I am going to Verona for 2 days. Then I want to spent 3 nights in Cinq Terre and three nites in Tuscany before ending my trip in Venice for two nights. I am willing to rent a car for my Tuscany portion. Otherwise I would prefer not to drive unless I have to. That being said, does it make more sense to go to Tuscany before Cinq Terre or Cinq Terre before Tuscany. Secondly where should I pick up and drop off the car. I tried researching this myself but am having trouble figuring it out. If the train schedules are not timely, how intimidating is driving long distances such as from Cinq Terre to Tuscany or Tuscany to Venice or if I do Cinq Teerre after Tuscany then how easy is it to drive from cinq terre to Venice? Again taking into account dropping off the car. Hope someone can help me figure this out. By the way, I will be staying in Tuscany at an agriturismo either in San Gimignano or Montepulciano. Any preference?
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
This is a really rushed trip. Do you realize that to get from Verona to the CT take almost 6 hours by train? That's almost an entire day lost to travel. This means your 3 nights in the CT will only be two full days. Then you'll need to decide where to pick up a rental car and where to return it. You could pick up the rental in Siena for your few nights in Tuscany. With only three nights in Tuscany I'm not sure how much you'll need a car.
Donna
Posted by
Caldwell Idaho
92 posts
Not sure about Cinque Terre v Tuscany first, but I can tell you that train connections are excellent between all locations you mention except Tuscany. No need for a car except in Tuscany. We've picked up the car in Orvieto for stays in Tuscany (Orvieto is technically in Umbria) several times because it's an easy option. The Hertz location is less than a 5 minute walk from the train station, and the highway that cuts through Tuscany is about a 5 minute easy drive out of Orvieto. I personally prefer fabulous Montepulciano over San Gimi. It's about an hour drive from Orvieto if I'm recalling correctly.
Posted by
Boulder, Colorado, USA
437 posts
Your route crosses Italy twice but could be ordered CT, Tuscany, Verona and end in Venice to reduce backtracking. Fly into Florence (or Pisa) and out of Venice.
Check out google maps to understand the geography.
Enjoy the planning and the trip!
Posted by
Portland, Oregon, United States
907 posts
You must know French. Cinq in actually Cinque in Italian. Thus, Cinque Terre or 5 Terre. I agree criss-crossing Italy is not advisable. You don't tell us where you are landing but we assume Venice since you are headed to Verona. If so, then I have done that. We drove from Verona to 5 Terre (actually Portovenere [great town] and took the boat to see the towns). We picked up the rental car in Verona. Easy drive but a bit long. You could train from Verona to La Spezia and then train on to 5 Terre.
If you are not going into Venice then go into Milan and then your itinerary would make more sense, 5 Terre, Tuscany, Verona, Venice. I would drop one of the 5 Terre days and spend more time in Tuscany with a rental car. Montepuciano is a great place to stay, conveniently located. You can drive to Verona and drop the car there, then train to Venice.