My husband and I are planning to travel to Italy in mid October. So far I am thinking:

Days 1 and 2 Venice
Day 3-6 Florence
Day 7-10 Sorrento
Day 11-14 Rome
home on day 15

We are planning on traveling mostly by train - unless there are better ideas out there.
I am wondering what the fast train is like. Can you see the scenery as it goes by -or is the train going too fast? I would like to see some countryside while in Florence-perhaps a day trip or two. I wonder if I should rent a care there, or go by bus or local train. If we buy a eurail pass, does that cover local trains? I had originally thought that we would fly home out of Sorrento, but then decided Rome would probably be easier - especially at early hours in the morning.

Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Nuxi,

I don't think you see much scenery on the train, but I love traveling by train. We had no trouble driving in Tuscany, but driving around Florence and getting to a hotel in old town in a car was stressful. Depending on your budget, you might want to hire a driver for a day and see Positano and Ravello while staying in Sorrento. You will not be disappointed. Or you could take a taxi to Positano, or the SITA bus. If you don't want to drive in Florence, maybe you could book a day trip (tour) to Siena or the hill towns from Florence.

WT

I believe you will need to fly out of Rome.

Yes, you can see the scenery on the fast trains.

Do not buy a pass if you will only be in Italy. Train tickets in general, the various discounts, and your particular simple itinerary will be cheaper with point-to-point tickets.

You might rent a car to see the countryside outside Florence, or you can take a daytrip by train or bus to a smaller town. Also you might hire a driver for the day if you don't want to deal with the traffic yourselves.

You can see scenery on the fast train. I think you would save money just buying point to point tickets instead of a Eurail Pass as you only need trains from Venice to Florence, Florence to Naples (Naples to Sorrento is by commuter rail and not covered on a Eurail Pass) and Naples to Rome. It's always best to have a car to explore Tuscan hilltowns if you can afford it and are willing to drive. However, since you have only three and a half days in Florence, you probably only have time for one daytrip. You could take the bus to Siena or the train to Lucca and/or Pisa.

Thank you all for your insight! Am I correct in thinking that we can make the car versus bus decision for day trips while we are there or do we need to book ahead of time for car rental?

Do not make your decision about renting a car while there. Definitely rent in advance. You will save a lot of money and have an English-speaking American outfit to help you out if there are issues. You probably don't want to be arguing over the fine print of a rental contract in Italian.

A one day car rental is usually pretty expensive, more so than a multi-day rental. When you factor in train travel, you really don't have much time for day trips. Florence/Sorrento will take at least 4 1/2 hours.