Need suggestion for the best way to travel these distances for a family of 6. Car rental vs. train for cost and duration - would love advice.

Thanks.

we rented a car but you'll need a van for a family of six. I would suggest you first get on the raileurope site and check out train fares for all of you, then check out what you'll need to do in regards to transportation in and around Como. next, go to the various car websites and see what the rental fees would be for a van. viamichelin has good mapping tools that will give you an idea of the time between locations as well.

Hmmm, that is tough or 6. Any large van will be stick shift and will be expensive. Look at the www.autoeurope.com site for a van quote. How many days at each location? Where do you depart? Tell us more.

Manual full size van is no problem - have done it before. Checked AutoEurope, but no vans available in Venice (didn't check airport).

Itinerary is Florence (4 days), Venice (3), Lake (2) - have to be in the Milan area for our daughter to fly out of Milan so thought we would visit Lake Como, but am open to changing that, and then to Assisi (3), finally flying out of Florence (have already arranged transport to Florence airport). Would look into changing daughter's ticket, but am not sure if this would present a problem since she is traveling on a student visa and has already presented her itinerary.

Probably way more info. than you wanted...

I suggest that you look into the cost of train tickets for six. You may also qualify for one of the two "familia" discount fares. Children under 12 always travel at half-fare. You may also qualify for the "AMICA" discount fare on some routes (e.g. Venice/Milan).

You don't need a car in any of the places you will be visiting. Indeed, a car will be a liability in Venice, Florence and Milan. Train service is frequent on all routes which apply to your itinerary.

www.ferroviedellostato.it

You could do the trip via train if you opted to stay in Milan - there is enough there for 2-3 days: duomo, ferrari store, la scala, shopping, and of course, the Last Supper.

With that much time in Florence and Venice a car makes no sense--what happened to Assisi?

Do I have this correctly? Your itinerary:

Florence - 4 nights
Venice -3 nights
Lake ?-2 nights (Somewhere convenient to Milan airport to drop off daughter)
Assisi - 3 nights
Florence -1 night

It's not the best sequence, but I suppose you've chosen it based on when your daughter leaves the group. Any more insights you can offer on your choices?

You also don't need a car for Lake Como. It is served extremely well by local buses and boats. From Milan, there are frequent trains to Como City.

Hi all,

To address some of the points -

I know it is not the best itinerary -- too much ground to cover. I am still hoping that perhaps I can change her ticket to depart out of Rome, thereby eliminating the Lake portion because of distance.

- That being said, it may not be possible and you are correct about my daughter's departure being the reason we are in the Milan area. We were looking for a direct flight around a certain date and that was the only option.

- We will not be in Florence the last night...we will be in Assisi and will be transported to the Florence airport. We opted for this so we have more time there & have some tours planned and since we are already spending 4 days in Florence at the beginning of the trip.

- We would prefer not to stay in Milan - hence the Lake idea. Have some possibilities on Lake Como, Iseo & Maggiore. The property on Lake Iseo said she could be transported to the airport for around 120 Euros or take the train into Milan and then the bus to the airport.

- We would be happy to train it, but will need a car in Assisi which is why I'm trying to figure out the best place to pick up and return the car.

Thanks for everything - look forward to more ideas!

-

I'm not sure I understand the question about "what happened to Assisi?"

Sounds to me like you can afford to wait to rent in car until you arrive in Assisi.

Otherwise, depending on which of the Italian Lakes you choose, you might rent the car in Milan and drop it in Assisi.

Absolutely no reason to rent the car while you're in Florence or Venice!!!

Thank you!