Fly VS Train

Depends from where to where. Some train systems give pretty good discounts if you book early enough. The pros of airline travel....faster, many times it's cheaper. But weigh the cons as well. Airports aren't generally in the center of town like train stations are, so you have to pay and spend time getting out there. Some are waaaay out. Ryanair, for example, uses "Paris Beauvais" airport, which is a 90 minute bus ride from Paris. You usually have to be out to the airport at least 2 hours before flight time, since many discount airlines close their checkin windows 30 to 40 minutes before flight time...and when I say close, I do mean CLOSE! Many now charge for baggage, with small allowances and big over-weight charges. All in all, I use the rule of thumb of about 5 hours for a train ride....any longer, and I look at a discount airline.

Hello from Rochester, MN USA. We are family of 5 traveling. So looks like we can fly into Rome and stay the June 11-12-13, drive ($8 gal) to Amalfi or close and stay 14-15-16 then drive north and stop in Pisa and end up some place for the night tour the next day 17th oil/cheese drive to Venice for 18-19-20. Take off for the alps 21-22-23. Paris the 24-25-26. Amsterdam the 27. London the 28-2nd. How does that sound? We can rent a car in Rome and Drop it in Paris. Train to Amstrdam and Fly to London....How would you do it?
Car VS Train (we are 5 and like the freedome of a car)Flying to London seems to be the best deal.

Something else to consider, the airfare between cities may be $50 one way today but as the plane fills-up the price goes up. Airfares on the discount airlines increase almost everyday as seats are sold. Trains generally run more frequently and have more capacity, so special advance purchase rail tickets stay cheaper longer and the price is more "stable".

So book the flight to London now?

I use similar criteria to Norm when deciding whether to fly vs. use train. If a train journey is 6 hours+, I'll consider a budget flight. However, as mentioned a "sliding scale" is often used, so as the flight fills the price increases. Also as mentioned are two other disadvantages - the airports are usually quite a distance from city centres (cost & time plus security and check-in times) and the budgets have increasingly strict baggage limits (with hefty overweight charges!). RyanAir also charges for checked baggage.

Having a car and driving in cities is a nuisance. One has to contend with parking charges, possibility of theft/damage,etc. Check other posts here regarding traffic fines in Italy.

If you're only going to be touring the cities and not venturing "off the beaten track", I'd suggest using train or Coach if the cost and time is convenient. Without knowing which cities you'll be visiting, it's difficult to make more specific suggestions.

We will be in Rome June 11-13 then Train to Sorento 14-16. Should we then rent the car to go north? Kids would like to see Pisa on the way to Venice. So 17th cloes to Pisa and 18&19 in Venice. Then we go North to Alps for 3 days on our way to Paris. Paris 3 days, Amsterdam 2 and then fly to London till we go home on the 2nd of July.

OK, Sorento is out...for now ;)