knel

Hello there-

I have recently planned a trip to Italy for early May with my boyfriend. I have been to Italy before but with a tour group (also, I was only 17 so much time has passed). This time around we have decided to take a two week long road trip beginning in Verona, making our way to Venice and then down through Florence, Tuscany, Rome and the Amalfi Coast. We do not have much planned except for renting a car. However, I am very much clueless about how the driving will be especially in and around the larger cities.

The idea is to have the freedom to not only visit the major cities in Italy (Rome, Venice, Florence) but also venture outside the smaller towns to really get a feel of Italy. Also, we do not want to prbook hotels since we do not have a set itinerary (I am working on an itinerary but just to use as a guide). Anyone ever road tripped through Italy? If so, any tips will be very well appreciated.

Also, with a car, how will we be able to see venice? Do we park it at a train station and take the train into the city? If that is the case, will we be better off getting a hotel outside of Venice? Say Mestre? Since we will have a car.

Thanks!

Michael

Park the car in Mestre, by the RR station, and take the train to Venice (10 minute ride); it's cheaper than the parking at the end of the causeway to Venice. But you will want to stay in Venice; there's a special feel to being in a city that has absolutely no traffic noises at night.

Be aware that you will not be able to use a car in the cities, that there are infamous ZTL (zone of limited traffic) with cameras to take a photo of your license plate if you miss the sign and enter one of these zones. You will be billed by the rental company for having provided your name and address to the local authorities and you will be billed for the traffic violation itself.

Consider travel by train from Verona to Venice to Florence. Rent a car for the time you will spend in Tuscany and Umbria. Drop the car off in Orvieto and train to Rome. For the Amalfi coast, take the train down. Some people advise against driving along that coast.

StCirq

Venice won't be your only car problem. Just about every Italian city these days has very strict limitations on where you can drive, and cameras all over the place to catch you driving where you're not supposed to. You can easily accumulate hundreds or even more dollars worth of fines (which you won't be aware of until the mail comes one day months after your trip is over). You might want to look at this: http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/drivin...s_speeding.htm

And maybe re-plan your trip so that you take trains between cities and save the car for the countryside.

annhig

Hi knel - welcome to fodors!

from your post, I'm not sure how much research you've done about your trip, apart from where you want to go. one of your biggest problems is going to be the restricted traffic zones in most italian cities [apart from Venice of course - and that's another story I'll get to below]. you will be fined if you enter these zones, and then there's the traffic, the cost of parking etc. etc.


if your interest is mainly cities [and that's what you've mentioned], you may be better off with the train. you could stay in small towns and use the trains/buses to get into the cities but that'll need some planning deciding where to stay so as to give you good access to where you want to go.

We did a road trip through Italy when we were about your age - but that was 25++ years ago, so although I've visited a lot, I've not driven there much in recent years. i would think that you will have no problem finding places to stay in May - i think your bigger problem is finding places that fit your requirements.

as for Venice, of course you can stay in Mestre, but that'll mean you miss one of the best bits about Venice which is being there in the evening and early morning, when none of the day trippers has yet turned up - it's really magical at night. There is a huge car park at the end of the causeway that leads to Venice - you can park there, or leave the car in Mestre and get the train. but don't leave getting accommodation there to chance - it's one place where you really should pre-book.

yorkshire

It is a good habit to write down every day in a list (1-14?), with the second column being where you will be. Once you insert travel time between those places, you will see that fitting in all on your list in 2 weeks will be a challenge. I use a three-days-per-place rule of thumb, which can be varied of course, but you have included regions not just places so I think it applies.
Driving in an Italian city is not advised, and as you have pointed out you already see one problem--why go to Venice and not stay IN Venice?
There is no reason to forget about the car altogether, but pick it up and drop it off on the edges of Tuscany and enjoy Venice, Florence, and Rome car-free.
Once you narrow down your list of places you can work out the transportation logistics.

knel

thanks for the tip Michael. Yes, I have been thinking about doing a car rental/train combination for certain parts of the trip but was worried about where to drop off the rental car when I would be switching to train. Would this take much time out of our travels? And, are these rental car companies easily accessible in different parts of Italy?

Also, Orvieto, is this someplace we can spend time in or is there little to see here? I haven't heard much about it so I am curious. I havel already done the usual trip to italy, so I definitely wanted this trip to be a little different, a little more "authentic" if you will.

Michael

For car rental, try www.kemwel.com, look at the site and see where you can pick up a car and where you can drop it off.

knel

Thank you all for the tips. Perhaps I've seen too many movies Looks like the driving part of our trip will be reserved for the country side, Tuscany and Umbria, and train for the larger cities. I definitely do not want to miss out on staying within Venice, so that will definitely be worked into the itinerary.

Also, if anyone recommends stops along the way, particularly smaller towns, I would love to know which ones. Our itinerary is not set. The only thing we have planned is to land in Verona and depart 15 days later from Naples.

Thanks again!

knel

also, anyone recommend a good website to purchase train tickets or a train pass in advance? Or will it be okay if we just purchase the tickets when we are there?

Michael

If staying in Naples for a couple of days, you may want to try this place: http://www.bebmedea.com/ Reservations essential. We liked it and its location.

It may seem counter-intuitive to rent the car in Venice to drive down to Umbria and Tuscany and return the car (going back north) in Florence. This would allow a stop in Ravenna which is a must for its mosaics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...th/4200932817/

Playing around once in the picture set, you can find other pictures of Italy that might give you some ideas of what to see.

Peter_S_Aus

I bought tickets from this web site - worked very well. Prices were OK too, and it is the official Italian rail site.

http://www.fsitaliane.it/homepage_en.htm

kybourbon

If you are arriving on day 1 in Verona (will you be jet lagged from an overnight flight?) and departing Naples on day 15, you only have 14 (or 13 and a portion of a day if overnight flight). You've listed too many cities to be able to see them and smaller towns. Plot it out and you will see you don't have the time you think you do. All the traveling around eats into your time of seeing anything also.

Day 1 - Verona
Day 2 - Verona
Day 3 - Travel to Venice
Day 4 - Venice
Day 5 - Venice
Day 6 - Travel to Florence
Day 7 - Florence
Day 8 - Florence
Day 9 - Tuscany (San G?, Chianti?)
Day 10 - Tuscany (Siena? Pienza?)
Day 11 - Tuscany (Montalcino? Montepulciano, Cortona?)
Day 12 - Umbria (Perugia? Assisi?)
Day 13 - Umbria (Spoleto? Bevagna? Orvieto?)
Day 14 - Travel to Naples
Day 15 - Fly home

You can see you didn't have time for Rome or whatever you were planning in the Naples area (Amalfi coast? Pompeii?, Capri?). You need to set some priorities and drop some locations.

msteacher

I agree that you will have a more "authentic" experience if you visit fewer locations, so you have time to poke around and really get to know the places you do spend time. I'd also encourage you to consider pre-booking hotels. Otherwise you will spend your first couple of hours in each city seeking out A place to sleep. And you'll probably end up spending more than you'd planned because you'll just be eager to drop your bags. You can look for hotels that have no cancelation fees, so you still have some flexibility to change plans on the fly.

Planning can be a really fun part of the trip. When you research hotels, trains, etc you will start to really get to know the places you're visiting. It's like you get to start your trip early!

annhig

I agree with ky - it's going to be very difficult [impossible?] to fit it all in.

one option would be to cut out florence [i know, but something's got to give and it's definitely not a place where you want a car, anyway.

also think about not renting a car til you leave Venice - you can easily get the train from Verona to venice.

you could then do this:

Day 1 - Verona
Day 2 - Verona
Day 3 - Train to Venice
Day 4 - Venice
Day 5 - Venice
Day 6 - Drive to north Tuscany - Lucca? [you can day trip to Florence by train from here]
Day 7 - Lucca
Day 8 - Lucca
Day 9 - Drive to Pienza [good base for touring southern Tuscany]
Day 10 - Pienza
Day 11 - Pienza
Day 12 - drive to Orvieto - tour town - return car and get train to Naples.
Day 13 - Naples
Day 14 - Naples
Day 15 - Fly home

nytraveler

Do not pick up the car until you leave Venice - too much time for it to be sitting there at the rental cost plus 30 euros a day for the garage. Do NOT stay in Mestre - only in Venice proper - which is completely different.

You can;t take the car into the cities - large ones have pedestrian centers, many hill towns have parking lot outside the walls. A road trip is fine as long as yuo consider it when making yuor plans (pick hotels that have garages or someplace handy to dump the car.)

ZI would not venture to travel without hotels reserved in advance unless 1) you have unlimited budgets and/or 2) you are VERY flexible about where you stay. (The best deals in the best hotel swill be grabbed up by the people that reserve a couple of months n advance.)

Michael

<i>too much time for it to be sitting there at the rental cost plus 30 euros a day for the garage.</i>

Prices must have jumped. It was a few years ago, but I recall a cost of 5€ to 7€ per day in Mestre.