Traveling from Rome to Tuscany to LeMarche, then Venice, Lake Como, the Riviera towns and back to Rome. I think a rental car is the way to go from Rome through Tuscany and to Venice from LeMarche, but wondering if returning the car in Venice and using the train the rest of the trip would be just as fast and not cramp our style, since boats and trains go beween the Riviera towns. My qualm is about having to go from Venice to Milan and backtracking to Lake Como, then through Milan again to get to Riviera trains. Any thoughts?
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15824 posts
A car is not really needed to visit lake Como.
I'm not sure which Riviera towns you plan to visit, from where, and where you are going afterwards, but cars in Liguria are generally not essential to have, as the region is easily traveled by train.
Posted by
OP
NJ
2 posts
Thanks for your reply, Roberto. Yes, I have read that cars are not necessary/are of no use in Lake Como or Riviera towns. My question was whether to take a train from Venice to Lake Como and onto the Riviera towns or keep the rental car and drive those legs of the trip and onto Rome to finish up. The possible inconvenience of the train is having to go from Venice to Milan then back track to Lake Como and then go through Milan again on the way to the Riviera towns from Lake Como. Once in one Riviera town, there are of course, trains and boats to take to tour the area; and, there are trains from the Riviera towns to Rome to finish the trip. So, dump the car in Venice and take the train, or keep it for the rest of the trip?
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
6986 posts
Well you can’t change the route the trains go
I’d dump the car in Venice
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15824 posts
I'm a heavily car dependent person (never been in Italy without a car, whether my dad's or my rental), but for what you intend to do, I would dump it in Venice for sure. What are you going to keep the car for while in Venice, other than collect 30€/day parking expenses plus the unused rental fees? Same is true for Lake Como. Assuming you go to the mid lake area (Varenna, Bellagio or Menaggio) those towns can be easily reached by train with one change only in Milan. Once in town, you will be traveling by ferry and the car will stay parked in town the whole time. In Liguria, same story. There are towns where the cars will be totally unused. I don't know where you are going, but assuming you go to Monterosso, at the Cinque Terre, you can get there just as quickly by train from Milan, and if you drive there, once in town, your car will be collecting dust at the parking lot at 25€/day (plus the continuing rental charges) because those towns are closed to traffic. If you shorten your rental period, to cover only the portion you need (Tuscany, Marche, till you arrive in Venice) you will probably save a bundle in rental cost as well as the huge parking cost in Venice and Cinque Terre. I'm not considering the savings in gas and tolls, since those will be negated by the train costs, but in the end you will be ahead. The only drawback of traveling by train is the fact that you must haul your luggage with you aboard the train, and that is a hassle if you have huge suitcases. So you need to pack light, so that you can do with a carry on size bag (or at most a medium size case) plus a backpack only.