Drive from Nice to Rome or take train?

A couple of thoughts. A car trip straight through will take about 7.0hr-8.0hrs according to www.viamichelin.co.uk. Of course, you can add some time for food and fuel stops. Viamichelin estimates about $180 for fuel and tolls. The train will will take 9.0hr-10hr and require 1-2 train changes along the way. Fares per person ranges between 46E and 105E per person. It depends on what class of train you are on. On the faster high-speed trains, you will have fewer stops. Also, they will zip through the Cinque Terre with no stops. The slower R and IC trains will stop at some of the CT towns. Or, zip through and go on to Rome. Part of the calculation will depend on how many travelers are in your group.

Larry may have missed an critical factor. Is the plan to get the car in Nice and drop it in Rome? If so, could be some really problems with that. Some rental companies do not like having their cars in Italy and may not let you do that. Second, if they do let you do that, the drop charge could be huge. You can plan the train trip to make some stops. It would have to be a series to tickets but our experience is that the price is pretty uniform.

Well, thats a point I hadn't thought of - different drop off and pick up locations being a problem. The plan would be to pick up the car in Nice and drop off in Rome. Easily done in the U.S. so didn't consider the difficulty between European Countries. I will check in to that.

Thanks,
RaNae

I think that part of the calculation is the time you really want to spend. I think the ideal most think of is of a liesurely drive, stopping in quaint villages, shopping in markets, having great lunches. The reality is that many hit the tollways and try to get there in a day or two, seeing little besides the back of the car in front of them. For your time frame, I would say that the train would be much better, even then, you could plan an overnight. With some effort, the Cinque Terra or some town in Umbria or Liguria might be an option. Pisa is on one of the main train routes and the tower can be seen in a few hours. Driving would be great if you could devote 3-4 days and you are a group of 4, but you would want to avoid driving in any city, parking out of town (to avoid ZTLs, Google it) and taking public transport to see any sights.

Thanks for the post Paul. I think you have hit the mark with your observation. I'm in the category of romanticizing a leisurly drive down as you described. Good, though disappointing, to hear that reality will not work out that way. I think a train with stopover for 1 night in Florence will work. I know that's not enough time there but it is an extra I'm throwing in because 24 hours is better than nothing (or is it?).

It looks like I can get train fare on RailEurope for the entire trip for the 4 of us (two adults, two kids) for about $1000. That includes train from Paris to Nice, Nice to Florence, and then Florence to Rome. I've got more research to do to figure out this train thing but is it best to get help booking trains with advice or just do it online?

Thanks for everyone's help!
RaNae

RailEurope is charging about double what it cost you on site.

Have you considered flying? I am not sure if any airline flies that route direct, you may have to change in Paris, but it would probably be faster and about the same cost as the train. Check the "favorite links" tab on this site for some good search options.

RaNae - I am paying a $200.00 or so penalty for picking up in Nice, France and dropping off in Barcelona this summer (I am traveling with four, so the penalty plus train costs minus the flexibility of a car seem "worth" it to me). I drove in Italy last year and it was a breeze - however, Rome is a different story. Be wary of the electronic cameras - I was mailed about $200.00 in tickets about 3 mos after my trip for moving violations in my 2 hrs of Roman driving.

I haven't checked in to what the penalty is for a pick up in Nice and a drop off in Rome yet. We also have 4 people but it sounds like the cost of train tickets will be much less if we get them at the train station than through an online service. Personally, that makes me nervous but my husband is perfectly comfortable with that so we will plan to do that. He's a little intimidated over the drive through the Amalfi coast so we will likely go the train route.

Lise, we decided the train will be better than flying so that we can stop in tuscany or the Cinque Terra for a night on the way down. We would rather meander our way down to Rome I think rather than go straight from Paris to Rome.

Thanks,
RaNae

After some poor planning (I was hoping train or even plane) I had to drive from near Carcassone to Florence last summer. Luckily, the rental agent found a car that needed to get back to Italy - or it would have cost me several hundred euro more! The drive is not so bad - but the dropping in other countries can be a problem.

Trains have become a near extinct method of transportation in the US -- especially in the west. I think that taking the train is a great part of "the European experience" in addition to be a convenient and efficient method of transportation. A first trip to Europe should include a train.