We are a family of five who will be traveling to Italy this summer. It appears to me that renting a car will be more economical than traveling by train (Milan to Cinque Terre to Florence to Tuscany to Rome.) We will want a car for sure for a day trip to Modena and also around Tuscany.
Any thoughts please?
Carroll, my preference would be to use the train, as it's much less "complicated" than having a car. At the moment, fuel costs are a concern, not to mention parking, tolls, the dreaded "Zona Traffico Limitato", etc. With a family of five, a car may be more economical, but especially as you're traveling in "peak" season, the other factors should certainly be considered.
One possibility might be to use train for most of the trips, but rent a car for the day trip to Modena. Note also that you'll require an "International Driver's Permit" to drive in Italy, which MUST be used in conjunction with your home Driver's License.
This topic seems to come up on a regular basis on the Helpline, so you might want to do a search to view some of the other opinions as well.
Cheers!
Where are you staying in Tuscany? A car would allow you to visit hill towns easier and you could stay outside the main centres, e.g. at an agriturisme. If your interest in Tuscany is mainly Florence and Siena you'd be better off without a car. We'll be staying in a very secluded location in Chianti and need a car to get there.
Cinque Terre is not great for cars as you can't take a car into the small towns and have to leave it at paid parking lots outside. Those fill up really fast in high season. We decided to stay in La Spezia which is not as nice but has more affordable accommodation for a family in high season - and free parking.
For our family of 4 the car is the better choice, especially since we need it for at least the entire week we'll spend in Tuscany. We also spend a few days on the Sorrento peninsula, also in a more secluded B&B that's hard to access by public transportation. We chose a diesel to keep fuel costs a bit lower.
Just be really aware of Beatrix's comment on limited parking in the CT. Yes there are a few parking lots but in the high season, they are full. Even www.cinqueterreonline.com will tell you that.
I would agree with others and say Train. Pick up a car outside Florence to use for Tuscany, dropping it off before Rome.
Family of five? I'd get a car. But, then again, I'm the type who finds driving in Naples & Rome fun.
My husband is a Mr. "know it all" who thinks if he can drive in So Cal, he can drive anywhere. Well after our trip to Milan, he was glad that I talked him out of renting a car.
The drivers were crazy and he was glad to let someone else do it for him (ie: bus, train). Plus he got to relax and enjoy the view.
If you want to rent a car for a day, that's fine, but I would spend more, and take the train to get to your destination.
However, if it really eats into your budget, rent the car but invest in a GPS.
Michelle: LOL. At least you had enough experience to talk your husband out of driving in an Italian city (way different than driving in the country or on the autostrade), and he had enough sense to listen to you. Ideally no one would choose to drive in an Italian city until they had first seen the driving conditions--they are so different from anything in the US or Canada that you literally don't know what you don't know. I wasn't that smart, made that mistake and learned the hard way. It's not dangerous--if it's danger you want then do something where you can easily get killed if you make a mistake, such as flying a small plane--it's merely aggravating and frustrating, and most people are not looking for aggravating and frustrating on the relaxing and stress-free vacation experience that they'd like to have.
We're spending 5 weeks in Europe , with 10 days in Holland (in 3 cities ) 18 days in France (4 days in Paris, then a house in the country) and 7 days in Italy (Cinque Terre & Milan) and were debating for weeks on the Car vs Train issue.
Realistically, the car would be cheaper, but we decided to go for the Train and rent a car for a day or two . We will use the local bus, rent bikes and walk (especially in the cities) and will just use our Rail Passes for the big trips.
We decided on the train for a number of reasons. Being able to relax and enjoy the ride, letting our 12+14 year old daughters wander around the train and meet people, not having to hunt for parking spaces, change for tolls, worry about speeding tickets (no comment) not hunting for toilets and really to experience the Europe by Train thing with the kids.
Hello! When I visited Italy, I took the train from Rome straight to Tuscany. From there, we rented a car and travelled all over the hill towns. It was well worth it and we felt that we were able to relax a little more than rushing for the next connection! I recommend renting a car. Even though gas is probably high, it's less expensive than the train.
When we went to the different hill towns, we parked on the outskirts of the towns and didn't have to pay. I'm not sure how much it would be if you parked elsewhere.
Driving in Italy was a breeze! Navigating through and around towns was easy to figure out. Italy is laiden with road signs with arrows and exact distance. Take a good map and you should be fine!
