I doubt you can convince him to travel by train.

If your purpose of the trip is to visit attraction in the cities mentioned, everyone else has mentioned good reasons why trains make sense.

Economically, Italy is a country where train tickets are cheap while car rental and the operating expenses are high.

However if (his) purpose of the trip is to drive, none of the cost, hassle, or time factors matter.

I have a friend who went to Europe for the first time. He drove everywhere. He had a good time, but what did he see?

The road.

He moved from one town to another every day. He left after breakfast and arrived at destinations in the evening. He had no time to visit anything. But from his point of view, that was a wonderful trip.

If I were to visit Venice, Florence, and Rome, I would land in Venice then travel to Florence and Rome to save 1/2 day. I presume you already have your airline tickets, so you cannot change the arrival city.

kb, if you take the trains REMEMBER that you need to validate each ticket for each train trip at one of the little yellow boxes you will see by the train tracks. I "think" if you order your tickets via trenitalia that is not true as you just show your printed confirmation to the conductor.

Hi KB,

I'm so happy for you that you get to visit Italy!

I, too, would consider the train option. Driving is better if you plan to stay in small countryside towns, and want to explore Tuscany, for instance. We have driven in and/or out of Rome, Venice, and Florence -- it takes quite a bit of navigating and patience, and possible a sense of humor. You must expect to get lost and frustrated and add extra time for that. Plus you'll have to pay huge fees for parking while you're in each city, never even touching your car!

Second, even though you have been criticized heavily for your "manic" trip, I would like to tell you 8 1/2 days will be fine for the big three. I would consider 2 nights in Venice, 3 nights in Florence, and 3 nights in Rome. I would definitely save Pompeii for another trip. That would take an entire day away from Rome, and you'll only have 2 full days there.

I understand that sometimes time and money is limited, and you want to make the most of your time. You can rest when you go home or on the cruise ship. ( or on the train -- ha ha)

Have a great trip! and happy birthday!

dina

I would tell him you will certainly agree to travel by car if he pays for all of it--rental, insurance and gas. And if he reserves it.

Otherwise, it's the choo-choo.

Hello again kb, I received a phone call from a good Italian friend in Italy late last night and during the long conversation I thought of you.

These friends live north of Venice. Her husband has always insisted on driving their car each and every time they take a trip around Italy. No "if, ands or buts" lol.

Well just a couple of weeks ago they decided to go to Florence for a few nights. My friend suggested to her husband that they take the train and he refused until a friend of his told him with so much of central Florence closed to vehicles he was "crazy" to drive to Florence.

Long story short they took the train and now her husband is advising everyone he knows that "the ONLY way to enjoy large cities in Italy is to take the train instead of driving.

My friend had I had a good "giggle" about men and their cars, lol.

Thanks again everyone! LoveItaly--I can't believe you were thinking about my situation last night. Too funny!

All of the advice is very much appreciated. I have relayed it all to my brother and I think his defenses are starting to crack.

As for the idea of flying into Venice and out of Rome, I couldn't find a way to do it that wouldn't double our flight costs. :( Oh well, I've found ~$800 roundtrip to Rome and that looks pretty good, I think.

Thanks again all! I'm sure I'll have a ton of questions when I actually go to buy the train tickets. ;)

another vote for taking the train. In April I traveled from Rome to Florence to Venice via the train and it was an enjoyable ride.

As for the flight, did you look at flying into Venice and coming back from Rome as one "Multi-city" trip?

If you looked at flying into Venice as one reservation and coming back from Rome as yet another reservation, the price would be about double.

Greg--thanks for the reply. I did try a multi-city option as one ticket, but it didn't seem to help. I'm still looking at airlines, so maybe I'll find something different. I haven't ruled it out yet--just can't find a reasonable price so far.

Thanks!

kb,

It's odd that the multi-city option costs so much more. . . what is your departures airport?

Have you tried using kayak.com or one of the other airline search engines mentioned here?

Can you shift your travel dates a day or two to get a better fare?