We are planning a trip to the lower half of Italy in September to early October.. 3 week trip... My visa points are making it very difficult for us to fly to Rome using points, so we thought we'd fly to London and then buy a rail pass to Rome. Anyone know the cost for the rail pass? Also, we would then rent a car to drive around lower Italy. (We rented a car in 2006 and drove around Tuscany so driving isn't a problem for us). Any suggestions on car rentals? Also, what would you suggest that we should see, besides the Amalfi Coast? We would like to drive all the way to Sicily, but not sure if we would have enough time to see everything. And this probably sounds stupid, but can you drive from Italy to Sicily or is it only by boat? Suggestions please and thank you..
Barb

You wouldn't need any sort of railpass unless you were taking many train trips.

But taking the train would be a fairly big hassle. You'd have to go into central London, schlepp to a different station, catch the Eurostar into Paris, change stations again . . . and so on. This really doesn't make sense unless you wanted to spend a few days in both London and Paris.

Wouldn't it be much nicer to land at LHR, have a meal, get on another plane to Rome or Naples or wherever and arrive the same day??

And cheaper too.

I don't think that plan makes much sense, given all the low-cost air options within Europe these days.

"<i>or is it only by boat?</i>"

Sicily is an island. Though you can take a car on a ferry . . .

I'd also add that in order to catch a train to the Continent you'll need to allow at least 4 hours between scheduled landing time and train departure time.

But from any airport you are likely to fly into there will be flights to Italy - don't change airports at any cost as it's going to cost a lot of money and you need to allow at least 5 hours between flights.

But if you want to take the train see http://seat61.com/Italy.htm

There'a no railpass allowing travel from Britain to Italy.

It's around 24 hours' continuous travel from a London station to Rome, almost always involving an hour's metro travel from Heathrow to a station, a fast journey to Paris, a metro across Paris, then a change of train at Milan or Turin. Most people break their journey overnight.

It's virtually impossible to find a train ticket as cheap as a straightforward advance-booked BA or Alitalia flight from Heathrow taking about one-tenth the time. Flights by low cost airlines aren't available from Heathrow, and the cost of transfer to a London area airport that has them is likely to add about as much cost (and a great deal more time) as the "low cost" saving.

Which airport in Italy is the best one to fly into from the states? I see there are 2--FCO and ROM...

I didn't see any suggestions from my question as to what are the best places to see driving around Italy in the southern part below Rome? As I stated we will go to Sicily, but which other towns are a must see?

ROM is the catch all title for all Rome airports, FCO is the main airport in Rome, CIA the minor airport - Think NYC, JFK & EWR.

But there are direct flights to Venice from the US - admittedly VERY expensive.

As for places to visit in Southern Italy - try Naples and the Aeolian Islands

ROM does not correspond to any airport anywhere.

FCO is Fiumicino, Rome's main airport. CIA is Ciampino, Rome's secondary airport. I don't know for sure, but I think that all direct flights from the US fly into FCO.

First, fly into Italy---London makes no sense. There are at least a dozen airports in Italy you can consider, including Naples. You can easily spend a week on the Amalfi coast and another 2 weeks just in Sicily. Click on my name above to find my trip report from Sicily in 2005. Do you have a good guide book?

While no budget airlines fly from Heathrow to Rome, the fare to FCO on British Airways can be reasonable.

"<i>I didn't see any suggestions from my question as to what are the best places to see driving around Italy in the southern part below Rome? As I stated we will go to Sicily, but which other towns are a must see?</i>"

Since you have decided to stick to southern Italy, you must already have some ideas what you want to see/do. What sorts of things interest you? Are you planning on spending the entire 3 weeks south of Rome and on Sicily?

<<I didn't see any suggestions from my question as to what are the best places to see driving around Italy in the southern part below Rome? As I stated we will go to Sicily, but which other towns are a must see?>>

That's because we're not blessed with a crystal ball and have no idea whether your notion of driving around southern Italy involves fantasies of racing cars or seeking out archaeological sites or learning to make pizza. "Southern Italy" is a huge expanse of territory, so how would we know what draws you there or what you might want to see?

A good guidebook and a detailed map should start you off on determining what interests you in the region.

Great info for planning any European rail trip - www.seat61.com; www.ricksteves.com and www.budgeteuropetravel.com - and do not rule out a pass completely - the France-Italy pass is much cheaper than the traditional Eurail pass and in first class compared to first class fares it could well be a good deal - especially if you desire flexibility to decide which trains you want to take as you go along - but it may not be as well - obviously depends on how many trains you take.