We will be traveling from the US. is it better fly into Rome or Florence from US? Where should we rent the car? We will be staying in Tuscany in the hills and traveling the small cities for about 5 days. We then need to get to Rome to the port to get on a cruise ship. Should we take a train from Tuscany area or drive to the Port, if a train which which one-from which city, if not a train or car how would you recommend we travel?
thanks
You can probably get a direct flight to Rome, but you will almost certainly have to change to fly into Florence as it is a smallish airport unsuitable for large jets. The other possibility, although I believe direct flights from the US are rare, is Bologna - but if you were to consider this, then it depends where in Tuscany you will be based.
Pisa is a bigger airport that can handle bigger jets. If you return the car there, there are direct trains to Civitavecchia where the cruise ships dock.
If you fly to Pisa with a connection, don't transfer in Paris or London. Using Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich or Zurich to change planes will be a lot easier.
See this recent post: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/flight-option-boston-to-tuscany-area
Make sure you understand the geography. The cruise ship port is in Civitavecchia - about an hour west, northwest of Rome via rail. A little longer by car. Obviously Civit.... is on the coast. It is a very industrial area/city so if dropping a car make sure you know where the drop is. Probably need a taxi from the car drop to the port. The train station is convenient to the dock. You should be able to see your cruise ship from the station and many walk to the cruise port entrance. A shuttle will take you to your ship from the entrance. Although train service from Florence to Civit... via the coast is available it is limited. Most would take a train to Termini (Rome) and train to Civit -- three to four trains an hour from Termini.
Where are you flying from, and when? This will determine the "best" flight to Italy.
Rome and Milan get nonstop flights from the US and Canada year-round. Bologna, Naples, and Venice get some flights from some cities "in season" (April or May to August or September). For other Italian cities, you have to make at least one change coming from North America.
Florence has a small airport; Bologna and Pisa have larger ones. Any of these airports can work for starting a trip in Tuscany. Florence is only 90 minutes from Rome by train, and about an extra hour from Rome FCO airport, so that can also work, particularly if you can get a nonstop flight, or if it's substantially cheaper than other options.
If you live in a city served by nonstop flights to Italy, that's easiest, although it may not be cheapest. If you live in a city with no nonstop flights to anywhere in Europe, you'll have to change in North America, so you'll be flying into one of the places above. And If you have nonstop service to Europe but not to Italy (for example, San Francisco or Seattle), then you can change in major European hubs for any city in Italy.
Look at Kayak or Google flights to see you options for you home city and your dates. Watch out for airport changes - for instance, your flight from the US lands at Paris CDG, but your flight to Italy departs from Paris Orly. Avoid these if at all possible!
