Driving from Florence to Lucca then back to Florence?

Check with raileurope.com for your train routing. You do not need first class unless you wish to travel and be around mostly business travelers. The increase in fare to me is no longer worth it now that no smoking is allowed in second class. If u are overwhelmed by the train rte have rick steves office help u with your rte. for a fee they will provided advice.. But try first it really is not difficult with all the schedules and fares online. All the best, u will be visiting one of the most beautiful parts of the world.

Trains are really not complicated or something to be scared of. Start with Rick’s Train Travel Time & cost Map to get you an overview of faster train travel times in hours, as well as regular (full-price) 2nd-class fares in dollars. Based on the map, Florence-Venice-Rome-Naples-Rome adds up to about $275 per person. The price of an Italy rail pass plus seat reservations just break even with this estimate, so the pass does not offer any benefit. Booking trains before you leave home can score discounts versus these prices (all classes of service have advance discounts); see www.trenitalia.com starting 3 months ahead of your travel date. Fast-train tickets, which these will be, are sold for reserved dates, times, and seat assignments, like airline tickets. See also Buying European Train Tickets.

If you are staying in Sorrento, then you usually take the train to Naples before switching to local transport to Sorrento (boat, commuter train, taxi, etc.) If your destination is further along the Amalfi coast, you can also take a train to Salerno, then local boat or bus. Rick Steves' Italy book has several pages of detail about the local services. In general, I would plan to arrive by mid-day and make my way there, instead of trying to aim for a particular, scheduled departure.

ZTLs are not out by the airport; they are in the historic centers of town, where traffic most needs to be limited.

ZTL is nowhere near the airport or even near several other rental locations in Florence.

The via Ognissanti locations (most donwtown rental offices are located on via Ognissanti) are within the ZTL, however there are no cameras at the exit points (only at the entrance points). If a policeman stops you (never happens) just say you picked up the car at the office. To return the car, even if you decide to return it on via Ognissanti, there are ways to avoid the cameras on entry as well, in any case you are allowed to enter the ZTL to return a rental car even if you get photographed. You just have to tell the rental office when you return so that they can enter the car license plate in the White List of the City of Florence ZTL website.

TRAINS:
taking trains is easier than traveling by plane. No security, no boarding passes, no taking off shoes.
You can buy tickets online ahead of time (up to 120 days prior) and get a discount by purchasing a SuperEconomy or Economy ticket. That discount comes with strings attached. They are restricted tickets as they are not refundable or changeable for different time if you change your mind. If you don't care for the discount, but prefer the flexibility of being able to change plans at will, just buy tickets at the station. You can do so the day of travel, or maybe better (to save time), the day before. When you buy the ticket you need to specify the destination, the specific time of departure (there are trains every half hour on average to those destinations), and the class (Standard, premium, etc.). I always go for the lowest class (called "standard" or "2nd" depending on the type of train) as the lowest class is still much more comfortable than economy class on an airplane.
To purchase discounted tickets ahead of time (or even just to check the prices and the timetable) you can use:
www.trenitalia.com
Check for dates in the next week if you want just to check the schedule.

Enter the origin and destination name in Italian:
Florence=FIRENZE SANTA MARIA NOVELLA
Venice=VENEZIA SANTA LUCIA
Rome= ROMA TERMINI
Naples=NAPOLI CENTRALE

From Naples to Sorrento, there is a private railway commuter train line called Circumvesuviana.
For that one you need to check another website
http://www.eavsrl.it/web/en/content/download-train-timetable
No need to buy tickets in advance for the Circumvesuviana.

Based on the itinerary you describe, it is best to go straight from Venice to Naples (and Sorrento) first, then you come back up to Rome for your last few days. In other words it's best to leave Rome for last, if you fly out of there, that way you save one hotel change, since you need to spend the last night in Rome anyhow.

Look at Rome2rio.com to compare driving with other transportation modes. Trenitalia is the site with complete train schedules plus the capability to purchase online.

Trains are easy, just check the electronic board for track number (sometimes posted only 15 minutes before departure, don't panic), if you have seat reservation (you will on all fast trains), the carriage number is listed on the door and seat numbers are posted above the seats. The seat61.com will have lots of info on train travel.

dear sdepasci,

I have been to Lucca several times and parking there is very difficult. Are you flying into Florence and spending time there first, or going directly to Lucca? Either way, you should not rent a car until you get to Lucca via regional train. The rental agency is outside the walls of Lucca and now there are several ZTL's inside of Lucca, I would never take a car inside and you can't park inside the walls either (very limited parking, only permitted parking). Even when you are in Lucca, you can get everywhere by train or bus and I wouldn't rent a car until I was ready to depart there or a day or two ahead of this. I know the trains can be intimadating, as I grew up in the suburbs and we did not have public transportation. Buy your trenitala tickets for the fast trains ahead of time and you can save a good amount of money. Good luck!

I fully understand being intimidated by public transportation – I live in an area where trains, buses, and subways vary between useless and nonexistent. That said, trains in Italy are easy, and far superior to a car as long as you're staying in areas that are well served by trains. My only suggestion would be to pack light if you're using trains, unless you're young and strong. You need to be able to get your luggage on and off of trains relatively efficiently.

Regional trains are not posted until shortly before your departure day, and you can buy those tickets at the station in Italy. The high-speed trains require a seat reservation and are much cheaper if you buy them ahead of time… about three months before your travel date. However, those discounted seats are nonrefundable and nonexchangeable

An earlier comment suggested using the Rail Europe website. That website only shows a subset of the trains, and it's the second party vendor that adds extra cost. Use the Trenitalia website.

Here's Rick's excellent video about train travel basics: http://tinyurl.com/ac82c92

Trenitalia allows advance ticket purchase 120 days ahead, not three months as previously posted, for maximum savings.