Im flying into Vienna and taking the train to Venice. Undecided about renting car or continuing on train to bologna, florence, assis and rome. Also undecided if Pisa is worth going to this trip. Wil spend 5 days at these sites. Then will go to Naples. Debating on taking ferry or train to Palermo. If we rent car we can take on ferry and have to drive on sicily. Otherwise it will be train on sicily and back. Looking at going back from Messina to Salerno then Naples to Rome instead of Palermo to Naples- Sorrento -Naples- Rome. Have 4 days here.
Any thoughts or suggestions.

Italy has an excellent train system. I haven't been to Sicily but I've been to most of the rest of the places you mention by train. It's pretty easy.

For most Americans, a day trip (from Florence) to Pisa is adequate, just a few hours to see the Field of Miracles and the Tower of Pisa (its very, very touristy, but you still kind of want to see it).

Take the ferry to Palermo and rent the car there. Otherwise most of what you describe as you itinerary is better covered by public transportation.

"... bologna, florence, assis and rome...." and "...Wil spend 5 days at these sites..."

Hope that's five days at each of these, right? In case you are trying to cover all these in a total of five days, then you should rethink your plan.

No point having a car in any of these cities, it's only a drag, can't park, not allowed to drive in many inner-city streets... Trains work great, as do buses and walking feet and, in a pinch, a taxi.

Pisa can be visited in a few hours on the way from Florence to Rome (and onwards to Naples) - some trains go down the coast from Pisa rather than doubling back via Florence. There is luggage storage at the Pisa Centrale station while you walk to the Field of Miracles (Baptistry, Cathedral, Leaning Tower).

We have had a few trips to Italy, including Sicily and almost always use public transport. It means you don't have to worry about navigating, getting lost, having arguments about directions parking, understanding tolls in Italian etc. Just sit back on the train or bus and enjoy the scenery.

In Sicily we used buses more than trains, as trains didn't go everywhere we wanted. There were different bus lines serving different parts of the island so that made researching a bit more difficult.

Public transport may also work out cheaper, you could work that out from online fares. If it were me, I'd skip Pisa.

Kay

Two thoughts:

-you are usually not permitted to take rental cars on ferries (insurance problems);
-if you really must.....Pisa max. 1/2 a day.

"bologna, florence, assis and rome. Also undecided if Pisa is worth going to this trip. Wil spend 5 days at these sites."

I guess assis is not the one in Brazil

You are going to have to help here, you mention 5 cities (I see no sites) and most people would look at say

Bologna 3 days
Florence 4 days
?
Rome 4 days
Pisa 1/2 day

not sure how the 5 days fit in?

You can book the Vienna Westbahnhof (21:33) to Venice Santa Lucia (arrive 08:33) EuroNight sleeper train at http://www.oebb.at and print your own ticket.

Fares from €39 in a couchette or €79 with a bed in a 2-bed sleeper, and there are some deluxe sleepers with shower and toilet available too.

It's great to wake up, have breakfast delivered to your cosy sleeper, then rumble slowly across the famous causeway into central Venice, anticipation building - then to walk out of Santa Lucia station and see the Grand Canal with gondolas and river buses in front of you!

Once in Italy, use www.trenitalia.com for train travel, Venice to Florence from €19, Venice to Rome from €29

There are many metrics to weigh the transportation choices. Can you articulate just what factors require clarifications? The choice also depend on personalities. For some, especially many from the USA, it is not a trip unless one drives irrespective of the cost, the time, and the hassles. While for others, they never drive in foreign countries.

For lots of great info on Italian trains check out Man in Seat 61 who posts above his commercial site - www.seat61.com and also these other very informative sites - www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com. If traveling by train to all your Italian locations then you may want to investigate the Italy Eurailpass - usually too expensive for the average traveler's trip but you are - if doing it all by train and that is very easy - I have done Sicily by train and it takes you where you want to go - then the railpass could be a great deal - say a 10-day pass per day would be cheaper I'd wager than any string of discounted tickets and you can chose which train to take once there.

<bologna, florence, assis and rome. Also undecided if Pisa is worth going to this trip. Wil spend 5 days at these sites.">

I read this to mean 5 days to cover ALL the places listed, as in 1 day each city.

Oh back to part of the question, for me personally I'd plan around what I could do on the train. But that's because I'm not comfortable renting a car and driving, where I don't speak the language.

You will see very little of any of these cities. Each day you will need to pack up, check out of your lodging, get to the train station, ride the train, get to your new lodging, and get oriented to a new city. Instead, choose either Rome or Florence to enjoy for the full five days. You could use 1or 2 of those days to day trip to one of the other cities on your list, but return to your base city to sleep.

sicily. Otherwise it will be train on Sicily and back.>

there are overnight trains rolling between several Sicilian towns and Naples, Rome, Florence and Milan - these trains actually go right onto the ferry to the mainland.

I too agree that 5 days is far too little time to see all these places, with or without Pisa.

Especially if you are travelling solo, the train is easier and is very easy to use in Italy, so long as you remember to compose [validate] your ticket in the little machine before you board the train.

From venice [how many days? i hope at least 3] you could get the train to Florence and use that as a base to see Pisa, Lucca and Bologna by train, Siena and San Gimignano by bus. you could easily stay there for 5 days and not see everything. then go to Rome/Naples.

I'm not sure how Naples fits into your schedule - are you going there just in order to get to Palermo? A friend just got back and said that it was terribly dirty with piles of rubbish around the streets. Why not fly to Palermo from Rome and rent a car when you get there. then get a flight back to Rome and finish your trip there.

Since the OP has not returned it's difficult to know what she is really thinking.

And without some idea of how many days the total trips is - and how many set aside for Vienna, Venice and Sicily - it's very difficult to make specific recos.

case closed until OP returns!