Trip Planned, need advise on getting from bellagio to rome

Hello peachesfm,

If you want to rent a car you need an international drivers license which can be obtained at AAA offices in the states. The rental company will ask for one when you try and rent. From the locations you have listed a car is no necessary and is more likely to be an expensive burden.

If you book fast trains in Italy the come with reserved seats and no standing will be involved so I recommend looking into fast trains for legs like Milan to Rome and Rome to Naples. Even on regionale trains like those from Milan to Varenna you can generally get a seat. You can book "first class" tickets one some of those trains which usually a small section of one car that no one else will book to ensure a seat if you're really worried. The train on Lake Como goes to Como or Varenna and then you can ferry to Bellagio. The ferry from Como is much further (a couple of hours) so you're closer in Varenna but if you wanted to arrange a transfer I would look in the much larger and more industrial Como.

There is no Rome to Sorrento ferry but you could fast train to Naples and then ferry to Sorrento or private transfer from Naples to Sorrento is you're worried about having to stand on the train.

Check the prices and realities of renting a car and then compare those with hiring a driver to fill in the gaps that you can't reserve train tickets for and work out what is bets for you.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Hire a driver to take you from Bellagio to Milano Centrale
Take fast train to Roma Termini- all seats are reserved
From Roma Termini take a taxi to your hotel- go to the official taxi line

Take fast train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale
Hire a driver to pick you up at Napoli and take you to your hotel in Sorrento.
Another option is taxi to port- take ferry to Sorrento- then taxi to your Sorrento hotel- but that'll take longer - more changes as well.

Flying from Milan to Rome is not going to save you any time or money. You'll add extra time for security, bag check, etc. Both airports are well outside the city centers so will require another transfer/cost. The train drops you right in the city center.

Driving should be your LAST choice.

Trenitalia
https://www.trenitalia.com/content/tcom/en.html

Driver Bellagio to Milano Centrale- try this company:
https://connectotransfers.com

Driver Napoli Centrale to Sorrento
https://www.topexcursionsorrento.com/

I do not agree that flying is easier or faster. The fast trains from Milano Centrale to Roma Termini take 3 to 3.5 hours, and you arrive right in the city. If you fly, the security time plus flight time and de-boarding take 3-4 hours (if the flight is not delayed), and then you still have to get from the airport into the city. That is another hour, and extra expense. A taxi from Roma Termini station to their hotel would be cheaper and less stressful (speaking as one who has taken a flat-rate taxi from the airport into the city).

Thank you everyone, I already was planning on hiring a driver from milan (flying into) to bellagio. so will hire back to train station, and take fast train. I guess I am watching to many you tube videos on theft LOL. If its reserved seating I am good with that. I will pre buy all of them. question is it better to ferry from naples or car to sorrento. I can do either. My issue might be walking to far up steep hills from boat dock. I am trying to work on the old body before. trip is next april 2nd to the 16th. flying into milan 5 days in bellagio, 2 days rome 5 days in sorrento, flying out of naples, am spending night in naples before very early flight.
This is our first and only time coming to italy. We did have a relative with experience going and they backed out. so heading to europe in a slight confused state. LOL A prefer beautiful scenary, great food, animals, kind of thing. some shopping. We are not buying tickets to vatican or coliseum, cause not a big history fan but did hire a golf cart tour for most things. thank you all for the web links and suggestions. Mary

In your case a driver from Naple to Sorrento is the easier choice
We paid 100 euros in 2019, I suppose it’s a bit more now

You’d have to take a taxi from station to port and timing your ferry could be difficult
Once at port in Sorrento there is a bus but how close will that get you to your hotel ?
There is an elevator but requires a bit of steep walk to access it then you are still not AT your hotel
Or taxi which are famously overpriced in Sorrento

Driver is door to door

You make a good point about inexperienced travelers and their lack of familiarity with trains. Many North Americans have never ridden one, so the idea is a bit outside their comfort zone. But unfortunately much of the trepidation is based on sensationalist stories about theft on trains, almost all of which are nonsense. Pickpockets are a valid concern, but not just in train stations.

My husband and I, seniors probably older than the OP, have been traveling happily by train in Italy and elsewhere in Europe for 25 years, and find that much more pleasant than the flights there and back to the US. Linate airport was one of the ones that was difficult—-a delayed flight, long security lines, chaotic boarding with a bus to the plane parked out on the tarmac, with stairs to ascend that were difficult for some, and more. So I am reluctant to recommend flying for distances that can be easily covered by trains. We have never had such problems with the fast Trenitalia or Italo trains.