What is the cheapest quickest way to travel in Italy. We are planning a two week visit in Italy. Flying into Rome from South Africa. Thinking of going to Florence, Tuscany, Venice, Cinque terre - in September. Is it cheaper by train or bus or even by car?

Thanks

Between cities there is only one serious option: the train. If you know you travelling dates, advance booking on www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en (use Italian originals for city names) gives considerable discount.
Florence is in Tuscany. If you mean visiting smaller towns and villages, a car gives you much more flexibility than the bus.
Reconsider Cinque Terre. You've only got two weeks, and there are better places to spend your time.

You have to do the math to make this decision. Train fares are cheap if traveling long distance - buy 3 months in advance. Regional trains cost the same no matter when you buy. Check out road tolls and fuel costs on viamichelin.com. Buses are pretty much nonexistent, or, when available, slow and inconvenient. Seems like you need to settle in with a guidebook or two to make your plans rather than posting vague questions on an internet site. What do you mean by "quickest?" How fast are you intending to travel? There isn't much point in going to Italy, one of the most laid-back places on earth, and doing it "quickly."

Florence is IN Tuscany. Do you plan to visit other places there?

Thanks for your responses - I do realise Florence is in Tuscany - I only have 2 weeks to do Italy in that is why the "quickest" travel is the best for me personally. I wish I did have more time. Shall do some more investigating about where else to go in Tuscany.

Cheapest and quickest are not always the same thing.

If you rent a car you have to add costs for fuel, possible road tolls, insurance and parking. Some cities have areas where cars are restricted and you get can get fined for driving there.

But with trains you also need to add the cost of getting to and from the station. Probably by taxi, unless the hotel is really close.

There is also the question of how many "we" are. If there are three or four adults in your group it may actually be cheaper to rent a car since the cost is divided between all of you. But for two people trains can be much cheaper if the tickets are bought early.

You can find hotels near train stations on booking.com. Flying in and out of Rome, it's wise to save a hotel change and head to Florence directly, 1.5 hours from Termini. Venice back to Rome will take 3:45.

On Trenitalia, book trains 4 months minus one day ahead. Some trains will not show up until June 13. Realize the CT villages will involve some travel time--3 hours from Florence, 5-6 to Venice and 4.5 to Rome.

Besides state railways (already mentioned Trenitalia) you might check private rail company - Italo (http://www.italotreno.it), good trains & fares might be even somewhat lower then Trenitalia. More info about traveling by train in Italy you can find http://europetrainsguide.com/Countri.../Italy-FS.html and http://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

Some bus companies often too have cheap tickets (e.g. Flixbus http://flixbus.com or Megabus http://megabus.com)

Trains between cities like Naples, Rome, Florence, Bologna, and Venice are almost always both cheaper and quicker than driving. The high-speed trains go at over 350 km (200 miles) per hour and make very few stops. If you buy tickets 120 days in advance, you can get excellent discounts, but even at full price, for two people, a train is cheaper and faster than a car. It's true that you have to get to the station, but with a car you have to find a place to park it, which could take much longer than getting to a station.

Rural Tuscany is a challenge to see without a car. You could easily rent a car just for a few days to see Tuscany. If you just want to see another Tuscan town besides Florence, then Siena or Lucca or Arezzo or Pisa are easy to get to by train or bus.

By the way, there are plenty of long-distance buses in Italy. Siena and Florence are connected by bus, and it's really the best way to get there, as well as to many other hill towns, because trains don't go up and down hills. There are also lots of towns in Italy, for example Sorrento and Perugia that are connected to Rome by express bus.

I agree that the Cinque Terre is best left out of such a short trip. It's inconvenient to get to, and it's truly overrun with tourists most of the year.

Thanks all - really appreciate the advice being given - does make planning our trip (3 of us) much easier.

I think the car rental vs. train is much personal preference. For me driving in a foreign country isn't all that appealing, so I like to plan around what I can easily do by train (which for me will be a lot less stressful and more fun).

I agree that the car rental vs. train travel is a personal preference. I always prefer renting a car for my trips. Pick up when leaving my first location and drop after hotel check-in at my last location.

What I would recommend:

Spend a few days in Rome. Then take the train to Florence. Rent a car there to explore Tuscany. Decide where to base yourself. In Florence? Or in Siena or Lucca? Or in a fattoria in the countryside?

Return the rental car in Florence and take the train to Venice. Train from Venice to Rome.

As others suggested, skip Cinque Terre. It is overrated and crowded by cruise ship excursions. And sometimes closed, due too overcrowding.

And you do not have enough time for four destinations in Italy.