I have lurked here for a long time - but could now really use some expert advise.

My Wife and I, along with another couple are going to Italy for 5 days in August and I really could use any advise/tips/suggestions on the what, where and how.
This will be all the first time for all.

This is what we have come up with:

~Fly into Venice Thursday(arrive 12 noon)

Pick up rental car at Airport and drive to Quarto D' Altino(12km) and check into Holiday Inn Express there.
The reason we picked these hotels are because they accomodate 4pp with an extremley reasonable rate as compared to everything else($105eur).
In fact I have found it immpossible to find a hotel with a rate of $53eur-per couple. So I think we could save some $$.
We are younger couples(33ish) so we think we can make due. Also all of us are on tight budgets.

~After squeezing into our extremley small rental w/luggage to check into hotel we will be off to the sites of Venice.

~We will spend Thurs & Fri night in Venice.

~Sat morning we will get up and have breakfast and then off to Florence(driving rental) for lunch and play for the afternoon.

~Around 4pm we will leave Florence and go to Rome where we will also be staying in a Quad/Holiday Express.

~Stay Sat night and Sun night in Rome.

~Back to Venice Monday for our last dinner

~Fly back to USA on Tuesday

SO I guess my questions are:
1)Is there any cheap accomodations in these areas that we can stay seperate - but within our budget of $60eur per couple?

2)Should we rent a car and drive?
Our thinking on this is that the last train to our Hotel from Venice is at 11p -and we don't want to be limited. Also we won't be wasting valuble time with train connections/timetables -etc.


3)Any suggestions on where to eat decent food for inexpensive? Venice,Florence,Rome.

4)Is stoping in Florence on the way to Rome and seeing a few sites feasable - or should we just go straight to Rome and stop somewhere for lunch in a smaller town?

5)What are attractions we shouldn't miss - giving our extremley limited time.

6)My wife and I would love to go to church on Sunday morning(Catholics)in Rome -where do you suggest and do you know where I can find further information on how I get there, what time / web site.

Finally - do you think this Intin is too ambitious?

BTW - the drive times according to Mapquest are 2.5hr to Florence >> 2.5 to Rome.

Please lemme know what you all think because I'm going to prink your resposes and use them for my source of info once there.

I will update all as to how things go upon our return.

Thank you for your expertise!!!

Matthew in Detroit

Hi Mathew

Your itinerary sounds rather ambitious. 5 days isn't very long and you're travelling a lot in that time. Why not do either Venice - Florence or Florence - Rome?

August will be quite hot too so make sure you have A/C in your car if you're going to be doing alot of driving.

TG

A few comments. First as most flights back to the US seem to leave early in the am, you really only have four days or 4 and 1/2 if you include Thursday.
Stay in Venice. Even as a poor student I was able to find places to stay, usually close to the train station. You have so little time, don't waste it on commuting. Secondly do not rent a car for these cities. You do not want to have a car in Florence or Rome. Parking, gas, etc are all expensive. Second class eurail is quite reasonable if you buy your tickets in Italy and you may be able to get a group, or family discount. Third, I would at the most only do two cities, either Venice and Florence or Venice and Rome. If you do two cities in your limited time you will be losing two half days of your 4 1/2 days traveling. Consider just Venice. If two cities.....
My advise would be to train to Rome immediately after arriving in Venice. The first day in Europe is always abit of a blurr so you may as well just keep on traveling. Get to Rome in the early evening, have a nice dinner, go to sleep early. Spend Friday and Saturday in Rome, leave Saturday night for Venice and spend Sunday and Monday in Venice. Leave for home tuesday. Just my thoughts. Have a great time!

I would suggest flying into Venice, catch the train and stay in inexpensive digs near the train station right in Venice. This way you can walk around late at night without worrying about connections back to your faraway hotel.
Have you tried pensiones, BB's, hostels, one stars?
Sat AM: leave on the train for either Florence or Rome and stay in that one place until you go back to fly out. If it is an early morning flight, I would stay the last night back in or near Venice.
The distances are longer than you realize and popping into Florence for a few hours is just too much. You have to leave some room for unforeseen events, such as traffic, trying to find parking, etc. It is just too much to deal with in such short of time. I suggest the train.

"Stay in Venice. Even as a poor student I was able to find places to stay, usually close to the train station. You have so little time, don't waste it on commuting."

ANY SUGGESTIONS ON ACTUALLY WHERE TO STAY?

"You do not want to have a car in Florence or Rome. Parking, gas, etc are all expensive."

Couldn't we just leave our rental car at the hotel(free parking) - then train from there?

Also any suggestion on how to find fares on the train web site?
I have tried-with no luck

Fodors here recs this:

BERNARDI SEMENZATO
Calle dell'Oca, Cannaregio 4366, Venice 30121, Italy
Phone: 041/5211052
Fax: 041/5222424 Cannaregio
Under EUR100
OR
Go into a book store and browse through the travel guides there for inexpensive places. Or do a search here for old threads. Or do a Google search.

A car would be more expensive than the train and gas is very expensive in Italy.

Hi Motor,

How much per couple will your rental car cost compared to 2nd cl train fare? It might be enough to allow you to stay in a hotel in Venice.

Look for hotels near the train station/Ghetto area on www.venere.com.

Five days is not too long too see Venice. Have you looked at the 'best in 3 days' miniguide on fodors.com? In addition, you can visit Murano (glass) and Burano (lace).

From Venice you can visit Padua (Palladian architecture and university), and Verona.

"We open in Venice, we then do Verona, then on to Cremona......"

If you must go somewhere else, I suggest 2 days Venice, 2 days Florence or Rome, 1 day Venice before flying home.

I have made reservations at the B&B Peterson in Florence http://www.bedinflorence.it/ at 60E/nite dbl. I have not yet been there, however.

You can find train fares at www.trenitalia.com by choosing a date that is 30 days in the future and pretending to buy a ticket. You can't buy a ticket from the website.

Have a lovely trip.

Train. Cars are expensive and a hassle. You can't use it in Venice and dont' want to use it in the other large cities. research times and other info on ricksteves.com if you haven't already. For hotels, have you tried eurocheapo.com? We have a private bath at a hotel in Florence for $75. hoteldali.com. For Venice I think everythings pricey. I'd save Rome for another time. Or if you must: 2nights VEnice, 1 night Florence, 1 night Rome and use Monday night to take the overnight train from Rome back to Venice to fly out.

Let me start off by saying, to each his/her own.
Let me say next, I think that's way too much traveling for 4 people in one car for 5 days. All that driving for a few hours in Florence?
And one day in Rome?
I guess it depends on your goals: if you want to be able to say you've been there, then you will succeed. But that's about it, imo

I'm sorry, but I think you have to make a tough decision.
If you are already locked into your air fare and must arrive and depart from Venice, then these are my suggestions for choices:

Spend all 5 days in Venice, daytripping to Verona (or even to Florence) if you like

Spend 2-3 days in Venice, and the other time at one of the Lakes

Spend 3 days in Venice including arrival day, train back and forth to Florence for the other days

Or, if you're not locked into Venice, I'd say spend all 5 days in Rome, with a daytrip to Florence if you like.

You are basically going for a long weekend, three cities is at least one too many.

If you want to see something in addition to Venice, Verona is not far away and has a lot to offer.

Your trip as planned is more travel than sightsseeing and experiencing. Heed the wise suggestions above.

I must agree with the others. Skip the car, the gas, the insurance, and instead go 1st class on the train. Since you're going in August, I think you'll be assured of air conditioning in 1st class (help me here fodorites?)- Pay a tad extra to get your seat reserved and relax.

I'd also limit the destinations to two. I'd pick Florence as the second city because it's closer. The train stations in both cities put you right in town. You simply don't need the car when the public transportation is easier and much cheaper. Getting in and out of train stations takes more time than you may think. If you stretch this to 3 towns this far apart, all you'll be doing is traveling. Trust us!

Go to a book store, ask your librarian, get on the net and start your research. I have an old (1996) Berkely guide written by students, for students. The emphasis is on "budget" with this book. They list these places in Cannaregio (the area near the station) as the cheapest:

*Hotel Marte-tel# 041-716351
if they're full, they'll send you to Biasin accross the canal.
*Albergo Bernardi-Semenzato-tel# 041-522-7257. The dipendenza (annex) has canal and garden views.
*Hotel Villa Rosa-tel# 041-716569
*Albergo Rossi- tel#041-715164. It says "rooms are impeccably clean, manager friendly, and close to the train station."

For Florence, I stayed in the campgrounds in Fiesole, a 20 minute bus ride from Florence. When you arrive in Fiesole, you wait for the bus that takes you up to the campgrounds. We rented a cabin style bungalow for next to nothing. It sleeps 4 in two rooms. It was a real bargain. They were immaculate. I loved the setting. High in the hills of Fiesole, the trees surrounding you. The views are lovely. They have a bar and a mini market. The only problem is that to get to Fiesole from the camprgounds, you need to take the short cut by walking through the village on a very steep incline. It might be a mile. Eat what you want , the walk will wear it off. Their number is 055-599069. The staff is multi-lingual. You're travelling when the Italians take their vacations, so the bungalows may not be available.

For delicious, moderately priced eats, the Hotel Aurora (my guess a 4 star) at the bus stop in Fiesole had the best ravioli.

I have been to Venice several times and I cant imagine staying anywhere else.Late nights in St.Marks Square are magic.I agree forget the car.If you had time to visit small hill towns it would be ok but the big cities are a nightmare with a car.Leave Rome for another trip.chow

MotorCity:
There's no reason to have a car for your trip.....you don't want to drive in Rome, and you can't drive in Venice. The train system in Italy will provide you with a reasonable alternative to get around, and be much more comfortable than being crammed into a rental.
Secondly, the distance that you're talking about covering in that amount of time is crazy, not ambitious. Going from Venice to Florence to Rome in one day, why? You're going to spend 1 of your precious 4 1/2 days in Italy on the train/in a car the whole time. My thoughts are that Venice and Florence would work well in that amount of time, and skip Rome. Or skip Florence and go to Rome if you feel that is a must, but the time there and back is wasted. Maybe you can fly into Venice and out of Rome?
As for accomodations, you can find plenty of options for 60 euros a couple, try a guide book or eurocheapo.com

FYI, using the dollar sign ($) and writing euros after the number doesn't make sense. You're either talking about euros or dollars, not both.

Good luck and use whatever you feel helps.

Josh

Thank you ALL for the help and advise you have provided!!!
Here are a few additional facts/figures for you to crunch.

Regarding rental:
The reason we were considering car rental is that my buddy has secured a rental for the 5 days at $258usd(out-the-door).
So this works out to about $63usd/or EUR 55,00 per person. So, I would think the price of the train trip to Rome would wash with the rental - but give us the freedom to explore on the way to Rome if we so choose.

I definately agree with ALL to either skip Florence or Rome.
What do you think if we were to skip Florence and keep the above Itin the same w/hotels/car?

~Givin the the hotel is decent and only 20km from Venice. It is only 50 eur per couple - free parking. And with a car will give us an opportuninty to take that late evening stroll in Venice.

~The car at 55eur per person really washes with train tik prices?


Please lemme know what you think - your advise is extremley helpful to me.
So far from this we have definatley decided to cut out a city(Probally Florence).

Thanks again for the expert advise!

I am afraid that I cannot give you up to date personal experiences on budget hotels in Italy as we tend to do more slow travel experiences than blitz tours and use apartments alot. We have also moved past budget. Having said that I can tell you that you are unfortunate to be traveling in high season so availability and costs will be at their worst. This coupled with the devaluation of the dollar by over 1/3 over the last year will make budget travel in Europe more trying. You can do it but it will require some work and research on your part. Recommend Rick Steve's book and website, the Lonely Planet and Rough guides as well as lets go for budget information. Be warned that other budget travelers also use these sources in the crowded high season so I would reserve ahead of time.
Again do not drive! I cannot be more emphatic about this. First cars in Europe are much smaller than in the US and to fit 4 adults comfortably with luggage in the boot requires a fairly large car by European standards. Getting AC may cost you more and getting a auto transmission if you are not comfortable with a manual will also cost you more. Gas is expensive and driving into Rome or Florence is not a simple matter like city driving in the US. You also do not have time to explore with a car. Getting a hotel with parking also means you are out in the middle of nowhere and will be spending more of your precious time commuting. Stay central. Italian driving in the cities is also quite different than in the US and can be quite trying. Lastly traveling by train
by second class Eurostar will be comfortable and probably less expensive or similar than your car if you buy your tickets when you get to Italy. Having a car does not in this case give you more freedom, it takes away from your trip.
As for what to see in a short time, consult Rick Steve's above.

MotorCity, a car in Venice or Rome is ill advised. I understand you're getting a good deal but it's quite simply not worth it, deal or no deal. Traffic is insane, parking impossible. Have you considered the very real likelihood of getting lost? Finding your way by the metro or walking is very simply. If your plan was to drive through the countryside for 4 or 5 days, that would be fine. But as soon as you get into a city, especially a large city, your nerves will be tested. Take everyone's advice. Limit yourself to 2 cities max (1 would be better), find a budget hotel close to the train station, and take the train between cities. In Venice, you will be walking. Metro in Rome. If you limit yourself to Venice, what you save in car rental will allow you to stay in Venice rather than 20 km away. It takes a lot longer to drive Venice to Rome than you think - there won't be much exploring on the way to Rome unless you want to explore and not see Rome.

MotorCity,

When you calculated your daily rental rent to be 55 euros per person, did you also factor in the cost for gas? Petrol is much more expensive in Italy than in the US; been a couple years for me, but at the time I was in a rent car we were paying roughly around $4.65 per gallon.

Just logged into the Trenitalia website (www.trenitalia.com) to check on rail prices. Traveling on the Eurostar, 2nd class, costs 45 euros from Venice to Rome. So if you trim your itinerary to these two cities (a good idea), then roundtrip for each person will be 90 euros. As for other inexpensive hotel options, I'd suggest you browse a couple other travel forums such as the Lonely Planet (http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com) or Rick Steves graffitti board.

Hi Mo,

The ES* train (high speed)takes 4 1/2 hrs Venice to Rome. You can expect that it will take you that long in a car.

The cheapest train (IC) costs 72E RT. So your car is much cheaper.

If you haven't yet paid for the car, I strongly urge you to spend your time in Venice and vicinity w/o the car. www.venere.com has two hotels in Cannaregio (near the train station) for 80E/nite dbl. One of them, hotel Florida, has a quad for 150E and good reviews. I have not stayed there myself.

Otherwise, your Venice/Rome trip seems to be well researched.

Also does the rental car rate include insurance? It is wise to have insurance and it can be very costly. Tolls also are high.

Hi wantagig,

Thanx for the info on Fiesole.