Renting a car vs. taking a train???
 

hello! i am planning to take a trip with my two daughters to italy in june and i'm wondering if it will be easier and cheaper to rent a car from the airport or to just travel by train. i fly into zurich and from there i will be staying in verona, florence, and lugano. i've never driven in europe before and i hear it is sometimes difficult to get around in a car. any information would be greatly appreciated :) thanx!

How long will you be in Europe? Need to know, since the price options vary depending upon your length of time. Generally speaking though, it is cheaper to rent a car with three adults traveling together. You didn't mention your daughters' ages either, which will also factor in to price.<BR><BR>We have rented cars in France and in England, and when I lived in France, I travelled a lot by car. Now, however, with our family of three, we generally take the train unless we're using one place as a home base. Especially in Italy -- much less stress. The drivers there are, in general, nuts.

Zurich and Switz. in general is not difficult to maneuver by car, BUT I WOULD NOT DRIVE IN ITALY IF YOU PAID ME!!! There do not seem to be any rules/laws for driving in Italy. It's like one big lane with people zigging in and out. It's quite frightening! Of course I'm mainly speaking of the cities, but I've noticed it everywhere. Besides if you take the train you can relax and unwind for a bit.<BR>Have a great trip!<BR>Kat

i'm sorry i forgot to mention this. we will be staying in italy for ten days. we'll be staying in each place for about 2-3 days. my daughters are 15 and 18. hope that helps.

I'll take the diplomatic route and suggest you could try a little of both. Maybe take the train between the cities, but rent a car for a day trip into the countryside? This isn't necessarily the cheapest option, but it might be of help to you when planning future trips, as you'll have some experience of each transport. Enjoy your trip!

You will probably, then, be much happier taking the train. I'm also thinking, that with 3 women and no men in the car, you will have an easier time of it by train than on the road. Get a Eurail saver pass for the three of you, or alternatively, the youth passes for your daughters (you'll need to check if they have only 2nd class passes in Italy; otherwise you'll be in 1st and they in 2nd, which won't work). For example, in Scandinavia, you can get a 1st class pass for yourself and 1st class Scanrail Youth Passes for your daughters. But you need to do the math to figure out which is cheaper.<BR>