Train or bus

joe,

I doubt that's an option, but you can certainly ask the tour department. You'd miss a lot of activities as the group often stops at intermediate points for tours of various sights. During the bus rides, the guide also provides a lot of historical information and other details that are often important. Finally, some of the places they stop in Italy may not be well served by trains.

Why would you want to take the train rather than stay with the group on the Bus?

If you are on a Rick Steves tour, you are in his tour bus. You are not on the train. If you have an issue with being on a bus, you shouldn't take his tours.

There are two major reasons for the bus. One is that it can go exactly where the tour is going, often from town to town that may not have direct train (or even direct bus) connections. And the second is that the tour director uses the bus time to tell you about what you are seeing next; this would be hard to do on a train.

I have seen tours of Italy from another company (don't remember which one) that go from Rome to Florence to Venice on the train. But if this is what you want to do, you can do it yourself just as easily, then pick up tours in each city if you don't want to sightsee on your own.

Cases where Rick Steves Tour groups take trains over any significant distance are the exception, rather than the rule: Barcelona-Madrid on Spain tours, London-Paris on a Family Europe tour, Helsinki-St. Petersburg on a Baltics tour. On several tours that visit the Cinque Terre in Italy, you'll take a short (4-minute) train ride together (and with your luggage) when arriving and departing the bus parking location at Levanto.

If you are traveling independently following Rick's suggested itinerary, then most travel days are recommended by train and you'd only switch to a public bus if it's really more direct or where there is not train service. Each chapter of the Italy guidebook will summarize connection options from that town to the next several destinations. How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it.