11 nights in Italy with a large family

Hi there, Brian -
Sorry but there's so much info missing info that it's really not possible to offer up quality advice!

We will be arriving in Rome around lunchtime on a Sunday

.What day/month? From where?

I was thinking about renting a van driving up to the Tuscany area for
a few nights on the countryside and see the Hot Springs.

What hot springs? And where are you looking at staying in Tuscany? Have you done the homework about driving in Italy? A rental van - which you would need for 9 people - could present all sorts of challenges depending on where you intend to take it. Sorrento is not a good place for a van, depending on time of year and accommodations.

My grandfather is from Poggio imperilale near San severo. I would love
to be able to go see that area but I don’t see how that would be
possible

I'd never say that researching one's family is impossible but San Severo is all the way over on the other side of the country from Sorrento, and I've no idea what "near" that location means. We also don't know which airport you intend to leave Italy from?

One thing I'd do sooner rather than later is have an initial conversation with at least one of the car-rental consolidators (AutoEurope, Kemwel, Gemut) about what type of vehicle might be available in Italy that would accommodate your entire group plus luggage and -- key point -- whether you could drive it with a regular driver's license or would need some sort of commercial license. I recall reading a warning about the license situation on this forum but I don't remember what country was involved. It may be that you'll need to rent two vehicles; that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, because a monster vehicle isn't very maneuverable on narrow, medieval streets. Some folks have commented here that renting two smaller vehicles is likely to be less expensive than renting one monster vehicle.

Keep in mind that anyone who might be pressed into service as a driver should obtain an international driving permit from AAA (or CAA in Canada), to be used in Italy along with the US driver's license. You'll have to pay extra, I think, to have more than one authorized driver per car. There will almost certainly be a fee for that, but short-cutting that step would be disastrous in the event of an accident or other damage to the car, because the insurance would probably be void if an unauthorized person was driving.

There are lots of specific things you need to know about driving in Italy; the above comments are more general and apply, as far as I know, in most countries on the continent.

Kathy nailed the questions. Awaiting those answers, I will offer a few comments.

• A group travels only as fast as it’s slowest member so you are wise not to try to fit in too many stops. Eleven nights = maximum 3 places to lay your heads, in my opinion. To follow your sketched plan, 4 nights Tuscany, 5 Sorrento, 2 Rome might work.
• Driving a van is not for the faint-of-heart and one van will be unlikely to hold all of you and luggage. Think about having two vehicles. Is there another person who would drive? If you decide to drive, I would rent a car/cars for the Tuscan portion if you truly want to stay in a rural area, then turn in the cars and take the train(s) to Sorrento. If you need to, you can rent cars again there but it frees you from that looonnng drive. If you stay in or around Sorrento and decide to rent cars, be certain you have ample parking included with your lodging.
• From Sorrento, do not drive back to Rome. Trains or a bus/train or a private shuttle/train combo is your best bet. FWIW traffic between Rome and Naples can be horribly slow. I once sat on a bus for 4 hours between those cities ( it my idea!) and so wished we had taken the train as it takes less than 90 minutes.
• Consider limiting your itinerary to two stops: a week in a Tuscan Villa then 4 nights car free in Rome with a possible day trip to Sorrento for those interested. Every time you move the group and luggage is stressful so minimizing the moves might be desirable.

OK, one question: Is everyone (at least the adults) in agreement on what they want to do on this trip? Having buy in is important to group happiness.

It is going to be difficult to find a van large enough to hold your group and all the luggage. I checked Auto Europe and while they do have 9-passenger vans to rent, these only have room for 3-4 pieces of luggage. Also, many roads, particularly around Sorrento, are very narrow and difficult to negotiate with a large van.

Another consideration is whether your younger children will require booster seats or car seats. You will have to check the laws in Italy.

It appears to me you would need to rent two cars. Or take the train (which we have done with a group of nine, but no little ones, just teens and older).

a few teenagers

How many? 13 yrs vs 19yrs is a distinct difference

three younger children.

Again, what ages? 2yrs vs 12 is very different.

How many able bodied adults herding the flock?

My concern is how are the roads in and around Sorrento and can I make that trip in one day?

Starting where and ending where?

Have you decided where you will enter and leave Italy?

Thank you everybody for your suggestions and sorry I was not clear. Ages of my children or 4, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 20. Along with my wife and myself. Will have five big pieces of luggage and two small carry-ons. We have traveled internationally many times but this is the first to Italy.
We really want to see the Amalfi coast but I do not want to drive on those narrow roads. We would also love to stay about three nights in the countryside. We will be arriving in mid May and staying till late May, 11 nights.
I like the idea of renting a car and doing the countryside for a few nights then possibly taking the train down south. I think the age to Rent-A-Car is 25 and I do not think my wife is going to want to drive.

We are looking at Airbnb homes to stay in; it’s just the logistics of getting from the train station to the actual home that is stressful to think about.

We are flying into Rome Sunday, May 17 at lunchtime and we fly out at lunchtime May 28.

I highly recommend that you contact Gemut.com by phone to discuss all this. They are actually in Oregon. Click on the blue link to get there.

You can also download their free brochure called What You Should Know About Renting a Car in Europe.

I don't know if it's still this way, but when we turned in our car in Aix-en-Provence in 2012, we learned that the primary driver must be the person who uses their credit card to rent the car, or you'll be charged extra. At least that was the case with Europecar.

Be sure to ask the folks at Gemut about that.

About using the train, your best source of information is the Man in Seat 61. Here's a link to the detailed information on Train Travel in Italy.

Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but it seems like this may be your first trip to Europe. You and all the adults and older kids would benefit by reading and taking to heart every one of the sections of information found in the Travel Tips on this Rick Steves website.

It will be a steep learning curve for everyone, but your trip will be the better for it.

You say you have been to Europe with your family. Have you rented a van and driven? Do your suitcases fit? We went to Greece two summers ago and reserved a van on Santorini. They did not have a van when we showed up and we ended up with two cars. Fortunately I had brought an international drivers license because I knew there were no vans on the island of naxos.

We ended up changing our van reservation on the mainland to two cars because 1) the roads were narrow and more difficult to navigate than we expected 2) more room for both people and suitcases. We had 7 people each with a carry on suitcase.

I did not really like driving in Greece to be honest but plan to do the same for the two days we will be renting cars while in Umbria this May. The rest of the time we will take trains which I much prefer (which was not an option in Greece).

About the Amalfi Coast. I don't know if you could hire a driver or do some kind of a tour that would accommodate your group to go on that road as far as you want to go.

I do know that you can take a public bus all the way between Sorrento and Salerno because we did that going from Salerno to Sorrento. Note that a big piece of the drive closer to Sorrento is inland, not on the edge of the cliff(s). Also note that no matter who drives, this is not a route for the acrophobes in your group.

I don't know if the citrus trees will be in bloom in May. If so, visiting the groves if possible, would be absolutely intoxicating. One thing for sure, there will be no fruit on the trees yet. Citrus is ready to pick in the winter.

Thanks for mentioning the hot springs. I was totally ignorant about them. A quick little look on Google resulted in this article from Italy Magazine titled Italy's Best Free Hot Springs. Although not all are easy access, they look delightful.

As for your wife not driving, she should still get an IDP and be prepared to drive in an emergency. This is an issue to discuss with the guys at Gemut. They will also know if your older kids could be back-up emergency drivers. If yes, they'll need IDPs, too.

Think about skipping famous Tuscany and famous Amalfi Coast and instead spend your entire time in Puglia, where Poggio Imperiale is. You could take the train from Rome to Foggia, rent your 9-passenger van, and drive for 45 minutes to your grandfather's town. Spend the rest of your time exploring northeastern and coastal Puglia. Find a big villa in the country to be your base.

We have done aspects of this trip ourselves, but in different years. We did fly into Rome and then take the train to Foggia and rented a car and drove around Puglia. We also once flew into Brindisi farther south and rented a 9-passenger van for us, our son and daughter-in-law, and their preschooler and baby. We stayed in two locations for a week each and drove all around central Puglia. You have to park the van outside the oldest parts of town and walk in, but that was never a big deal.

There are beaches, but they'd just be for strolling on or picnicking on. So much good food in Puglia --- possibly my favorite food of any region in Italy. Plenty of pizza places, too, if the kids would prefer that.

I do not know if you can get so much luggage into the van, but if you stay in a place with a washing machine you won't have to pack so much. Duffle bags and backpacks would cram in between people and on the floor better than regular suitcases. There is space behind the back seat, too,

Perfectly good normal roads in Puglia and also highways.

Anyway, give it a thought. You could also fly into Bari and rent a van there.

You might want to really look into trains for your transportation. I’ve driven in Italy several times but would hesitate to do so along Amalfi Coast.
Look at the app Rome2rio for information on getting from A to Z. Also, Google routes and transport options. I wouldn’t drive much. I’ve done Rome but back in early 80s and that was bad enough.

Be careful about Rome2Rio. It seems to be accurate about the existence of rail service or bus service between two points and places where you might need to transfer, but I've found the fares, travel times and frequencies it displays can be wildly inaccurate. What you need to do is keep drilling down on Rome2Rio until you find the name of the bus or train company providing the service you're interested in exploring, then go to the company's website. Most of the time Rome2Rio will provide a link.