travel agent for transportation

First, do not worry about getting the "best" deals. If you went to an agent, they would purchase for you the easiest, more expensive options, probably right off Raileurope. Given what you said, forget about driving in Italy (OK, maybe renting a car for a day in Tuscany) just plan on using trains, that will simplify life greatly. Given all that, look on Trenitalia for schedules and routes, but there really is no need to buy tickets ahead of time. When you get to Italy buy your tickets 2-3 days ahead of travel at the station, maybe go to an agent in Italy and buy all your tickets as a package.

A good travel offers peace of mind and a point of contact when things go wrong.

But if all you're worried about is car and rail, you can easily do this on your own.

Autoeurope promises the best rates and their 24/7 toll-free number in Maine connects you to people with excellent information and reassurance.

Your best train rates are likely to come from just buying once you're there.

Hang out here for a few months and I think you'll be reassured.

Cindy, I agree with the two posts above. It is easy to buy the tickets while there. It is easy. You have some time until your trip so review some of the specific travel questions that come up on this board and you will do fine.
Jim

Cindy, avoid any car rental ideas. Italy has an adequate train and bus system. Travel agents make a living doing research that you could do yourself, if you are so inclined. Your call how you choose to spend your funds.

Don't feel overwhelmed. A little anxiety is good to make this vacation exciting.

Have a great trip!

And also remember that train schedules and fares are only posted 2-3 months ahead of time. So, you won't see the actual trains or fares for next April until after the first of the year.

I would also suggest you get a copy of Rick's "Italy" book where he talks about transport options.

There is no question that train travel in Italy and Europe puts first time travelers completely out of their comfort zone. You won't find any "best deals" on train travel in Italy. Yes, there are discounted tickets for buying in advance online but www.trenitalia.com does not accept American credit cards so they are not available to us here in the USA. The train fares that you see on Trenitalia are what you will pay over there. Nobody can sell them lower but many brokers, like Rail Europe and Italia Rail will sell them to you at higher prices.

Next, you can browse www.trenitalia.com now for schedules and fares but you won't see accurate schedules for next April until late December of this year.

Next, you don't need a travel agent to plan your train travel in Italy. This is something that you can easily do yourself. Here are some homework assignments in the meantime.

1. Go to www.trenitalia.com and select English at the top middle of the page. Fill in the trip information. For example, put in Venice and Florence. Put in a weekday date sometime over the next couple of months (do not try 2010), the date and time. Remember that the day and month are reversed in Europe (dd/mm/2009). Its not month, day and year as it is here.

2. Look at the schedule that comes up. Note that there are a lot of trains making this run. Next, begin learning the different classes of trains. You won't see it on this page but you will see ES, ESAV, ICPlus, R, IC, EN and other designations. I would suggest learning about the trains. You can see this on the website under "TRAINS" oddly enough.

3. There are different fares for the different train classes. The most expensive fares are on the Eurostar-class trains. The least expensive are on the Regionale trains (about 50%) less.

4. The high-speed trains run on the high-volume runs. They don't run on many, many rural train tracks.

Then, let us know where your are going? I can link schedules.

Larry,
Thanks for the assignment! I will start doing this. It really gives me a good "tutorial" to begin. I posted the question about economical ways to travel (http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/33171/best--most-economical-mode-of-transportation-for-family.html) and felt kind of freaked out by the responses since my first search for train travel seemed so expensive and off-base. As you can see, you gave me some good information there, as well.

Our trip in the spring (tentatively) is to fly into Venice, train to Rome and stay 4 days, rent a car (maybe in Orvieto), stay in Cortona a week to visit hilltowns, then to CT for a few days, then Sicily for a week. I know the order of our trip may not make the best sense, but we're coming the middle of April and our hope is to see Venice and Rome when it is cooler weather and not as crowded, so that's why we're going there first.

I guess the fact is that the two places I need to figure out transportation is taking a train from Venice to Rome, and then later figuring out how to get to Sicily. I'm guessing it will be the most economical to get back to Rome and fly out of there back to the US rather than out of Sicily.

Thanks again for your help! I'm truly learning a lot!!!

Cindy, "fly into Venice, train to Rome". A couple of thoughts. Your sentence didn't say if you were staying in Venice first before proceeding to Rome. If you are planning on staying in Venice for a couple of days, it is very inexpensive to take either the ACTV or ATVO bus service from Venice-Marco Polo to the Piazzale Roma. The Piazzale Roma is a major vaporetto stop. From there, you can take the fairly inexpensive water bus around the canals. If you are there for a couple of days, you might look into the tourist card for the vaporettos. This provides unlimited rides for a specific number of hours (12, 24, 36, 48, 72). If I am on the right track here, message back and I'll provide more info.

Next, is there some reason that you need to take the train to Rome and then backtrack to Cortorna and other hilltowns? Also, you don't mention Florence. I would suggest considereing renting your car in Venice and exploring the hilltowns on the way south towards Rome. With the car, you have Tuscany to your west and then "Under the Tuscan Sun" Cortona to your east as you are going south. Don't miss Assisi in Umbria. If you have several days, you can really see a lot. We've already explored the 247E ($340) for 4 on the Eurostar from Venice to Rome so you would avoid that cost with the rental car. You could turn in your car in Orvieto and then proceed onto Rome. Just thinking out loud.

Hmmmm... that certainly makes more sense... I'm guessing going to Rome a week later rather than a week earlier really isn't going to matter in terms of crowds or weather. We will be in Italy 3-4 weeks (probably mid-April to mid-May), so still have some room to include other sites. We plan to only stay in Venice a couple days, but have also thought about hopping a train for a scenic ride through the mountains since we are that far north. (Any tips?)

We are renting a place in Cortona for a week, so figure Florence is within our reach for a day trip. At some point we'd find time to drive to Assisi and Spoleto either before or after our week in Cortona. I'd like to end our trip in Sicily so that we get some good beach weather. From the little I know, it looks like we could take a ferry to Sicily from several points in Italy (or a flight?).

So, would it make more sense to start in Venice, explore the hilltowns and Cortona with a rental/leased car, then to the CT or to Rome?

Cindy, I forgot that you did mention the CT. A rental car is useless in the CT. Tourist cars are not permitted. Thus, I would adjust my suggestion. I would suggest Venice to the CT on the train and then rent the car in La Spezia and head for Tuscany (except for Florence. Don't drive there.). Or, you can easily take the train from La Spezia to Siena and then pick up the rental car there.

Okay, so I'd be looking for a train from Venice to La Spezia for our CT visit. That makes the most sense. Any thoughts on a train ride that would be worthwhile after visiting Venice? (I should probably post that question separately or check out old posts...) Ferry company suggestions to Sicily? Thanks, Larry!

Cindy there is at least one ferry that goes from Civitavecchia west of Rome or Naples to Palermo. CLICK HERE for more scoop.