Car vs. Train

We have traveled in Europe both ways...renting a car and using trains or a combination of the two. We have an upcoming trip for four weeks in September and will be using trains exclusively. In our opinion, it is much less stressful with less surprises with car rental issues, hidden costs, traffic tickets and parking tickets. If we find we want a car for a day or so we will make that decision on the fly.

The train system in Italy is great and a car is just not necessary for the cities you are doing. I would relax and take the train.

See if you can get your husband to read the innumerable threads on ZTL tickets, robo-cam speeding tickets, rental car damage disputes. Having a car will range from an impossibility (Venice) to a major headache in the other 3 spots you mentioned. If you want to rent a car for a day or two to tour the Tuscan countryside, that might satisfy his driving jones. Besides, the trains between Venice and Florence and Rome are way faster than any car could go, even if you said "speeding tickets be damned".

I've gotten my driver's license in Germany, have driven in many European countries - and hate driving in Italy. With narrow roads and lack of parking it can be extremely stressful. If at all possible, skip the car and use the train.

That said, if you are planning to go beyond the cities you mentioned in your posting, it may be useful to rent a car for a couple of days for an area where train access is limited, let's say to explore the Tuscany countryside and some of the smaller hill towns in the region.

If you are going only to the places you mentioned, a car makes absolutely no sense. Compared to the train, it will be more expensive, much slower, more inconvenient, and virtually unusable in all the locations you mentioned, so it will have to stay parked in a garage (for a hefty fee) the whole time. A car will also limit your hotel options in Florence, because cars aren't allowed in the city center and many hotels are not even accessible by car.

Your husband has never been to Europe, so his perception of the world is probably America centric, where a car is a must everywhere except for some major cities like NY. It's not the same in Europe. It's an ancient continent where cities were designed and built long before cars were invented, therefore not really ideal for car use. I suggest you rent a car only if you intend to visit the countryside, for example in Tuscany, and only for the time necessary to do so. If your trip is limited to the locations you listed, a car would be a very serious impediment to your enjoyment of the trip.

There are plenty of spontaneous day trips you can do by train or bus from the places you mentioned (e.g., Padova from Venice, Siena from Florence, Orvieto from Rome, and that's only a sampling from many possibilities).

You are going four places in two weeks. A car for that length of time and the places you are visiting is simply not necessary. If fact, it will be a big pain in the anatomy and really detract from the enjoyment of the trip. Definitely opt for the train.

Having a car in Florence will be a disaster if you plan to stay and drive anywhere near the city center. I can almost guarantee that you will receive at least three tickets when you return from Italy if you drive in central Florence. Read this article on ZTLs in Florence: https://www.visitflorence.com/tourist-info/driving-in-florence-ztl-zone.html. I have been to Rome several times and having a car there is a bad idea. I have three friends from Rome who now live in California and none of them would even consider having a car in Rome. I and my husband are game for driving in and have driven in just about any major city in Europe except, Florence, Rome, Naples and Milan. Maybe, you can rent cars for day trips and pick them up on the outskirts of town. And I agree that there are many lovely day trips that you can do by train from the cities that you mention. Yes, you will lose the option of stopping in interesting places between your main city destinations but I don't think that possibility outweighs the pain that having a car will cause.

the train system is so precarious

What do you mean by that? The trains are (high speed ones anyway, and many of the locals) modern, fast (three times as fast as a car), frequent and pretty punctual.

What did you have in mind, Jordin? By the way, is that March 25th 1989 your birthday?

I am a great fan of having a car when we travel. However, with the destinations and time frame you've listed, I wouldn't dream of it. You hardly have time to do justice to the places you want to see. There are some towns to see near those you've mentioned, like Padova from Venice; but you can exercise your spontaneity by hopping on a train to get to them.

Trains, definitely. They're so much quicker and easier for so many reasons, and not having your own wheels doesn't mean you can't be spontaneous.

Scamper to a station; buy a ticket; get on.

Trains. They allow you to relax as you travel between destinations. You don't have to worry about getting lost (just learn what station comes before the one you want.) We've been to Italy five times. Rented a car three times - The only time we really needed/wanted it was when we stayed at an agriturismo in the Tuscan countryside.

Trains win! They free you up from the responsibility of having to take care of a car. Just don't overpack.

Trains win hands down in my book. People here talk about all the "freedom" rental cars afford to them, but then they come back here complaining about how Hertz or Avis or (?) tacked on added charges or claimed vehicle damage or they receive a traffic fine via US Post for several hundred dollars of European speeding fines or ZTL fines. Not to mention parking/driving in cities is a nightmare (think Paris). I've hand my share of all that kind of freedom and my answer is "no thanks". With freedom like that I'll need another vacation to recover!

My suggestions would the same as Roberto mentioned. Use trains for the majority of trips, unless you're going to be exploring small towns in Tuscany that aren't well served by public transit.

Could you elaborate on your comments about the trains being "precarious"? I find the trains to usually be the quickest, most efficient and most relaxing way to get around, especially when using the high speed trains between major centres. They travel at up to 300 km/h which is much faster than by car, and no worries about ZTL tickets, parking, fuel costs, speed cameras, etc. A car in the Cinque Terre (especially Vernazza) is about as useful as a boat anchor, and the car will sit in a garage gathering dust and incurring rental and parking charges during your visit there.

It's also important to note for driving in Italy, each driver listed on the rental form must have the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. These are valid for one year, and easily obtained at any CAA/AAA office (two Passport-sized photos required, which may be provided by the issuing office). You may find this recent thread interesting - https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/drive-without-idp-at-your-own-risk

You may also want to have a look at some of the other posts here concerning the dreaded Zona Traffico Limitato areas that are becoming increasingly prevalent in many Italian towns & cities especially Florence, which is almost saturated with automated ZTL cameras. EACH PASS through one of the automated Cameras will result in a €100+ ticket, which you won't know about until several months after you return home! There's also the issue of parking tickets, high fuel costs, tolls and automated speed cameras including the devious Traffic Tutor system which measures not only instantaneous speed but also average between two points. Violate either or both parameter and expensive tickets will follow.

If you decide to travel by train or other public transit, there are also some potentially expensive "caveats" to be aware of. For example, locally purchased tickets for Regionale trains must be validated prior to boarding on the day of travel, or you'll risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! Validating also applies to Buses, Metro, etc. Tickets for the fast trains have compulsory seat reservations, and can only be used on the one train listed on the ticket. If you board the wrong train by mistake, again hefty fines!

Good luck with your planning!

My husband and I traveled to those four cities during part of a trip in 2012. I would echo what others said and say choose the train over a car for sure. We have rented cars twice (in Germany and Slovenia) without issue and I still wouldn't choose renting a car for that itinerary. Between the large cities, the trains are very fast and efficient. The one slower train ride was on a regional train we took from Rome to Cinque Terre. We were able to enjoy the scenery and relax on the train, and used our time to read about our next destination and write in our travel journal. Enjoy your trip!

The trains are great! Relax and enjoy the scenery. You can still make spontaneous stops too.

It helps to be specific about your itinerary. For example, part of our trip in June was in the Dolomites. The advice was, yes, you can do it by public transportation (bus) but a car is more efficient. I definitely found that to be true. If part of your agenda is traveling through the countryside visiting small towns you will be fine on those segments with a car, but whenever you hit a good-sized and/or touristy city you'll wish you didn't have it. Picking up and dropping off rental cars can be stressful and wastes some time. Pick up/drop off at airports is sometimes better if the airport isn't huge and it's located outside town. For example Verona was a great place to rent a car. Perhaps you want to rent a car selectively for parts of your trip, as mentioned above. For example we also rented a car between Rome and Sienna, because we were going to Tarquinia and Argentario, which aren't served as well by public transport. So we took the train from Rome to Civitavecchia to pick up the car, to avoid driving in Rome, and continued to those points by car.