persevere

Planning first time trip to Italy with adult son (3 adults). Need suggestions for car rental, sites, hotels, etc. TENTATIVE PLANS: Traveling from Orlando to London July 25 (this part is planned) for 4 days in London. Depart London July 30th and thinking of flying into Paris for 2 nites. Then, rent car at CDG airport and travel through France to Italy. Possible stops along way, suggestions, Monaco/Nice? Car rental, travel regulations suggestions? Traveling to Florence, Cinque Terre, Rome (Help with any type of suggestions. Can either drop car in Florence and train to Rome or keep car all the way to Rome (exploring auto rental prices). Depart Rome on Aug.9 for Orlando. As of now, we can book return out of either Florence or Rome.

bobthenavigator

Wait until Italy to get the car to avoid a big drop charge.
Or, just forget the car for this itinerary.

StCirq

Oh Good Lord, No! What are you thinking?

You are allotting 9 days to Paris, a drive through France to Italy, and then all over Italy? Absolutely impossible. PLUS, you'd be leaving Paris on August 1 in that rental car headed south with 4 million other people, straight into the 500-kilometer-long backups that occur each year on the autoroutes, and will end up in the south at the most crowded, most expensive time of year in both France and Italy. PLUS, renting a car in France and dropping it in Italy will cost you about $500 extra. PLUS, it's all just impossible in the timeframe given.

Please take a sanity pill, get out the maps and chart distances, and start over again.

persevere

Thank you Bob. We checked rentals via travelocity.com and it appears that the difference between the out of country rental and within Italy for one week is around $400. Everyone we have spoken with has suggested a car for Italy, considering our travel schedule throughout Italy and the cost for 3 adults to fly, train, versus the car. Thus we thought the opportunity to visit Paris/ southern France would justify the $400 price difference. Open to thoughts as to sites to see driving through France and Italy. Appreciate your comments and insight.

uhoh_busted

As St Cirq says, this is the busiest time of the year. You have 9 days counting the day you leave London. You need to be in Rome (or Florence) on the 8th (assuming your flight is the morning of the 9th). I wouldn't do this as a driving trip at all - although with 4 adults, I see the assumed transportation cost advantage. To be totally honest, I think I'd try to find flights or train tickets between Paris and Florence (or Rome) ASAP. Could be difficult as most of France vacations for the month of August. But based on the time you have available, and the distances involved, I'd visit those two cities in addition to your already planned London itinerary, based on when you could leave Paris for Florence (or Rome).

There are lots of day trips you can take from Paris, if you find yourself with more days there, and the same applies for Florence (or Rome).

OR if your prime intent is visiting Italy, why stop in Paris if you can get a flight from London to ANYWHERE in Italy. Then pick up a rental car and spend those 9 days in Italy - a week driving through Tuscany or Umbria and drop the car and train into Rome (or Florence) for the last day & night before your flight out.

persevere

Appreciate your advice StCirq. We did michelin map the drive from Paris to Florence and thought an 11 hour trip was doable, not familiar with the travel conditions for France this time of year. We thought a couple of days in Florence and Rome with a day in the coastal area would fit our time frame. We haven't booked our return flight as of yet, so what would you recommend?

nytraveler

We have done road trips several times starting in Rome and ending in Paris - or vice versa. It can be a wonderful trip - but you should allow 3 weeks to do it and actually see anything. (And this includes limited time in Paris and Rome since we had been to both before doing these trips.)
There are several good routes (south in France and along the coast, east through France and German and then south, east through Switzerland and then a couple of places in italy) but you need much more time.

In the very few days you have you should select 2 (two) places - no more - if you actually want to see anything.

persevere

Okay, well France sounds undoable this time of year, so I would appreciate suggestions for Italy with a car rental as an option since the rental is reasonable for the week. Am I correct in thinking a car is necessary for driving through all the towns in the Cinque Terre, Tuscany, etc? We would not drive into Florence or Rome, and could turn in the car and use alternate transportation where it is more economical for 3 people. Still have not booked return, dates flexible as well as departure from Florence or Rome.

Mimar

Don't fly from London to Paris, take the Eurostar train. It's 2.5 hours city center to city center. Buy the tickets early for a considerable savings.

And once your itinerary gels, book open jaws flights, into London, out of Rome or Venice or Pisa or Nice or wherever. This should cost about the same as a round-trip ticket, and save time and money you'd spend back-tracking.

You might also look at cheap flights from Paris south. Try www.whichbudget.com.

Plus buying train tickets early can make for a considerable savings. Look for PREMs at www.voyages-sncf.com and MINI fares at www.trentialia.it. (At the SNCF site, if you're American, identify yourself as British. Otherwise it kicks you over to Raileurope, which shows fewer trains at higher prices and no PREMs.)

persevere

Thank you Mimar. I have researched Eurostar as well as Expedia into Paris and found a savings on Eurostar, although I thought the $130 flight from LHR was a fair price.

We were considering France as an extension, only because we thought the flexibility of driving through France would offer opportunities to stop and enjoy some siteseeing and see Paris again. We combined London, Munich, Bavaria, Aying with 3 days in Paris and back for a nite in London as our arrival/departure destination a few years ago. We had as many days for that trip as we do for this and I didn't experience any problems around the time frame, as I seem to be falling into with this trip.

Thanks for your train ticket recommendations;I have done some research on that site already, but appreciate your insight on the Prems.

I am using an open jaw approach for our flight into London and out of Florence or Rome, and it is bringing up some good values.

Again, I appreciate your good links/suggestions, Mimar.

Mimar

When comparing the cost of flying London to Paris vs. the Eurostar, add in the time and money to get to and from the airports.

In fact, I think for those of us with limited vacation time, time is as important a consideration as money.

To answer your question about a car in Italy, you don't need or want a car for the Cinque Terre. The five villages are connected by train, boats, and a walking path. The road is inland, and you pay to park the car and not use it.

A car is good for Tuscany and Umbria and some other parts of Italy, but not for the cities. Trains in Italy are still pretty cheap.

Italians vacation in August as do the French but not in quite so large numbers.