Need travel advice. Will be staying in Florence and doing a day trip to San G., Volterra. We are staying in an apartment with parking. After leaving Florence, we will be dropping by Pisa to let the kids see the tower before heading to Lucca for a couple nights. From Lucca will be going to Cinque Terre. After that, back to Florence for train to Rome

So my question is: We will have a rental car for San G./Volterra. Is it too hard to do the above items with a car or is the train easier? I'd like to have flexibility to change plans which a car allows but don't know how difficult directions and parking are for the places listed vs. lower cost of train and guarantee not to get lost.

Advice anyone?

First, use the Bahn website, reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en, and French Rail, www.sncf.fr, to look for rail connections where you are going. There will also be bus transportation, but I only know how to find that in Germany.

Going by rail doesn't mean sacrificing flexibility. Do your research and know your rail options, but you don't have to commit with reservations in advance(actually, on local lines you probably can't).

If you can put it together using public transportation, you will save a lot versus a car. And, by the way, the fatality rate riding trains in Europe is only 5% of the risk with a car.

We drove to San G last year and had no problem. We parked in a lot at end of town and had a very pleasant day. I like having a car in Tuscany better but have done train also. We stayed in Lucca for 3 days without a car. You can travel to Pisa by train or bus from Lucca but you might also be able to use baggage check in Pisa train station visit and continue onto Cinque Terre if they have luggage checking or storage lockers. I think car is easier but if you are driving to Cinque Terre I would recommend finding a lot in Levanto and not driving roads in Cinque Terre. we are staying in small town outside CT this fall.

Actually going by train does sacrifice flexibility--you can't just jump out the train window when you see something interesting passing by. And some places are just more difficult to get to by public transport--while in other places a car is useless.

Either train or car can be the best way to go depending on many factors. And sometimes, again depending on a number of factors, a combination of train and car travel might be best. Of course, some people just don't like driving at all, anytime, anywhere--it wouldn't be much of a vacation for them to rent a car and hate every minute of it.

We've had trips where we travelled only by train. And trips only by car. And trips using both. Buses and ferries, too.

We are saving about 150 euro on our upcoming trip to Benelux and Germany by driving rather than using the train--including rental, fuel, parking. Though I don't include Mrs. Fly's spur-of-the-moment purchases when we stop at an interesting shop or antique store that we happen to see as we drive along. (OK, OK, I buy stuff, too.)

If traveling alone, I'd probably use the trains much, much more than a car.

Hi K,

For train travel in Italy, you might find the Italian national train system, www.trenitalia.com, useful.

What time of year are you going? It can be murder to find parking in CT and Tuscan towns in high season.

Going in July. Planning on parking in Levanto and taking train to Monterosso. Also, Rick Steves' book has great detail about parking. Think we will go with the car so we have the option of doing what ever side trips we want. Thanks all!

The location of your apartment can help you decide. Since it has parking, I am wondering if it is in central Florence? If not, the car will be important.