italy Trip

That itinerary is great, as is the time of year. I'm not so sure about it being cheaper to arrive/depart from the same city. Even if that were true, you should factor in the cost in hours and train fare to get back to the arrival city. For example, it takes about four hours and at least 75 euros (2nd class) for each of you on the train to get from Venice to Rome Termini. Then you have to get to the airport. Another hour and a half. Plus your departure flight probably leaves early in the morning so you have to do this the day before and find lodging for just one night. Not worth it in my book. Instead, spend another day in beautiful Venice.

jerry,
Rome and Venice much easier by train. Tuscany easier with car. Some ideas for Tuscany http://www.montalcino-tuscany.it/sagra_del_tordo.htm http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/tuscany/hs_planning.htm

If you can, its really advisable to fly into Rome and fly out of Venice for your itinerary. As Michael explains above, the fast train fare from Venice to the Rome-FCO airport is 85E (72E Venice->Rome plus 13E for the Leonardo Express to the airport). That's $120 per person. That would also translate into $120 more that you can spend on an "open jaw" type of plane ticket. I can see round trip fares on www.kayak.com of $1,070 per person SFO->Rome-FCO going to Italy and Venice-VCE->SFO coming home. The airline both ways is American Airlines. It's not a bad fare. Just watch out for the very early flights out of either FCO or VCE. These early flights can create heartburn. However, 7:15am out of Venice is not bad. Stay in Venice for that extra day and avoid the 6 hours on the train and 3hrs at FCO security. VCE is 30 minutes from Venice and the security lines are shorter.

Thanks for all to good advice. Looks like it would be best to take train from Rome to Tuscany area. What city? Can you rent a car in the Tuscany area. Then either drive or train to Venice.

IMHO, I would fly into Venice and out of Rome. As the previous poster mentioned, the flights out of Venice tend to leave early in the morning, That being said, it may be that, even from Rome, SFO flights may be quite early in the morning. Finally, if your dates are flexible, you might get a better air fare if you leave on or after November 1st.

I took at quick look at Kayak.com, my goto site for airfares. SFO to Rome, then Venice to SFO return, $1027 SFO to Rome roundtrip, $1009 This is on a wednesday late Oct staying for 2 weeks. Looks like flying out of venice is the way to go. Two stops to get back to SFO though. Only one stop getting to Rome.

We've stayed at a farm house in Tuscany two years ago, and are returning in June. I posted a link on here with the remarkably creative title... Farm House in Tuscany. My sense is you would be best to train to Tuscany, Arezzo possibly, and get a car to see Tuscany, drop it off in Arezzo then continue on. I agree, you don't want a car in Rome and probably not in Venice. If you get your car in either Rome or Venice I think the drop charges would make it more $$$

Jerry, with Tuscany and great place to visit with a rental car, a popular idea is to take the cheap Regionale train out of Rome to Orvietto. Rent your car there and drive to your destinations in Tuscany. Just don't drive in Florence. Big big fines. Lots to do in Tuscany. Then, yes you can drive to Venice and drop your car off there.