Car rental Travel to Cinque Terre from Florence

It’s a lot of real estate to cover in 8 days. Have you been to those places before?
I can’t imagine staying in Venice less than 2 or 3 nights. Same for Florence. Rome can’t possibly be visited in less than 3 or 4 nights, And I’m talking about a very rushed visit just to post on your Facebook page a selfie to brag with your friends that you actually went there.
How long do you plan to stay in the Cinque Terre? Just a day trip? The drive from Florence to La Spezia, is 2.5 hours of fast freeway driving, then add the time for going to the rental pick up, get the paperwork done, deal with the traffic to the station in la Spezia or Riomaggiore, park, take the train. It’s a 4 hour affair in the best of circumstances from the time you check out from you accommodations in Florence. From downtown Florence a train will get you there faster. Also if you plan to visit other places in Tuscany that is another time consuming activity. Besides most famous spots in Tuscany are south of Florence, not really on the way to the coast, apart from Lucca and Pisa.
Then there is the issue of accommodating 6 people in a car plus luggage. You need a minivan for that and those are expensive as hell to rent, and also not so easy to maneuver in the narrow spaces of an ancient place like Italy.
So these are my two cents: either prolong your vacation and make it two weeks, or stick to Venice, Florence and Rome by train. You barely have time for that. You need 9-10 nights for those 3 cities alone. Also there are plenty of Tuscan towns that you can reach from Florence by bus or train without the hassle of a van. Even the Cinque Terre can be visited on a day trip from Florence by train. It’s a rushed long day, but doable. But if besides Venice, Florence, and Rome, you want to add other Tuscan spots, you need one additional night for each day trip from Florence. Your 8 nights aren’t even enough for the 3 cities.

I don't have much to add except to ditto to everything Roberto has advised, especially the expectation for renting a car, driving to La Spezia, visiting any hill towns & trying to get some enjoyment of the (VERY BUSY during high season, if that's when you'll be traveling) CT in a day. If you want to stay anywhere amongst the 5-terre villages, you'll have wanted to make reservations, um, yesterday. They book up far in advance. All-in-all, you're expecting to be able to cram into a few days an itinerary which deserves more, & everything going like clockwork.

Florence: you appear to have only given it 2 evenings for the 'highlights'? Be aware that most will be closed in the evenings, and have weekly closure days, depending on what those are.

"" heading west through Tuscany.""
As Tuscany is a huge area, you'd be more specific what you want to see.
And depending on where your AirBnB is, it would take almost 1 hours until you have gone to the airport and picket up your car. Then it is an about 4 hours drive to La Spezia, depending on the route you take. There, in La Spezia, you have to drive around for finding a parking space, go to the train station. BTW: the train mostly goes in tunnels, so you'd see not much. If you want to enjoy the views, you have to go by boat/ferry, but this takes much longer.
Have you already booked your accommodation there? If not you'd get problems.
I would not do such a rushed trip if I was alone. And for sure not with 2 children!!

It feels to me like you might " see" more with this itinerary, but also that you might not enjoy the places very much. If I'm counting this correctly you are trying to see Florence, this hill towns of Tuscany and the Cinque Terre in 3 nights? And I think the time wasted getting a car and dropping it twice is really valuable time.

I really feel you are cutting the CT so short that it isn't worth going there. By the time you drop that car and get into CT ( with all the crowds mid- day) you have an afternoon and an evening before you are heading back to Florence. And your time in Florence feels even tighter. Driving in Tuscany also takes longer than it looks on a map.

I think at least one thing has to go. The simplest thing would be to go straight from Venice to CT for 2 nights and enjoy it. This gives you a full day to explore, take the boat, and see it while it is quieter in the morning and evening. Then train for your last night in Florence. This still cuts Florence awfully short but something has to be.
Or drop CT and do 1 night in Florence and have 2 nights in the Tuscan hill towns. Drop the car closer to Rome ( maybe Chiusi) and take train to Rome from there.

Really appreciate every ones feedback.

Small details I left off. We arrive in Venice March 17, and leave Rome the 24th. Its high school spring break, hence the timing and the short time we have. There is just no other time for me to the trip family given summer sports, camps extended family trips. So march and 8 days it is.

Reasons why I am trying to pack in Venice, CT, some tuscan hills and Rome....

I have been told to just do Venice and Rome. That one could spend a week in each place.. - and I certainly could - I read ever plaque, every exhibit description, love to travel and take in scenery.... and I'm an avid photographer. I could probably spend 2 to 3 weeks in each of those locations. The problem is my children aged 13 to 18, whilst not the focus of this trip, I want to make it fun for them. I am afraid after they've seen one magnificent cathedral, all the other cathedrals look to be the same, after we've done a boat ride down one canal in Venice, all the other canals, look the same, etc (I am not dishing on either location, I haven't been there just anticipating how the kids will react). So I'm trying to make the trip as varied as possible. I know two or three days in Rome can't possibly do it justice - what I'm trying to see is as many highlights as possible. And I've never been over there, and hence have no feel if I keep my kids, focused and engaged for three or four days in one place. Don't get me wrong, I make my kids experience as much as possible, and do my best to have them appreciate that there's more to the world than their friends and their cell phones, which they have already been told will be in my backpack most of the trip, but I'm also a realist and I want them to enjoy the trip.

For the reasons above I am ok with not seeing any of Florence -- between Venice and Rome, I (maybe ignorantly) feel like we/they will see enough Roman buildings, cathedrals, etc. Florence was just a landing point to get to Cinque Terre, with seeing some Tuscany on the way there. It seemed the easiest and quickest route to get to CT.

CT just looks like a real bucket list location, and I also think my family would enjoy spending the day getting on and off the train in between the towns - they like to be around water etc. Maybe i am overstating in my head how much i want to see CT.

Open to an itinerary that is less hectic. I can see that the "day" to drive through Tuscany to La Spezia is not practical. What if we spent two nights in la spezia. that gives me more time to get, and a full day enjoying CT. That of course cuts a day out of Rome.

Really open to any suggestions. Arrive in Venice Tues March 17 (and will be exhausted), fly out of Rome Tuesday 24. The 8 day limitation is what it is.

- We are ok with some hectic days if they're not all hectic.
- I am ok driving in tight spaces (if a van still makes sense - don't know that a two rental is much more than booking a tour for 6 people??)
A tour from Florence like this:

"Discover the Chianti vineyards and medieval architecture of Siena, San Gimignano, and Pisa on a full-day tour. Depart from Florence and explore Tuscany with an optional lunch and wine"

Looks great, and but its $500 for my family. Definitely not a deal breaker, but seems more expensive than a rental for two days.

Open to a revised intinerary, just keep in mind i need to somewhat accommodate kids, and it is what it is, they are all boys really into sports, not art.. yet..

Having travelled with teens myself, and with that little time, I might skip Florence and CT all together. There would be plenty to do with a week in Rome and Venice. You could do 3 nights in Venice and 4 nights in Rome. Teen boys love the Colosseum and all the Gladiator stuff. And the Forum and any catacomb with bones. And there are so many parks. And lots of options for day trips you can do without a paid tour. Just a thought.

Than you for sharing your detail plans.
Based on your dates you said, you will have only 7 nights in the ground from the 17th of March to the 24th of March.

You need to spend at least the last 2 in Rome, because your flight home after the second night is certainly departing in the morning, that means having to be at the airport 3 hours earlier, and the airport is at least 35 minutes from the city. Hence, you will need to be checking out super early.
If you arrive at VCE on the 17th, you should also spend the first 2 nights in Venice, because by the time you check in, tired from the long flight, you will have no time for much of anything. The Venice airport is not close to the historical center either.
Your kids will love Venice the most. There is nothing like it anywhere in the world.
So now you are left with 3 nights in between.
Also consider that before the last Sunday of March, Italy is on standard time, that means it get dark at about 6:30pm or so, and the weather is unpredictable in March. Could be cold and rainy, could be sunny and decent, but certainly not beach weather at the Cinque Terre. So the Cinque Terre should be a destination you play by ear. If cold and rainy, and miserable (highly possible in mid March), it would be a waste of a day.
How you intend to spend those 3 nights (which is basically 2 full days and half day on the day of arrival from Venice) is up to you, but in your shoes I would stay in Florence. You don’t have to spend the whole 2.5 days in Florence. You can take day trips even on both full days.
One day trip could be to the Cinque Terre, but only if the weather is amenable. I would go by train because it’s ultimately faster given the fact you need to pick up the car. I used to drive from Florence to Cinque Terre all the time. But my house was near the freeway entrance in Florence and the car in the garage. I could be in Riomaggiore in less than 2.5 hours, door to door. You can’t. You will be downtown, need to go to the airport and pick up the car (a 45 min affair), then drive to your destination, but you don’t know the road as well as I do, as I’ve driven it countless times, so it’s a 4 hour deal for you. The train will be faster from downtown Florence.
Another day trip could be to Siena, to San Gimignano, to Lucca+Pisa, whatever, but also in all those cases a van takes longer than a bus or train, once you add the rental paperwork and pickup.
Your kids will love all of those towns, there is no need to visit any church or cathedral.
A van costs about $100 to $150 a day to rent, add gas (@ $8 per gallon) and tolls. Parking for a day at the Cinque Terre will cost you at least 25€ a day.
Your call.

Hey there Spring Breaker! Came across your question while searching myself about driving from Florence to Cinque Terre- please post what you chose and about your experience after your trip.
I've been to Rome several times and I just love it. I would 100% spend three days there with teens. No, you won't see it all but if you're ok with just enjoying what you do choose to experience and leaving the rest for a hopeful next time, I think it will be really great.
I have taken my teens (3 of them) on Spring Break to Europe. We went to both London and Lisbon in a week and had a fantastic time. Recently, we went to Spain (San Sebastian) and France (Biarritz) for a week and again had a wonderful experience. IMHO best to take the trip you want in the limited time rather than wait for a chance to go for longer. Enjoy!

Arrive in Venice Tues March 17 (and will be exhausted), fly out of
Rome Tuesday 24. The 8 day limitation is what it is.

Yep, I completely understand having to work around spring break. It's just that, realistically, the 'trip' part isn't 8 days. It's 7 nights/6 FULL days + whatever (exhausted) hours you'll have the day you arrive in Venice. As painful as I know it is for you, I just don't see being able to squeeze Venice, Tuscany, the CT and Rome into that amount of time and getting much of anything out of it. And I'm still voting against trying to deal with a car rental; it simply isn't practical.

Trip A:
Venice: Tuesday./Wed (2 nights/ 1 full day +a few jetlagged hours)
Florence: Thurs/Friday (2 nights/1 and 1/2 days) A day trip (train) on the 1 full day you have.
Rome: Saturday/Sunday/Monday (3 nights/2 and 1/2 days)

Trip B:
Venice: Tuesday/Wed (2 nights/ 1 full day +a few jet-lagged hours)
Florence: Thurs/Friday/Sat (3 nights/2 and 1/2 days) Day trips (train, maybe bus) on the 2 full days you have. Flex according to weather.
Rome: Sunday/Monday (2 nights/1 and 1/2 days)

Something to think about: I'm unsure what you're planning for accommodations but if it's apartments, working around check-in times can be a complication. It means that if you arrive in city ___ in the morning, you're going to have to check your luggage in somewhere, like the train stations, until you can get into your accommodation whereas most hotels will allow you leave it with them until check-in. Having a car in that doesn't really help in that respect as most of us would advise not leaving anything of value in an unattended vehicle.

IMHO, Venice, Florence and Rome and very different cities so it's not like you've seen one, you've seen them all. As well, moving from one location to another can require some acclimation time to figure out where things are + how things, such as the public transport, work.

Your young people are old enough to do some of their own research: this is a terrific "teachable moment" in trip planning that will serve them down the road when planning their own! Instead of mapping it all out FOR them, gather the guidebooks. discuss what your group wants to see/do, and then weigh, realistically, the time you have to do it. If they're more interested in Rome, say, then that's where you should spend 3 nights or more. I'm sure pictures of the CT will turn their heads but as Roberto mentioned, it's no fun in the rain/cold, and the trails (if hiking is in the plan) are often closed in foul weather. Other than just walk around the villages, there isn't much otherwise to do. Maybe that's enough for them, and you'd know better than I. :O)

Art: Even if you think your boys will find it a yawn, art in much of Italy is a different animal than in the US. There you can find sculpture and frescoes still in their original places after hundreds of years! Churches? Many are great places to get an eyeful of some fabulous art for free, and without spending the hours you might in a museum (love those as I do.) You won't have time to visit oodles of them but I'm pretty sure some of the best will make an impression. All part of the culture....

Thank you, everyone for your input.

Also, we are in VRBO's the entire time. Hard to find reasonable hotels for family of six. My understanding is in Europe. There are a lot more strict about headcount and how many you check into the hotel -- VRBO's are more comfortable.

OK, ditching CT. If we decide to stop in Florence, we'll do one of those all day bus tours that hits the three major locations -- Siena, San Gimignano and Pisa.

Unless we are better of spending one more day in Venice and one more Day in Rome.

Would love peoples "top 10" things to do in each of Venice and Rome. How do we fill up three days in Venice, 4 days in Rome?

Thanks.

I would actually skip Florence even though I love it
You just don’t have enough time

Venice 3 nights
Check out Row Venice, gets great reviews and is quite affordable
https://rowvenice.org/

The Secret Itineraries tour Doges Palace is very cool-must be prebooked and fills up fast

Take vaporetto out to Burano (I would skip Murano)

Rome 4 nights
I would skip the Vatican-it’s just a mob scene and doesn’t seem like something your kids would tolerate

Consider a visit to Ostia Antica

You will need to prebook timed entries to major sites (Colosseum) so let us know which and we can provide official links and when tickets go on sale

I'd add time to Venice and Rome, myself.

Rick lists his top sightseeing highlights for many key destinations on this website; in all cases, click on the link below and then on "At a Glance":

Venice highlights

Rome highlights

Florence highlights

Siena highlights

Snippets on smaller Tuscan towns

I question the advisability of a bus tour going to three different destinations which involves about 166 miles of driving. ViaMichelin.com estimates the total driving time at just over 4-1/2 hours. That doesn't include loading and unloading time, which would be significant if it's a big-bus tour rather than a van tour. How much time will you actually have off the bus for sightseeing? And at some point you'll need to take time to eat lunch. The thing about multi-destination bus tours is that you have absolutely no control over how much time is spent at each stop. In this case, I'd expect it to be inadequate everywhere unless the only thing you want to do in Pisa is observe the tower and take a few photos.

Pisa and Siena are readily accessible by train; it's true San Gimignano is not. Some people like to visit the relatively convenient combination of Pisa and Lucca on a day trip from Florence; again, that's doable by train.

are any of the kiddoes sporty? I'd consider "Row Venice" which will give them, (and you too if you want) the chance to learn how to propel a Venetian boat and be a Venetian for a day. It is both instruction and practical experience. I have only seen excellent reviews.

There is so much cool in Venice for both kiddoes and adults. Think of Gelato, climbing bell towers, riding different boats, riding the Grand Canal and looking in the windows as you do, day and night. It isn't Disney - it is real. Give the kiddoes a game of finding different types of bridges and types of boat. See what they think of taxi boats, ambulances, police boats, trash boats, banana boats, UPS boats (yes in traditional UPS colour)... It can be a real adventure for kids and adults. Oh, and more Gelato.

I want to piggyback on this thread with a very similar travel plan. We will fly into Rome March 22 and out from Milan on April 1 (to Iceland), traveling with two of our kids, who are 19 and first year college students. Current plan is to spend time in Rome and Florence, and then visit sienna and other towns before flying from Milan. I’m trying to decide whether to do this by renting a car in Florence and returning it at the Milan airport or by train/bus. Having done similar travel with a rental car in Spain, France, and Scotland, I saw no problem with this, but a friend who travels extensively in western Europe cautioned against driving in Italy because of the traffic.

Here are my questions.

1. Thoughts on car versus public transport for this?

   1. Either way, we welcome suggested itinerary, especially for towns after Florence? From previous trips, my spouse and I (both of us are art historians) have learned that we can learn and see a lot in a focused short stop somewhere (half day or less).

Pultz, it would be much easier for us helpers here, and you'd get more attention and therefore more information, if you open your own thread with your own question. Much more as your questions and youe trip is very different.