For travel in between cities of Rome, Venice and Florence (Summer 08).

What is the best? We are even thinking of a driver between cities and we won't need transportation once in the city.

7 people. Two elderly.

Thanks for the advice.

I think you're smart to avoid trains, my mother and MIL are both in their late 70's and I wouldn't want to be running around train stations with the two of them in the middle of summer either.

I would rent a van and park it on the outskirts of each city and cab it in. If you want to hire a driver, don't have a recommendation, but saw your other post that you are working with Sleep in Italy on an apt rental - would ask Guilia if she can recommend someone.

LAwoman. Thank you for your comments. I have read some of your other messages. Sounds like you have a great deal of experience in Italy. What is your favorite area of Rome to stay in?

I would actually consider the trains (and i'm having some train anxiety right now, if you notice from my other posts) since you are only visiting the major cities, and there are direct fast trains from each city.

Renting a VAN, from my experience, is very expensive in Italy. And not sure how you can possibly fit 7 people and all of their luggage into one van.

i believe you can travel comfortably and quickly in first class eurostar trains.

dina

If all you want is to see the center of these cities the only thing that really makes sense is train. There are direct express trains between each of these city pairs - so you don;t need to switch trains or rush anyone around.

You will have plenty of time to find the right car in advance, get the elderly people and the luggage on the trains - and can easily get cabs (2 ) to and fro train stations and hotels.

Driving 7 people plus luggage would mean a people mover - very expensive and a pain to deal with. Plus paying for it to sit in a garage near Florence until you're ready to head to Venice. (And this from someone who usually recos car travel and has done dozens of road trips in europe.)

I have never been to a chat room before, but this is addicting. Really great information. Thank you.

Who is our source for rail travel? Italia Rail?

thank you.

Italian train system

http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

For the best area of Rome, look near the Piazza Navona or Pantheon. It's fairly flat in that area with lots of good bus connections, or you can get a taxi at the northern end of Piazza Navona. Dozens of great restaurants are close, and the area is close to a lot of what you will want to see.

Hi R - there are lots of posters here with more experience in Italy than me.

Like a lot of people here I like the Centro Storico - Pantheon/Campo dei Fiori/Piazza Navona. There aren't many apts for 7 people in that section tho. Personally I would rather get 2 apts in the Centro Storico, than one big place in a less central location in Rome.

And I would still look into the van idea, I think it's a good one. I shudder to think of a last minute track change with my mother-in-law in tow, she's kind of excitable anyway. A first class eurostar ticket Rome - Florence is about 50 euro - multiply that by 7 and you have a nice pot to work with.

You would have to get a 9 person van to fit that many people. Quite expensive. The easiest, fastest solution is to train. You can train from Rome to Florence in 90 minutes. There is no way you could drive there that fast.

I've used this company before for airport transfers and they have a price of 480e to transfer from Rome to Florence. Do not confuse this company with one that has a copy cat name. The one I recommend is Limo Service (no S on the end of service) Rome. The copy cat company is Limo Service(s) Rome and there are reports on this board of problems with them.
http://www.limoservicerome.com/Servi...es.htm#Inglese

Hi R,

Adult Amica fare Rome/Florence is 29E pp 2cl.

F to Venice is 26E.

I would take the train. There are 5 of you to held the "elderly" get on and off the trains.

>I have never been to a chat room before...

You still haven't been. This is a message board.

Enjoy your visit.

7 people some elderly, trains might be slightly frustrating; especially on a short trip, in summe (2 weeks or less). Why not hire a car/van with driver. You will get a guide/commentary as well. A good source for guides, drivers, day tours, etc. is www.initaly.com. I have used them several times for hard to find specific specialty guides, and drivers in remote areas.

These guys charge E140 to take 8 people in a van from Rome to Florence. Don't know if they're any good tho.

http://www.rome-shuttle.com/Rome_to_Florence_Rome.html

It's so easy to take trains between those three cities. And I think it's more comfortable than being in a van with 7 people.

With two elderly travelers, I understand the hesitancy to deal with the train stations, because they can be hectic and intimidating.

But, I wonder if you could get drivers just to deliver you to and from your hotels. Someone to pick you up at your hotel, and deliver you to your train car, and help you load baggage onto the train and get the elderly settled. Then someone to meet your train (and plane) and drive you to your hotel. Maybe your hotels could recommend someone in each city.
>-

RK,

I just answered you other post about this, (I also talked about having to stand in line in the heat and about the heat in the Vatican) and want to second what Maureen said, except that as 72-year-old I don't feel like I need to be babied quite so much. It depends on the person, though. My husband (76) and I are going to italy in May-June for 3 weeks and are not worried about the train. I do recommend that you make sure everyone packs light!!

Do make sure the taxi or van that takes you to the station has a/c. And I'd rather be on a train than in a cramped stuffy van for hours. If your MIL and Mom have bad knees like me, cramped sitting can be agony!

I think the train would be so much more comfortable for all concerned! Once you are in each city you can arrange taxi or drivers to get around.

Just allow plenty of time to get to the train station and be ready to board when the train arrives.

And (most important) as already mentioned make sure each person travels with only one small suitcase on wheels. The other 5 people will need to assist the 2 elderly, but I don't see that as a problem.

We are only talking about two times on the train, right? Or do you have to return back to Rome for your flight home?

Thank you to all for the replies. We fly into Rome and then back out of Rome.

I think the train sounds like the most enjoyable mode of transportation.

This is a powerful MESSAGE BOARD.

Sleep in Italy has offered us the following. Has anyone every stayed at - -

Thank you for your inquiry. For Rome we have the Corso Carlo and Corso Ambrose which could be rented for 3 nights in combination to accommodate your family. They are across the hall from each other. Corso Carlo is €265 euros/night. Corso Ambrose is €338 euros/night. You can see details and photos at:
http://www.italyperfect.com/Rome/Cor...soAmbrose.html
http://www.italyperfect.com/Rome/Cor...orsoCarlo.html

I noticed your message while researching a trip to Northern Italy this year. We (with wife and son)did Venice-Cinque Terre-Florence-Rome in 2005 and used a car and driver between cities and loved it. The vehicles we drove in would not have accommodated 7 people but perhaps the people/organizations we used could provide a van that would work. Anyway here is our experience.

We spent about 8-10 hours traveling between the locations and visited sites along the way. It probably cost about the same as having a car for the whole time and having it idle in the cities. Trains would probably be lower cost (perhaps not with 7 tickets but you could figure that out) if you are willing to give up the stops in between. A rental car would be better if you are going to stop overnight quite a bit between the major cities. Of course this is just one family's opinion.

We used Luca Garrapa (www.hillsandroads.com, [email protected]) for the Cinque-Terra to Florence and Florence to Rome legs and I cannot speak more highly of him. He only works the Tuscany area. He was very personable, spoke excellent English and knew the area very well. I contacted him for our northern Italy trip but he does not work that area. It is possible that he would take you to Venice.

For Venice to Cinque Terre we used Italy car service [[email protected]]. They provided a fine driver and all went well but Luca stood out from the crowd. In both cases however they helped us pick places along the route and were flexible to vary the plan as we went along. Luca even arranged a winery-lunch for us in Montalcino.

We loved all three places you are going. Enjoy!