Hello Dears, we are family of 4 from malaysia attending daughter graduation in UK, so on 7/7 we plan to fly from London to Rome or Naples & visit Pompei, Florence, Venice, Verona, Milan (shopping), from there to either Crotia & Bosnia or French Riveria & Barcelona. Once we are done we will fly back to London on 23/7. Once we land in Rome We plan to drive but again unsure whether this is good compared to other mode of transport, bus, flight, etc. Really appreciate all your expert advice as to how we should go about it. Thank you so very much. Cheers & be safe.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11180 posts
If you intend to tour Pompeii, it would be best to fly into Naples and work your way north.
To say your trip is overly ambitious, would give the term 'an understatement' a whole new degree of meaning.
If all you want to do is pass through and say, "I was there", then trains or car from Naples to Milan/Venice will work. Trains would be the more efficient means and avoid a host of issues regarding ZTLs. This forum is FILLED with warnings and sad stories about them.
It would be a BUSY 17 days if you confined yourself to Italy, but adding another destination, ( Croatia or France) makes it something between a death march or plot for a comedic movie.
Suggest you get a map and tour book and decide what you want to see and plot as direct a one way trip as possible to see what 17 days really does for you.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Really too much, here's what it would look like. Remember, 2 nights=1 day
3 nights=2 days
Fly London>Naples 2 N.
Fly Naples>Venice. 3N.
Train. Venice>Verona. 2N.
Train. Verona>Florence 3N.
Train. Florence>Milan. 3N
Fly. Milan>Barcelona. 4N.
These are the fastest connections.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Hello Dear Joe & Gerry for your reply. Appreciate it & based on your advices I now plan just do Italy? Will fly to Naples go Pompei & work our way north. My questions are:
1. Mode of transport...if i were to lease a car wagon would that be best in terms of convenient & cost? Parking, etc. when we go to venice then we need to park the car some where & would that be expensive & safe? As I understand lease is cheaper than renting a car. Not sure what all the traffic & road requirements entails.
2. is there a trip drive planner that i can use from internet?
3. Accomodation which is better hotels or vacation rentals?
Thank you so very much for all your expert advice. Cheers
Posted by
Shawnee, OK, USA
396 posts
Last year, after two week in Italy, we took an overnight ferry from Acona to Croatia for a few days on one of the islands off the coast of Croatia. You mentioned "other modes of transportation" and that is a good way if you want to see Italy and then Croatia.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
106 posts
I have traveled to Italy many times and I am finally convinced that renting a car is a huge pain in the neck. Parking is often expensive and is always an issue, so you will have to check with your hotel to find out if they have somewhere you can park. In the bigger cities, cars are not allowed in the city center and one wrong turn will put you in danger of a traffic fine for entering the limited traffic zone (ZTL), especially Florence and Milan. It is expensive to park a car in Venice, so the last time I visited, I returned my car to Eurocar several days early. By the way, hold on to your rental agreement. Six months after I returned from my trip, I received notice of a speeding violation in Venice. The violation happened fifteen minutes AFTER I had returned the car to the rental company! Luckily, I kept my rental return paperwork!
On the positive side, if you do rent a car, you may save on train/bus fare, you will have the ability to go off the beaten track, and you can be more flexible when you don't need to plan around when the next train leaves.
Before you decide, check out the website Rome2Rio. They usually have great information about all the ways you can go from Point A to Point B and they also include prices of car rental versus flights, versus trains and buses, etc.
Posted by
Washington DC
27122 posts
I have found Rome2Rio not very accurate with respect to public transportation fares sad would not use it to decide whether a rental car woukd be cheaper. For that matter, I have no reason to think its estimates of car-rental rates are very good. It can usually be relied upon to tell you whether there's rail service and/or bus service covering your route, which is a good start. But drill down for the websites of the bus and train operators and go there for precise information.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11180 posts
Are you used to driving on the right side?
If not, Italy is NOT the place to start
Italy is well served by trains which may be a better choice
Depending on how long you plan to stay in any one place, may determine which type of accommodation would be best. Some apartment type places may have minimum stay rules.
Glad you decided to limit your time to Italy. I think you will have a more enjoyable trip, than the marathon you first contemplated
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
If you are not stopping in Rome, did not see it on your itinerary, then fly to Venice.
Driving and the train will both take 7+ hours.
From Sorrento take the Curreri
Viaggi bus to the airport 1 hour. Arrive 1 1/2 hrs prior to flight. Easyjet
Has a flight that day for 44 euro. Flight is 1 hour 15 minutes. On arrival Venice take the Alilaguna boat into Venice.
45-60 min.
I love driving in Italy, but for a first trip I don't recommend it.
The car may seem cheaper initially, but by the time you add in fuel, tolls and parking it will pretty much equal out.
Especially since you can purchase discounted train tickets 90 days in advance. Use trenitalia.com for rail purchases. Only the fast trains need to be purchased early, regional tickets can be purchased at the station the day of travel. If you do include Rome, south to north makes sense.
Lodging for a family. Use apartments. More space, ability to at least cook breakfast and less expensive. Look at booking.com, use the filters to set # of adults, price and apartments. Plus a good cancelation policy on most lodgings, and pay when you arrive.
As for a car, you are not going to be in Italy long enough for a lease. You need to use a consolidator, I use Auto Europe. Each driver needs an international driving permit.
ZTL's are very costly. Read up on them.
IF you are brave enough to drive, then use Via Michlin as a trip planner. Print out all maps of the route you take.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Use this for rail tickets.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ee13721bdd69a110VgnVCM1000003f16f90aRCRD
Current prices for your route if you don't fly to Venice.
Napoli Centrale-Firenze SMN
2hr51m. Super economy Euro 35,90
Firenze SMN-Venezia S Lucia
2hr05m. Euro 29.90
Both are fast trains.
Venezia S Lucia-Verona Porto Nuovo. 1hr10m. Euro 8,85
Regional train.
Verona Porto Nuovo-Milano Centrale. 1hr13 min. E 16,90
Fast train.
Total per/person. E 91,55
ZTL's info https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/dont-mess-with-ztl-zones
Trip planner. https://www.viamichelin.com
Gives you distance, fuel costs,
And tolls. Also notes speed cameras.
Flight. https://www.easyjet.com/en/
Look carefully at their baggage allowance.
Hope this helps.