Travelling through Italy car or train?

You won't need and can't really use a car for any of these trips. If you purchase train tickets 120 days in advance you can take advantage of the huge savings. You also won't need to worry about getting and IDP, ZTL fines, gas, parking or speeding fines. All these things add up and can add hundreds to the cost of rental.

Donna

With your itinerary a car doesn't make sense; there are good rail connections between all the places you want to see, and since you will probably be changing trains in Pisa to get to the CT, you might want to give it a day for the guys to do selfies with the Tower.

5 Terre to Venice and back to Milan criss crosses the country, that seems like a lot if wasted time on trains.

Consider departing Italy from Venice not Milan, then you don't backtrack.

You could drive from 5 Terre to Venice and see some things along the way is you have time. However, you won't need a car anywhere else.

You'd do best to take fast trains when possible--with prior reservations at Trenitalia.com..
Rome-Florence-Venice-La Spezia (for C/T)-Milan would be your best order to visit the cities. From La Spezia into the Cinque Terre is on a local train a short distance and they don't take reservations.
You should allow 4 day minimum in Rome, 3 days in Florence, 3 days in Venice and transit time to Milan. You really don't have enough time to hit the Cinque Terre to make your visit worthwhile. Every time you move, you lose 1/2 day, and your first and last day in Europe are essentially wasted days.

A ditto to the above from me: for the places you're going, you do not need and definitely do not want a car. It would be a headache in the cities - and the CT as well - and there are all sorts of potentially expensive pitfalls to have to work around. Virtually all of Venice is pedestrianized as are most of the CT towns, and all of the cities have areas (ZTLs) where only residents are allowed to drive. Parking can be a challenge as well.

Your time is short for covering the amount of ground on your itinerary and you really don't have any time for "stopping in small places." Rail is going to get you from point-to-point the quickest and most efficiently, and dump you out smack in the middle of the cities, where you're going to want to be.

I would strongly consider scrapping the CT? With just 12 days, 5 locations is too many and won't allow you to give the "Holy Trinity" - Rome, Florence and Venice - the time they deserve.

It would be very rare that a car would be more economical in the end.
If you are going to cities (which you are) the train is better in 99.9999999% of cases for many reasons.

If you desire or need to get to the countryside or have some odd requirements of reaching certain areas at times when public transit would not be operating, or similar special circumstance a car is better but will never be more economical.
More economical than hiring private drivers, yes.

Hi there! I have traveled both by train and car throughout Italy. Both are wonderful and easy. Driving can be a fun experience so don't be dissuaded if it does interest you. To find out which is more economical for you--train vs. car--I'd look at this web site:
https://www.viamichelin.com/
It will plot out petrol cost, toll costs, give you the quickest route vs the most expensive route (sometimes there's only one route.) You will also want to research parking garages in the areas you will be driving. Some are free (like in Pisa) and some cost but have daily rates that can be more economical (check out this site for Florence: http://www.firenzeparcheggi.it). We also made sure that our apartment in the Cinque Terre included parking. Parking in Cinque Terre can be expensive.

And here are some good web sites that outline the 'rules of the road' in Italy.
http://www.italia.it/en/useful-info/rules-to-drive-in-italy.html
https://www.walksofitaly.com/blog/travel-tips/drive-in-italy
http://www.lifeinitaly.com/travel/driving.asp

We will be in Italy again this summer and will be driving for part of our trip (picking up car in Venice after visiting the city then dropping car off when we arrive in Sorrento.) and training part. For us, it was more economical (we are a family of four with two teens.)
Both train and driving have their costs and benefits. Our preference is driving but you might find yours is the train. Have a wonderful trip whatever you decide!

A friend and I did a trip from Rome to some small towns in northern Italy to Venice to Florence and back to Rome and we had six kids ages 9 - 22 with us and we went everywhere by train with no problems. Like was mentioned above, maybe rearrange the order of your stops to avoid backtracking. Since you enter via Rome and exit via Milan, maybe Rome-Venice-Florence-Cinque Terre - Milan is a better route. A car does give you more flexibility for stopping/exploring landmarks, villages and countryside on route but your itenerary is already jam-packed and a car is not needed in the cities that you have chosen.

As others have mentioned, a car would be more of a hindrance than a help given your itinerary.

Exactly when "this summer"? We are pretty far into the summer months already. When and where do you have reservations? CT books up months in advance, especially during the high season.

Thanks so much for all responses. And yes, I am aware that it is busy. We are travelling in July. We originally did not have Cinque Terre but My boys and I thought it would be great even if we have to sacrifice Rome and Venice a little !!! Since I already had booked the big cities we decided to proceed this way and unfortunately we have to have Milan last because we are taking the only direct flight to Santiago de Compostela, Spain that we could find. We are vacationing w family there after. So i think trains would be the most practical way to go. What happens if you buy a train ticket and you miss it or decide to change it later???

We originally did not have Cinque Terre but My boys and I thought it would be great even if we have to sacrifice Rome and Venice a little !!!

I suggest you Google "Cique Terre crowded" before continuing your plans to visit. I'd be surprised if you can find anything in CT on this short notice. CT just doesn't have the infrastructure to handle the crush of visitors it is getting. Sure, it looks idyllic in the videos, but by almost all accounts the reality is far different, especially if you happen to be there on a day a cruise ship or two docks and disgorges thousands of cruisers heading the same way.

Thank you! We already have a place that is a little secluded and not so in town but close enough in Riomaggiore. I hope it works out for us! Not sure if I can make any changes to our existing reservations at this point. Thanks so much for your advice and will keep it in mind.

Thank you! We already have a place that is a little secluded and not so in town but close enough in Riomaggiore. I hope it works out for us! Not sure if I can make any changes to our existing reservations at this point. Thanks so much for your advice and will keep it in mind.

If you buy a super economy or economy ticket and miss the train those tickets are worthless. A base price ticket can be changed up to one hour after the trip.

Donna

...What happens if you buy a train ticket and you miss it or decide to change it later???....

Touch more complicated than mentioned -- three level of tickets for all trains exception Regionale trains ---- Super Economy, Econ, and Base. As mentioned a Base fare ticket can be exchanged until one hour after departure. An Economy can be exchange one time paying the difference in fare. The SE - NEVER ! There tickets all include a reserved seat. And are only good for that specific train on that specific day and time. The SE and Econ are limited in number per train and tend to sell out quick. It would be rare to find an Economy ticket a day or two before departure but sometimes you can get lucky.

The Regionale trains are open tickets, no reserve seats. If full, you stand till a seat is available. The ticket is good for any R train going in the correct direction on any day going at any time. There is no missing the train. Prior to boarding, you validate the ticket in a time stamp machine near the head of the tracks or back of the station - watch for locals doing it - then the ticket is "valid" for five hours on any R train.

We already have a place that is a little secluded and not so in town
but close enough in Riomaggiore. I hope it works out for us! Not sure
if I can make any changes to our existing reservations at this point.

AnCas, it sounds as if you've already made reservations for all of your accommodations? If so, that was important piece of information that would have been nice to have included in your first post. Could you provide your itinerary so we can get a look at it? It would be interesting to see how much time you've allocated to each place. Honestly? I'm a little concerned about how much you're trying to do in 12 days.

The (Regionale) ticket is good for any R train going in the correct
direction on any day going at any time...

One comment? They now require that you specify a date and time for these tickets. You can't buy a regionale ticket for a specific journey and use it anytime within 2 months or so, as was previously allowed.

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=5b51aae8de63c410VgnVCM1000008916f90aRCRD&vgnextchannel=b5113041aeb2c410VgnVCM1000008916f90aRCRD

You may still get on another regionale train making the SAME JOURNEY as long as it's within 4 hours of the original departure time specified.

We will be in Rome for three nights, three nights in Florence, two nights in CT, two nights in Venice and one night in Milan. We figure between check out and check in of our rentals we would be taking the train (what else can you do when you have all your luggage). I did not include this info initially because my question was regarding transportation. I do appreciate all the advice. And yes, I know it's busy but have done this all over Spain and driving. Hopefully it goes well.