Cheaper to drive or take train to venice

Poole,

If you pre-purchase tickets in advance, it will not only be cheaper but also much faster and certainly more comfortable to go via high speed trains. No car can travel at 300 kmH so that will also be a more efficient use of your valuable travel time. For the trip back to Perugia you'll likely travel high speed to Florence and then transfer to a Regionale to Perugia (DON'T forget to validate!). You can check the various options on the Trenitalia website.

With a family of five plus luggage. You'd have to rent a much larger vehicle and in addition to tolls and high fuel costs, there are also the issues of IDP's and the dreaded ZTL areas (hefty fines!).

Happy travels!

If you are willing to plan ahead and purchase non-refundable non-exchangeable tickets on a specific train traveling on a specific date, you can get fares from Rome to Venice for 29Euro each. If you purchase tickets at the regular base fare, it will be 80Euro per person. Journey time is 3hrs45min. For the rental car, it's a 6.5hr drive with no stops. Assuming a couple of stops, it will be close to 8hrs. Add in an additional 100Euro for tolls and petrol (according to www.viamichelin.com)on top of the car rental cost. Also know that many rental car companies in Italy now makes you carry full CDW on the rental cars. My wife just had to do this recently with a Hertz car in Tuscany.

Depending on how long you intend to stay in Venice, you could either turn in the car or park it in the very large parking lot near the Piazzale Roma. You could rent another car as you depart depending on overall costs. Driving from Venice to Perugia is a toss-up. It's 5.0hrs by train and its 5.0hrs by car according to www.viamichelin.com. 220 miles with only about 1/2 on motorways. Could be slow but scenic. Full fare on the train is about 59Euro per person.

Finally, if you do drive into and out of Venice, CAUTION: do not exceed the posted speed limit by even 1MPH as you go across the causeway. At least 3 radar traps that will get you.

In addition to looking at the cost, I encourage you to add in the "hassle" factor and the quality of the travel. Trains in Italy are very easy to manage, particularly between those three major hubs you've listed. And you get the bonus of being able to walk around inside the train while traveling and no one has to worry about navigating, dealing with tolls, watching out for speed cams, where's the next stop with a toilet, etc.

The main reason to have a car in Italy is if you're wanting to do daytrips to places that aren't easily reached by train.

Aside from the hassle factor mentioned above, you need to carefully run the numbers to figure out the costs as well. A large car for 5 people will likely cost you at a minimum €60 day with the mandatory insurance. Last summer I had to rent a larger car because there were 4 adults traveling together and with Autoeurope.com (a consolidator) I spent $600 a week. It was a VW Passat Station Wagon which has a huge cargo area and probably sufficient for 2 adults plus kids, provided you keep luggage at a reasonable size. Gas and tolls might be around €100 but I read in another post of yours that you intend to park in Venice for two nights. Well parking in Venice is probably close to €25 per day, so you need to factor that in as well. The drive from Venice to Perugia is actually 100% freeway, half of which a toll free Superstrada (a divided 4 lane highway) from Cesena down to Perugia. In spite of what some people might tell you (even Italians), the route Venice-Padua--Bologna-Cesena-Perugia (all freeway) is faster than the shorter Via Romea, a two lane highway through Chioggia down to Ravenna. That road is full of trucks with very little chance to pass them.

There is actually another option I would consider in your case. And that is to go from Rome to Venice by train. Then at the end of your Venice visit pick up a rental car in Venice and drive down to Perugia. The drive is probably shorter than the train, also you might decide to stop along the way in Ferrara and/or Ravenna. It's an option you should consider if you plan to take day trips to the smaller Umbrian towns from your Perugia base.

You can buy the Freccia tickets from Rome to Venice very cheap if you do so in advance. I think you are planning on staying in Rome before heading to Venice, but if you plan to go straight to Venice from upon your arrival in Rome take care to give yourself some wiggle room in Rome in case your flight is delayed (don't schedule it too closely). I would take the train to Venice, and then if it seems worth it when you add up the costs, get a car to Perugia from there. Otherwise, traveling by train the whole time is definitely doable for your trip.

Wow! Thanks for all the great advice! Which trains are you all recommending from Rome? For the lower price what class of train are you quoting? The train websites seem a little overwhelming to me. Any help appreciated. Thanks

We are quoting the fast trains from Rome to Venice. There are about 20/day. They are operated by Trenitalia, the major train operator in Italy. Their website is www.trenitalia.com. Select English. However, the train station names have to be in Italian (Roma-Termini and Venezia Santa Lucia). The low discounted fares we quote are available up to 120 days out from the time of travel and are non-refundable. Or, when in Italy, you can walk up and buy tickets at the regular base fare of 80Euro. If you want the nicely discounted tickets, you will need to plan carefully ahead so that you know precisely which day you will be traveling and which time you wish to travel. When buying these discounted tickets, you will be married to a specific train, departing at a specific time on a specific day. You do this with your airline tickets. It's just as easy to do with the trains. Here's a link to see a sample morning train schedule in early May.

http://gyazo.com/839278e326976a7ed68e87b68386ffc9

You can also do this on the very new Italo train system. http://www.italotreno.it/IT/Pagine/default.aspx The only difference is that the Italo train departs from Roma-Tiburtina train station in Rome instead of the Termini train station.

Thanks Larry! Great info! Any advice on if there is a rail ticket for travel throughout Italy like Eur-rail? Since we are looking at going from Rome to Venice. Then Venice to Perugia. Perugia to Pisa. Perugia to Florence. Perugia to Rome airport.

Train travel in Italy makes the most $$ sense doing point-to-point tickets instead of a rail pass. The great deals are for second class trains (which are just fine).

Go to RoninRome.com for lots of easy to understand info on riding the trains in Italy.

Consider the better Italo treins (www.italotreno.it)between Venezia and Roma. They are newer, they are managed by a more competent private company with more costumer attention. They are often cheaper as well.