I’m going to be with my family traveling from Rome, up through Tuscany. I’m trying to figure out the best order to go by train to cinque terre, Florence, Venice and possibly stopping in lake garda, then fly to Paris, either from Venice or Milan. Any advice is appreciated.
Posted by
6241 posts
When you say "up through Tuscany"--are you traveling in Tuscany aside from Florence?
I would add the month, as sometimes that can affect things, but otherwise it is fast train when possible, regional train when not. See the Trenitalia website for schedules.
I would probably do Rome-CT-Florence-Venice-Lake Garda-then Milan for flight (unless it is just as easy to return to Venice for flight). Play around with the order in your searches to get the train time to CT reduced as much as possible.
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1730 posts
How long is your trip in Italy going to be, what time of year and how are you getting around?
Rural Tuscany is hard to do without a rental car so you might be limited to places with train access. This map is a good guide to what's accessible in Tuscany by train and connecting bus: https://www.wanderingitaly.com/maps/images/tuscany-rail-map.png
You really need to nail down how much time you have and what you mean by Tuscany as it is a large area.
One difficulty is that CT and Venice are on opposite sides of the country with limited infrastructure on both sides so I expect Venice to CT to take 7-8+ hours if that is part of your plan. Rome to CT will be long but more on 5+ hour side so Rome to CT to Florence to Lake Garda to Venice makes some sense. But there will be essentially an entire day dedicated to travel if you want to see CT.
The base of Lake Garda is easily accessible by rail from Verona - on the Milan to Venice fast train line - but the upper parts of either side of the lake require a bus or car connection.
Currently flights from Venice to Paris seem about equal but during summer months that may change. If you are headed to Paris itself I think Orly airport (ORY) is the much easier choice for getting into the city than Charles de Gaulle (CDG). Keep in mind budget, Europe internal carriers have very different ideas of what checked and carry-on baggage is so your "month in Europe" bags may cause those super cheap looking flights to get more expensive.
You have a lot to plan out at this point, but just nail down some dates, break the planning up into stops and come back for advice when you're stuck.
Have a great trip,
=Tod
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
1001 posts
wow, that's a lot of stops!
Each place you stop will be at least 2 nights to give you only one full day in a spot, and every time you change locations you lose at least half a day, and generally a full day's chance of scheduling timed activities.
I am unsure of the BEST, but are you doing Rome as well? It needs at LEAST 3 nights, to have 2 days there, then possibly up to CT (as it's gonna be a long trip no matter where you go next) for at least 2 nights, then Florence (I would say 3 or 4 nights if you want to venture into the countryside), then if you are flying out of Venice, then a stop in Lake Garda for at least 2 nights, and then off to Venice for at least 2. If you are flying out of Milan, go to Venice after Florence, and stop at Peschiera del Garda for 2 nights on the way to Milan. But you would be spending half your time in Italy on a train......which doesn't seem fun for me.
My brain says at LEAST (but preferred number for me):
Rome 3 nights (4 nights)
CT 2 nights (2 should be find if you start early)
Florence 3 nights (4 if doing a daytrip to the countryside)
Lake Garda 2 nights (2 nights)
Venice 3 nights (3 or 4)