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May 2020 family trip

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I am planning a trip to Italy for next May (last two weeks) for my family which includes my husband and I and four young adult children. We went to Greece together last year and had a fabulous time so I am tempting fate by planning another trip.

My husband and I have been to Rome, Florence, and Sienna. We do not want to return to them this trip.

My priority is to go to a variety of kinds of places and not have excessive crowds. I realize Venice is crowded so have tried to avoid some of the other most crowded places in Italy. Let me know what you think of this plan (everything but Venice is negotiable).

We have 14 nights in Italy.
Fly into Rome. Spend 2 nights in Orvieto.
Take train to Chiusi and rent car. Drive to either Assisi or Spello and stay 3 nights.
Return car to Chiusi and take train to Venice and stay 4 nights
Train to Verona and stay 2 nights
Train to Varenna, Lake Como and stay 3 nights.

Questions:
1. I chose Orvieto because we could get there easily by train and do not want to drive after overseas flight. Does it make sense to rent a car in Chiusi? It looks like there are more options than Orvieto. I had also thought of staying 5 nights in either Assisi or Spello (to avoid moving) but am not sure where we could rent a car. Any ideas?
2. And would you favor Assisi or Spello? I have found short term rentals that would work for us in both. Spello is much cheaper but I wonder Assisi would provide more options for a group. We like to hike so I am unsure if one or the other would be a better base for that.

We do want to see some of the sites related to St. Francis but are not focused solely on that.
3. We would rent two small cars which is what we did in Greece. I thought it would probably make the most sense to return the cars and take the train the rest of the time. Thoughts?
4. The itinerary as I have planned us will have us arriving in Venice on Friday and leaving on Tuesday. We plan to stay in the city proper, although I have yet to figure out which section (recommendations?) My question is whether it will be significantly more crowded over a weekend than during the week. It is easiest for our children particularly to travel on Saturday and arrive on Sunday which puts us in Venice on a Friday after five days in Umbria (because fewer days off work for same number of days in Europe).

Thanks in advance for any insights you have.

Posted by
907 posts

It seems broken to me. Rent a car, get a villa centrally located in northern Umbria (Orvieto, Montefalco, Spoleto, Assis, Cortona, Spelo, wherever) and use it as a base and get there the day of arrival. Then drive to Venice and drop the cars, you could do Verona on the way but your plan to train to Verona works. We picked up a car in Verona and drove over to Como, which is doable. but trains work as well. I just like the freedom of driving because you do it on your own schedule, not the train schedule. You don't say where you are departing from but it looks like Milan given your schedule.

Posted by
15798 posts

First, I think you are absolutely correct to wait until you've had a good night's sleep (or 2) before driving a car. I also think you are right to want a car for Perugia, but not for the north where your stops are easily accessible by train.

I don't know Perugia well enough to advise on that. I do think a car is the way to go. There are no direct trains from Chiusi (or likely anywhere else in Perugia) to Venice Santa Lucia, you'll have to change trains in Florence or Venice Mestre. The train ride is about 4 hours. Have you considered driving to Venice (maybe 4.5-5 hours) and dropping the car there? Even if it costs more for the rental, it will save time (no doubling back to Chiusi) and be easier. The current super economy price of a ticket from Chiusi to Venice is €51.90 for the morning train.

I don't think it matters much whether you're in Venice on the weekend or not. It's easy to avoid the crowds which are mainly around the Rialto Bridge and San Marco - just go there in the early mornings and/or late afternoons and evenings. I have always stayed in the Dorsoduro which has a more residential feel. It and Cannaregio are both good choices, less expensive, less touristy and good restaurants. You can walk from one end of the city to the other in an hour, so don't worry about not being central in either district.

Posted by
2864 posts

My husband drove from Madrid to Granada a few years ago after flying from U.S. and so he might be comfortable driving from the airport . So that would be a possibility if we rented a van. But I am not comfortable driving on arrival day. Honestly, he is a better driver than I and doesn't get frazzled. We both drove in Greece so I am sure I will be fine but only after a full night sleep.

From Chiusi to Venice Maestre is 39.17 Euros and 4 hours and 7 minutes direct at 12:10 pm which is what I was thinking. I had read on this board that easy to rent at Chiusi so that is what gave me the idea. .I was also thinking that Venice Maestre would only be a short train ride to St. Lucia but maybe I don't understand how the trains are structured.

I am not altogether opposed to driving to Venice but remain to be convinced that it would actually be easier.

Another alternative I have come up with is to take the train to Spello from Rome and then in a couple days go to Perugia by train and rent a car there. The train there to Venice is 4 hours and 32 minutes with one change (Cortona) and 43 euros. It too goes to Venice Maestre.

If we drove, where would we return a car? And how would we get to Venice itself?

Posted by
334 posts

I would rent 1 larger car for sure. Why the hassle ? Driving in Italy can be a challenge though we always rented a car on our trips there. Why not stay in Rome one night after arrival? I love Assisi and been there twice going back there the end of the year. Its a quaint place not so touristy for sure. I agree rent 1 place and make this your hub.

Posted by
2864 posts

Not sure staying a night in Rome would help. We would arrive in am to FCO which would mean either staying at airport and wasting a day or alternatively we could rent the next day in Rome. I am not keen on driving in Rome even with a full night sleep!

Posted by
15798 posts

I also saw the 12.10 train, but it would mean losing the whole day to travel, which is why I would choose the morning train. If you're not staying in Chiusi (I understood you to say you'd stay in Spello) the night before, then you have to drive there in the morning from wherever you're staying. As for changing trains, it's just a pain to have to schlep your luggage on and off another train, whether it's in Florence or Mestre.

Posted by
2864 posts

I think the most efficient option would be to rent car at FCO and drive to one location (either Assisi or Spello) for five nights and then drive to Venice.

I am just not sure I want to do that.

So then the question is what is a reasonable alternative, knowing it will take more time than the most efficient option.

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