Car vs. train, Need Advice!!

Pick your car in Rome as you leave and drop it in Venice as you arrive. Or rent one just in Tuscany and/or the Amalfi Coast and take the train between Rome and Venice. Otherwise, avoid the cities and ZTL zones (residents only). I've never driven in Italy, but I travel solo so i makes little sense - and Italy has such a great train system that it makes even less sense for me. I might want a car in Tuscany outside of the cities like Florence but otherwise not.

If you want to take a fantastic road trip through the Crete Sinese in Tuscany, absolutely.

Everywhere else you mentioned?
Usually not worth the time, effort or expense. Sometimes a car actually becomes a liability. Often to your marriage.

Happy travels!

For the widespread destinations you list and the time you have, you need the Transporter from NCC 1701.

Are you flying into Rome and out of Venice?

Rome, Tuscany and Venice in 10 days does not really leave you any time to do the AC/Pompeii. OR Eliminate Venice and do the other 3.

The only place a car would be useful is touring about Tuscany.

Agree with Joe too much for 10 days. IMHO drop the Amalfi Coast.

Book airfare either for arrival in Rome, Depature from Venice or if the price is too good Rome Roundtrip

Given the size of your family take the train.

You might find a comfortable van or car for you and your luggage but train travel in Italy is so easy why not enjoy it. The Man in Seat 61 website explains it all.
https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm

If you must rent the car, train from Rome to Chiusi, rent there and leave the car in Venice. If flying out of Rome drop rental back in Chiusi and train back to Rome.

Ciao!

You must be married to my wife. She doesn't like driving. More and more, I don't either.

However, a family of 5 means that you have probably a much cheaper deal with a car. Especially if the family includes younger kids, the car can really help out managing luggage, and managing the confusion of getting the troops mobilized in time.

Your problems are:
1) Dealing with the car in cities
2) Learning some of the differences between European car travel and US
* How much over the limit can you go?
* How many speed control zones will you encounter?
* If you drink, what is the level of alcohol that you can have?
3) Do you have a version of the mapping app which can work in Italy?

Note: Every time we take a car in Europe, we get one or more speed tickets 2-3 months later. It's a hidden cost

Rental cars are difficult in larger towns/cities in Tuscany. But to see the smaller Tuscan hill towns, the trains don't go there so a rental car becomes a more attractive option. Just don't try to sleep in the Florence historical center while having a rental car (parking, pedestrian zones, etc.).

There's a reason why the locals use trains. But to see the Tuscan hill towns, that's why a rental car becomes a rational option.

We always enjoy our road trips each year when we go to Italy. The Autogrill is an experience in and of itself! I would do as Andrew suggested and pick up your car as you leave Rome and return as you arrive in Venice. That time of year I wouldn’t worry about the traffic along the Amalfi Coast, but be warned the roads are narrow. Most skilled drivers find it no problem, just take your time and respect the oncoming buses. 😊😊

Edited to note that I didn’t realize you said 10 days. That’s way too much to cover on 10 days, car or train. Make it a minumum of 2 weeks, or drop a location. Italy is almost as long as California, so your talking about traveling from LA to The Mexico border to San Luis Obispo to Lake Tahoe in 10 days.

What are the ages of the kids? It is going to take a van to haul 5 people and all their luggage.

Personally, I think flying into Rome and out of Venice is as close to insanity as you can get.
Most flights out of Venice are at the butt crack of dawn. Transportation at these early hours could be very expensive and they usually dump you in another gateway city to fly home.

This path is what I'd suggest.

Fly into Venice 3 nites. Much softer intro to Italy.

Rent car in Venice, drive to Tuscany 3 nites.
Try this agriturismo. (3Hr30m) Nothing in central Tuscany is more than 1hr15m away. Great hosts, very centrally located.
http://www.borgorapale.it

Drive to Rome Tiburtina station, (2Hr 30m) drop car, taxi into Rome. 4 nites Rome.

Fly home from Rome.

For the afore mentioned ZTLS, read this and download their PDF. Info on rules and regs for driving in Italy.
https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/dont-mess-with-ztl-zones

A van is small Tuscan villages could be problematical.

We rented a Mercedes class C and had no problem with 5 of us and luggage. (We did carry on bags)

Everyone is giving you excellent advice. I’ll just add that you have to purge your mind of your American assumptions about driving. If a Tuscan town looks to be 25 miles away, don’t think that’s half an hour. Often you’ll be on 2 lane, winding, hilly roads. Many towns in Tuscany require that you park outside the walls. There is very little leeway given for exceeding the speed limit. Often there are no signs to remind you that the limit changes when you reach a town. You are expected to know the limits for each type of road.
You really do not want a car in Rome, and you can’t have one in Venice. So, your wife should be happy for most of the trip.

Joining the choir here, Jake, that you have too many destinations for a 10-day trip: lose the Amalfi/Pompeii as it's your outlier, would involve backtracking, and you simply don't have time to do it justice.

I'll agree about the car too: it would be useless in Venice and a liability in Rome. "Tuscany" is a broad definition. Florence? You do not want to drive into that one. For a stay at an agriturismo or exploring some little hill towns difficult to reach via public transit? Different story. You do have to do the homework, and understand that practically all infractions - speeding, driving into ZTLs or bus lanes, etc - are caught on camera. Lots of folks aren't even aware that they've broken a law until the double charges - one from the rental company for providing your contact info to the authorities, and a 2nd from the authorities for the infraction itself - arrive in the mail, sometimes many months after the fact.

Personally? I also wouldn't leave anything in an unattended vehicle that I couldn't afford to lose.

As Gerri suggested, I'd fly into Venice and out of Rome for the reasons given.

You will save with a car rental due to having five persons. However, be aware that tolls on the autostradas are high, that will cut into any savings. Also, parking in some places will be a huge problem.

If you fly into Rome, don't rent a car to see Rome, since you won't need the car while there. Traffic in the Naples area is terrible and theft from vehicles is a huge problem. Parking along the Almafi Coast is problematic. I would take the train.
After visiting Rome and the Naples area, you could rent a car and drive to Tuscany, do the countryside, recommend Sienna, ending in Florence, where you get rid of the car and take the train to Venice. Again, having a car in Venice is a liability.

Also, be aware that you need an International Driver's Permit, for each driver. They are available at AAA offices for $20. They will take your pictures there, too.

Thanks for the responses everybody, sounds like the train will be the way to go!

Jake,
You've gotten some great advice. There's no question that if you want to see hill towns in Tuscany, a car is a necessity. Also, the countryside is gorgeous and taking back roads to your destination is half the fun.

Are you planning on visiting Florence and/or Siena? A car is a real liability in Florence (and Rome and Venice) and to a lesser extent in Siena. Someone mentioned the tolls for the Autostrada being high. We only used the Autostrada to get from Rome FCO to our agriturismo and then we left it for country roads as soon as possible. I think if you're spending a lot of time on the Autostrada, you're not doing it right. Even here in the States I avoid the Interstate whenever possible and ramble through the countryside.

Someone mentioned always getting tickets in the mail when returning home. I'm proof that that isn't always the case. I didn't get any tickets. I strictly observed the speed limit and assumed everywhere I drove there were speed cameras. I assumed a zero tolerance on the speed limit and I read up enough to know the standard speed in small towns. I found it well marked in every town we went through, but it is good to know anyway. Also, ZTLs are well marked and easily avoided. Assume any walled town is ZTL within the walls.

Your biggest challenge is to whittle down your itinerary into something achievable within your 10 days. I could try to do your schedule in twice to four times the time and feel rushed. Remember moving from one location to another is a major time suck. Plan on losing at least 1/2 day for each move.

April will be a lovely time to be in Italy. The weather will be nice and although it will be busy, you won't experience the crush of the summer. Happy travels!

Probably, you only have 8 nights in Italy plus two days getting to and from Italy. So, it would be good to think of exactly what it is you want to get out of this trip. Two destinations only, possibly three depending on the ages of your family members. Otherwise you are spending most of your time en route instead of being anywhere.

You could fly into Venice, stay in Venice for a few nights, then drive or take the train to Florence or Siena for a few nights. If driving, you could stay at an agriturismo in Tuscany. If taking the train, you could stay in or visit any town in Tuscany that you can get to by train. Fly home from Florence (so easy!)

You could fly into Rome, stay in Rome for a few nights, take the train to Naples and then onwards to see Pompeii, staying for a few nights in whatever the town is that Rick Steves always recommends (we have only stayed in Naples and in a hotel next to Pompeii). Fly home from Naples or Rome.

I keep saying "a few nights" because it depends on your own interests --- your 8 nights could be divided up any way you want, even 2 nights + 6 nights.

You do not need or want a car unless you want to drive around seeing the countryside in Tuscany or to drive on your own schedule from one Tuscan town to another on day trips.

I'd like to say here that I am sure there are parts of Tuscany that are magically lovely like you see in photos, but so far the parts of Tuscany we have driven in, taken the bus in, or ridden a train through, look like normal, real life with gas stations, some ugly buildings, big stores, parking lots, signs, traffic, trucks, etc. We enjoy this sort of thing (actually much more than we like pretty scenery) --- it's interesting to see what you can buy at the truck stops, for instance, or to see what a regular, non-lovely farm looks like, or to figure out how to pump gas. Many famous medieval hill towns are, of course, surrounded by their newer and less attractive regular parts of town (this is where you will be parking the car). So, if your dream trip to Tuscany is to drive around in beautiful scenery, get advice from this forum on exactly where to go.

As for driving vs trains, driving in Italy is just fine and Italians are way, way better drivers than the drivers in American cities and on American highways. Just learn what to expect, what the signs mean, have a "navigator" who can use Google (or other) maps on a phone while you are driving, and know where to park outside of the historical center of every city and town. The trains are great, the train stations can be a bit bewildering and crowded. Again, learn what to do before you go, especially if any of your family are young children --- they may be less tolerant of waiting around, getting lost, standing in line, finding the bathroom, etc.. The RS books and this forum will help you know what to expect and how to handle things like validating your tickets.

With a car or a train (or a bus), you'll be doing much more walking than you may be used to and probably taking taxis, too. And, at many points, carrying all your luggage.

I hope none of this sounds discouraging! We go to Italy for several weeks every year and always love it. We've driven long distances in Italy (like, Venice to Sicily), driven in supposedly scary places and in tiny towns and have gotten only one parking ticket, rented a 9-passenger van so that we could take family with us, and used all kinds of public transportation both between and in cities. You can do it!

You can do it!

Sure you can! Just do the homework and choose wisely where-and-when to take public transport and where-and-when to drive. We LOVE the Italian train system as it gives us both the opportunity to watch the world go by instead of having to keep eyes on the road and the maps. Fares for long-distance runs (e.g. Venice to Florence or Rome) are reasonable to downright cheap if you land super-economy tickets in advance. Those come with some restrictions but are great deals if you can commit to a designated train at a designated time. Short-distance regionale train tickets are even more economical and do not have to be purchased in advance: they cost the same either way.

Trust me, I'm public-transport-system challenged (!!!!) so if I can figure the trains out, anyone can. HA!

Just curious: what are the ages of your children? That certainly can affect how quickly/easily you'll be able to move around.

We drive through Tuscany and it was wonderful to see the smaller towns. We rented a Ford C-Max which handled 5 people plus 1 bag a piece. If you rent in Rome, the Tiburtina Europcar office is convenient for driving out of the city. Suggest dropping the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii. Try for into Rome and out of Venice, then a 1-way car rental. We paid no drop fee with Europcar via Autoeurope.com. We git the rate on line but made the reservation by phone to guarantee no drop fee. Another idea, drive Rome to Verona visiting Tuscany on the way. Verona has wonderful sites. You could then train to Venice.