Just a few days in Italy

If you fly into Milan, drive eight hours to Rome for one day, drive eight hours to Venice for one day and THEN drive to Switzerland- let's put it this way - if you are going nuts now in the planning stage, this trip will really put you over the edge!

Enjoy Switzerland on this trip and do the Rome / Florence / Venice trip another time. Have a great trip!

If you want to have a trip story that starts with how you spent most of your 1st 2 days in Europe sitting in a car or a train, then keep your existing plan. It just isn't worth all the travel to get 4 hours sightseeing in Rome. You may already have your mind made up, but it it was me I'd pick one place in Italy such as Venice or Lake Como and spend the 2 days there.

We've checked out travel times via car and train. It's actually not THAT bad. We should have a solid 24 hours at each stop. My parents probably won't get a chance to do a trip like this again. And, one really wants to see Rome and the other really wants to see Venice. So, I'm trying to figure out how to make it work. I'm just trying to do it the cheapest way possible. The train would probably be best because everyone would get a chance to nap and not worry about directions, etc. It would definitely be more relaxing.

Ideally, we would make Italy a separate trip. I just don't see it happening.

I would suggest that Rome is really out of the way for the time you have. It's really a shame to fly to Europe and then immediately try to fly through it. I call this a blink and run itinerary.

Yes, the train ride shows 4.5hrs. but have you factored in the bus ride from Malpensa airport to Milan Centrale. It's just over an hour ride. Next, the fastest way on the train is the Eurostar. Five people on a Eurostar to Rome from Milan will cost 252.50 Euro one-way ($400). This includes a smaller fare for the 13-yr old. Counting a night in a hotel, that's quite an expense just to peek at the Vatican and get back in the car.

www.viamichelin.com shows a cost of 86Euro and 5.5hrs for the drive (not counting the daily cost of the car). Driving in Rome is tough. However, here's a website on parking garages in Rome. http://www.mercuriusrelocations.com/guide/id184.html

I didn't consider how far the airport was from the train station - ugh - one more thing to think about!

I heard driving in Rome is very difficult. I've also read that you have to be very careful in Italy for theft, including auto theft.

We'd only be flying through a couple of days and then the rest would be relaxing, but I agree, it would probably be better to forego it and make it a separate trip, if possible. I'm just attempting to let everyone see the one thing that's at the top of their list. But, it may just not work out!

Thanks for the websites, Larry. Those will be very helpful. I don't think I've looked at either one of those yet, so I'll definitely be checking them out in more detail.

If Rome and Venice are really must-dos, then go to Venice first. It's only 3 hours by train from Milan versus 4.5 hours to Rome. Car for 5 might be less expensive, but the trains stations are in the heart of both cites and travel is more relaxing.

Often times point-to-point tickets come out to be less expensive than rail passes--especially if you are only travelling to a few cities in Italy. Also, if you are going to be on a high speed train (IC or Eurostar) you have to have seat reservations, even if you have railpasses, and it costs extra $ with the railpass. Last year, the 3 of us were going to use railpasses. After computing the total cost with train reservations, we decided to rent a car. We had no problems driving in Italy. You do have to pay tolls on the autobahns, but we enjoy the freedom of driving. When we went to Rome, we took the train from Orvieto. There is a free parking lot by the train station in Orvieto. We had no problems with the car when we returned. We hid all maps & souvenirs in the trunk and we put Italian newspapers on the seats. The train ride into Rome is 1 hr. and from there you can take the metro to the Vatican. I would not drive into Rome. For Venice, we stayed outside the city and took the bus in. However, I noticed a large parking structure (not sure how much it costs) by the main vaparetto station. It's easy to drive to this area of Venice. You would not have any problems--just have good Michelin maps. Send me a personal msg for additional info. Have fun making memories with your family!

If you haven't purchased your airline tickets yet, you might consider flying open-jaws. Maybe into Venice, out of Milan. STL to VCE flights are only slightly more expensive than STL to MXP, and when you compare the extra flight cost to the price of a car or train the first day, it might be a wash. This would also give you a lot more time in Venice. Another option that makes more logistical sense would be to fly into Rome, then use trains to Venice and Switzerland.

You could park in Orvieto to get into Rome. You definitely don't want to drive in Rome. It's a zoo and you would spend more time looking for parking than just walking from nearby public transport.

For 5 a car is normally the cheaper option but you would be parking a car while you tour the cities. It may still be worth it, compare carefully.

The nicest thing about the train is it drops you right in the city center and you don't have to worry about navigating. The worst thing about a train is you can lose a lot of time waiting for your departure or connection.

The nice things about a car are traveling on your schedule (start and stop when you want) and not having to lug bags as much. The bad things about a car are worrying about it's safety when parked and having to navigate rather than relax on the train.

" It's actually not THAT bad. "

Yes it is. Far, far worse and more demanding then you think. Listen well, grasshopper. lol

After reading responses from everyone, we're now looking at just going to Rome for a couple of days and skipping Venice. Less stressful and more cost effective. Someone recommended driving to Orvieto and taking a short train ride into Rome from there. I'm going to do some checking into that. I'm also going to look at the train prices for Rome as well. If we're knocking off the Venice leg, the trains might be more "affordable" as far as point to point tickets go. I appreciate everyone's help and if you have any more suggestions, keep them coming. Every little bit helps!

I've been reading these replies with interest as I consider some of the same ideas. We'll be visiting Switzerland (Luern-area) with family toward the end of August and into September and would like to take a side trip into Italy with our older boys. Rome really is at the top of their list, so that's the preferred destination. I keep going back and forth re taking the train versus driving.

We'll already have a car at our disposal, so in that respect, driving would be less expensive than a rail trip. I just hate the thought of driving into Rome, though. And it's been so long since I've been in Italy, I honestly hadn't realized until just recently how long it would take to get down there. Decisions, decisions!