Transportation in Italy and Spain

That's twelve hours of road time, maybe more if the riviera stretch is clobbered. You could easily spend a week doing it without going twenty miles off of the direct path. The problem is, that to vary your way back significantly, it's going to take twenty hours or so of road time. Personally, I'd drive back and forth and just make Florence a lunch stop, but that idea probably doesn't suit your needs. Somebody else will have to speak about trains, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the best way will be cheapo air of some kind - - again, not my area.

Taking a rental could result in a big drop charge if you take it one way. I would suggest taking the train Barcelona-Florence and flying (check http://www.meridiana.it/en/ ) Florence-Barcelona.

If you haven't yet booked your flights, why not buy an open-jaw ticket and fly home from Rome or Milan - instead of going all the way back to Barcelona?

Thanks for all the quick replies. The reason we have the time limits on both ends is because we are doing a cruise that ends in Barcelona and airfare was included. We rented a villa oustide of Florence from the 14th till the 21st. so we will need to get back to Barcelona by the 22nd to fly home from there on the 23rd. The cruise company could change the date but not the country. We thought a train would be good but it has to make too many stops. I think our only options may be to rent a car or fly. I was hoping for a possible third solution.

Have you looked at a map? A flight is the only thing that is reasonable. The distance via land is twice or more than flying.

Robin, For that particular trip, travel by budget airline would be the best options. I normally prefer trains, however the travel time from Barcelona to Florence is a minimum of 17-hours (that trip is via overnight train). Travel by car is going to be even slower and definitely more tiring. For budget flights, have a look at Meridiana fly as they offer Barcelona-Florence flights. They appear to have one flight per day, departing at 15:15, arriving at 16:50 (not a long flight). Of course, you'll need to verify this prior to your trip as schedules are subject to change. I didn't check Girona or other airports, but it's possible that RyanAir may also offer flights to Italy. If you decide to book with a Euro budget airline, be sure to read the "Terms & Conditions" carefully, so that you have a clear idea what to expect. Happy travels!

Also check the cheap flights that land at Pisa airport. From there you can easily do the Cinque Terre before Florence, or spend a couple of nights in Lucca. Be sure to spend a couple of days extra in Barcelona -- at the end would make more sense, IMO.

Thank you all so much for your advice. Ok then, if we decide to fly to Florence we will still need a car for a week when we get there. Does anyone have a recommendation on a reasonable car rental company in Florence? Also, tell me more about Barcelona. We would be able to stay a few days more if we fly.
Thanks.

Car rental pickup location is the most important thing when renting a car in Florence. For your itinerary, best to a company that has pickup/return at the Florence airport (I'm assuming that's where you're flying into, that's what you've indicated so far). AutoEurope is a consolidator that has an airport location and is popular here (they'll put you with one of the majors), there's a link at Favorite Links, above. But you'll probably want to compare it with the other major car renters. Most important thing is: do yourself a big favor and a company with an airport location. And Heads Up: car rentals in Italy are often more costly than here. During your time in the Florence area, you'll want to avoid driving the car into the Florence historic center. For a day trip from your villa into Florence, you may want to research day parking lots that are located well outside the historic center - for the reasons why, see this: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm/rurl/topic/28422/why-you-don39t-want-to-drive-in-florence.html

The easiest way to go into Florence is to park the car at a nearby train station and commute by train into the city.

Robin says they're flying into Florence, hence the advice to pick up the car at the airport.

Kent, respectfully, Robin has rented a villa OUTSIDE of Florence, hence the advice is for when they do go into the center of the city during their week there. And I do second the suggestion to pick up the rental car at whatever airport they fly into (Florence, Pisa, etc.)

Ahhh, you meant when they do a day trip from the villa into Florence. Now I understand your advice.

Thank you Kent and Diane. Your advice is most helpful. I have been stumped on where to get good advice and now I have found my source. Thanks again and to Rick for having this website available.
Any more info you can pass on would be welcomed.