PdxJulie

I somehow got roped into planning a trip to Italy for myself and 4 others (for a good friend's 50th birthday). We leave April 30 and return May 10, flying into and out of Rome. We plan 5 nights in Rome, 2 nights in Venice, 7 nights in a villa in Umbria and a final night in Rome before the flight home. I am running into difficulty planning the Venice part of the trip. A big part of the problem is that May 1 is a holiday in Italy. I had planned to train to Venice on 4/30, then train from Venice to Perugia or Arezzo on May 2 and pick up a car there. This is not working, however, because the nonairport car rental shops are either closed entirely on May 2 or close at 1 pm. Also, we obviously need a larger car for the 5 of us and these are quite limited at the nonairport car rental locations. So....I'm considering flying from Rome to Venice and back to Rome on May 2, renting a car at the airport (either FCO or Ciampino depending of if we book with Ryanair or Alitalia) and driving from there to our villa in Assisi. Is this doable? Anyone have any other ideas? I also considered renting the car in Venice (I've actually reserved one) but I think driving 5 hours with five adults and all of our bags squished into a car would not be fun at all. I'm tearing my hair out over this and would appreciate any advice or info from the Fodor's experts! Thanks all!

StCirq

Are you sure you've got these dates right? I don't understand how you can have 15 mights accommodation booked for a 10-day trip.

PdxJulie

Sorry - Arrive in Rome April 25, not April 30. My bad.

ira

Hi P,

You can't pick up the car in Venice?

laurie_ann

Note the cheapest fares showing on www.kayak.com for round trip Rome to Venice on those dates are for AirOne (it's a Lufthansa affiliate that flies within Italy and it was good service when we used it Venice to Naples last year, easy internet booking etc.).

annhig

hi Julie,

assuming that you are flying in from the US and arriving in Rome early mornnig, i suggest getting the train to Venice straight away, and spending 3 nights there.

then pick up your car, and make for the hills!

that will have you in Assissi over the holiday - you can pick up supplies and be well-ensconsed before it starts.

then return car to convenient town north of Rome [orvieto is well-recommended in that regard] and get the train to Rome.

and you don't lose a night at the end of the holiday.

regards, ann

PdxJulie

Thanks for the input. The villa is reserved for 5/2 to 5/9 and takes only Saturday/Saturday reservations so I really can't change that part of the trip. We've also booked an apartment in Rome for 4/24 to 4/30, so I don't want to change that either. I really just need to know how to get from Rome to Venice to Umbria.

Ira, yes, we can pick up a car in Venice but it's a long drive from Venice to Umbria (I think about 5 hours, yes?) and with 5 adults and all of our bags in the car I think that might be pretty tedious. If that is our best option, that's what we'll do - I was wondering if there were any other options I'm not thinking of if the flight was the better choice. Thanks all for your input!