Greetings, I am trying to decide if it is more cost effective to rent a car to get from Florence to Venice or to take a train. We will have 4 adults with us and the train fare is around 35-55 Euro a person. I would also like to keep time efficiency in mind. Thanks!

Train.

Sorry had to dash before.

Train because the one day rentla may be expensive after you factor in the needed insurance etc. You won't need or want a car in Venice and if you keep it you'll pay rental plus parking fees.

The A4 around Mestre can at times resemble a parking lot rather than an autostrade. On the train you can bypass that congestion.

No need to do paperwork at the rental office, drive and pay fuel and tolls, then mess with traffic and more time to return in Venice.

Train station for tickets from an automated machine, sit in comfort and watch the scenery roll by. Get off the train at Santa Lucia in Venice and you are there.

Train, for all the reasons mentioned above, plus you don't want to get a rental car Florence.

Some people have mentioned that they found it easy; I'm not one of them. Add all the no driving zones in Florence to that, and I wouldn't want to take the risk. I don't see the advantage to driving.

I've seen lines at Piazzale Roma, where you either park the car or turn it in, in Venice, that were very long. Just long stretches of cars, waiting to get in the parking lot.

And as for the rental office opening on time, well, we are talking about Italy here.

Train.

Train. A no brainer.

For just that journey train is a better option. Why go through all the hassle of renting a car, organizing insurance, internatinal drivers permit and then dros off - when you can justhop on a train.

If you think a car ic healer figure out how big a car you really need to hold 4 adults plus you luggage - it will NOT be one of the smaller models.

(And this is from someone who has done MANY road trips in europe- but it makes sense when you're doing countryside plus multiple cities and towns - not just hop from one major city to another.)

The poster asks which is more cost effective. No-one has actually checked prices, from what I can see.

Conjecture is not terribly helpful. To resolve the issue:

1. Go to Autreurope and see what they would charge to rent a 4 person economy car from Piazzale Roma to Florence.

2. Go to the Trenitalia website and check the price of a train from Venezia S. Lucia to Firenze S. Maria Novella.

Bottom line (more conjecturing): If you can drive a standard, the car may be sligthly cheaper. If you need an automatic, the train will definitely be cheaper.

Train

TRAIN!!!!

The OP also said
- I would also like to keep time efficiency in mind. -

Train has to be the answer to that one.

And OP, if you're pricing this out as Tedgale suggests, don't forget to add tolls and petrol.

I'm on board... train! Have a wonderful trip!

autoeurope syas around 100 euros to 150 euros for car depending on size (manual trnasmission)

viamichelin estimates 43 euros for tolls and fuel

car total = 143 to 193

train = 140 to 220

Convenience Priceless

Train....this site will help http://seat61.com/

I've done both. I don't think there is a big time difference.

The main issue for us was the dullness of the trip.

A featureless plain (pianura Padana???) stretches from Venice and Padua to Ferrara and beyond. Very little to absorb and entertain the driver. Only as you approach Florence does the country become hilly and quite pretty. For that reason we prefer the train.

I write post cards on the train. Hard to do while driving, LOL

Added cost to add to train travel might be taxi to hotel and cost of side trips once one is in the destination.

But, tdudette, you'd have to transfer from wherever you drop the car, probably not as close or as easy as the train station. And, if you're going to keep the car for side trips from a city, you'll have to pay to park it.

As Julie said, convenience is PRICELESS. I rent cars all the time but, IMO, if you have no plans to stop and explore along the way, I'd choose the train no matter what, even if the price comes out higher.

I have experienced some bazaar car rental lots in Italy; multi-leveled, lots of stairs, no logical layout what-so-ever, car is not in the space the agent said it was. Getting from car space to rental counter can take 20 minutes if you're not familiar with the lot and if you have luggage to deal with.

Italians don't treat customer lines the way Americans do. Italians refuse to endure stress at work and, therefore, refuse to work quickly if a lot of people are waiting for service. There have been many times where I stood in line and waited an hour to simply return my car while I listened to the agent ask her regular customer about his family. In America, an agent gives you a digital printout ticket as soon as you exit the car and off you go. I've yet to experience this in Italy.

The train ride is a breeze. You get on and then you get off. It doesn't get much simpler than this. IMO, the A1 isn't all that scenic from Florence to Venice. And depending on the time of year, the two-lane Ponte della Libertà can be bumper to bumper with a two-hour wait.

The train is a no-brainer.

Mimar, you are right about transport to/from car rental place. I was thinking of organized tours but guess it evens out.

I'm a train fan from the getgo but sometimes we have hired drivers just to be able to stop when we want. A trade-off.

Thank you all for your input. Train it is!