bungkee

Hi,
My family and I plan 2 weeks trip in Italy in April.
We have to go and back from Milan Airport.
Our plan is renting a car in Milan and drive to Venice,then Florence.
Driving from Florence to Amalfi coast then back to Rome.Fly from Rome to Milan.

Can anyone please suggest if we should change the route or the transportation?
Are there any difficulties in driving a long trip?
Please also advise which is more interesting between Sorrento and Amalfi?

Thank you very much.

PalenQ

I'd change the transportation to trains as you seem mainly to be staying in large cities where cars are useless and even a liability IMO and IME - large swathes of towns are off limits to private cars - many hotels do not offer parking and parking can be really expensive and hard to find - anything left in cars could be stolen and cities like Rome, Florence or Venice are really walkable and have excellent public transportation.

Even the Amalfi Coast has superb public transportation via boats and the dramatic Amalfi Coast buses that ply one of the world's most sinuous cliffside roads very very frequently and dirt cheap.

Italian autostradas also charge steep fees to add to sky high fuel costs.

If you main focus was say visiting hill towns in Tuscany even then the dense system of buses makes public transit so easy even there.

But cities like Rome, Florence and of course Venice are not well suited to car travel.

Trains are very modern and go everywhere - check out these fab IMo sites for loads of great info on Italian trains - www.trenitalia.com - official site with fares and also some online discounts (which have restrictions however and which must be booked in advance as they are sold in limited numbers and are train-specific and hard to change often; www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com; www.ricksteves.com.

There is also an Italian Railpass that if you are going from Milan to Venice to Florence to Rome to Amalfi and back to Milan may be a great deal for you - look for a Saverpass - two folks traveling together on the same pass - and I would, after decades of traveling Italy by train go first class - for the trip of a lifetime so so much more relaxed - seats significantly bigger - often empty seats to spread out in and easier stowing your luggage. The railpass allows flexibility to chose which train you will take after you get to Italy - any train anytime though you do need to make the requisite seat reservation on all but regional trains.

nytraveler

You are covering a lot of ground with the need to start out and then circle back to Milan. (I assume this is a free ticket - otherwise it would make much more sense to Fly into Venice and home from Rome - and wouldn't cost any more.)

Agree - that to visit just cities train will be more convenient than car - other wise you will be paying for a lot of days you aren't using it - both the car rental itself and $35 or $40 a day for a garage to put it in.)

qwovadis

Congrats on your trip might pare back a bit pretty crammed
Have done this both ways tigercarrentals.com good personal experience more expensive makes sense for all rural areas
but an expensive hassle in big cities so I usually hop
local trains www.seat61.com/italy for a couple of euro per hour in fact am doing some of this route in April and did all of it last May.Route for me Milan Venice Florence Rome Sorrento/Amalfi Siena Pisa Lucca cinqueterre.com Portofino Milano. www.eurocheapo.com www.booking.com for nice hotels along your way. Happy Travels!

jnjfraz

A little too much for 2 weeks and it would be so much better if you could fly into Milan and out of Rome.

Milan, Venice, Florence are best using a train. You could then rent a car in Florence and see a little countryside. Maybe Tuscany or the northern Tuscan coast (Portovenere is beautiful) and then drop the car off at the Rome airport and take the train into Rome for your stay there. I think Amalfi is too much for the time you have.

If you have to fly in and out of Milan then take the fast train from Rome to Milan.

bungkee

Thank you very much for all of your comments.They're such great help to us.Yes, we have free tickets and now waiting list for outbound from Rome.
We will change to use train service ,may rent a car in rural area and using luggage delivery during our trips.We had fantastic experience for using them in last trip to Switzerland. We 're also good shoppers that's why we first plan to use a car as there might be increased baggages.
Thanks again.

ItalianGrizzlet

One way for you to work Amalfi in is to fly Easyjet from Naples back to Milan. It's like 29 euro one way.

bungkee

Thanks very much for all of your value comments. Now our group increase to 6 people and are studying details of our trips.I think that it will be an impressive trip.

Blwetorch

@ PalenQ......is the Italian Rail pass the same as the Eurail single country pass for Italy? What is the difference between them?

caroline_edinburgh

"using luggage delivery during our trips" - what's that, then ? I've never heard of such a service in Italy, except as part of a package tour (and especially for people on a walking or cycling tour). Are you thinking to use courier services to post your luggage on ? Sounds expensive and not very efficient. Why can't you just take it with you, whether you are travelling by car or by train / bus / boat ?

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Many such services exist, and they're one of the ways Italians make their long vacations easier!

Often hotels have their particular favourites - otherwise Trenitalia offer a scheme in partnership with TNT...

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD

Peter

caroline_edinburgh

Really ? I still can't really see what the point is, though - unless for people with physical disabilities who may not be able to handle their own luggage ?

A_Brit_In_Ischia

Bear in mind that many Italians take their main vacation in Italy, usually for quite a while, and often in the company of between one and four grandparents - plus, since they'll probably not be flying, almost everything but the kitchen sink!

Without plane tickets to pay for, shipping a 'trunk' or two of clothes, toys etc from home to hotel or holiday apartment and back makes it much more convenient, and not particularly expensive, for the whole family to travel by train or coach.

Peter

PalenQ

@ PalenQ......is the Italian Rail pass the same as the Eurail single country pass for Italy? What is the difference between them?>

Yes it is the same creature - Eurail Italy Pass formerly called the Italian Railpass but exactly

bungkee

I always used baggage delivery service when travelling by train in Japan and Switzerland.We could travel with free hand,no need to go straight to hotel check in.We could stop to many destinations especially when there're many by pass stops then back to hotel in the evening.It saved time and costs,a lot of convenience and much fun.But the important thing is to check delivery time to make sure the luggages will arrive when we reach the hotel.But in Switzerland, we had to pick up at the train station.

caroline_edinburgh

Ah right, thanks Peter - interesting. I suppose we have taken everything but the kitchen sink when staying in a villa with friends - piles of books, cocktail ingredients, a few essential pieces of kitchen equipment, pool towels, etc - but then we've gone by car so could just chuck everything in. I won't go into the time when we had all that plus cases of chmpagne for our wedding, and we lost the car to an accident...

TDudette

I too vote for more train travel. And, there's no need to fly from Rome to Milan. It's only about 3 hours by train. Bus runs every 20 minutes from Milan train station to airport. Don't know what your times are, but I'd certainly look into it.

PalenQ

going by train does demand packing lighter than going by car - always steps to climb up and down and crowded aisles to navigate once on board, etc. Pack light if using the rails...

bungkee

Many thanks again for all of your comments.We will use train service (using 1st class Italy pass)during big cities,only rent a car when leaving Florence.As we plan for staying in a villa and travelling around Tuscany area for a few days.Luckily, finally we can fly out from Rome not Milan.Thanks.

TDudette

PalenQ makes a good point about traveling light. Most of the train tracks are accessed by tunnels with stairs and no elevators.

Also, FYI, there isn't THAT much difference between 1st and 2nd class train travel. You'll have more space in first. We did it once because it was what our travel agent gave us. Travel around Easter time will more crowded so you might prefer 1st.