuscany for the few days you seem to allotting for that area. I wouldn't even remotely consider drving from Rome to Venice directly after an international flight when you have so little total time in Italy - arrival and departure days are totally wasted, so you're down to five days for everything you want to do.

Sandra

Hi VH,

Your most efficient means would be to go directly to Venice, hire a car (pick up at Piazzale Roma) and drive through Tuscany to Rome. This will give you 2 nights in Venice, 2 in Tuscany and 2 in Rome.

I would (a) spend a week in Venice with 2 daytrips or (b) spend a week in Rome with 2 daytrips.

Visiting R from V or V from R for just a day is not recommended.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

IMHO, never spend less than 4 nights in Rome (first visit) and Venice deserves at least three.
If Venice and Rome are "musts," you will spending a big percentage of your trip traveling. Please reconsider.
You may want a taste of everything, but sometimes short visits to bigger cities leaves long-lasting bad tastes because of all the rushing and disorientation.
If you insist:
Fly to Venice from FCO and stay two nights. Train to Florence and rent a car. Drive to Val d'Orcia area spend a night (Montalcino?) there and then drive to FCO. Train into Rome and spend your remaining time there.