Looking for insight into traveling Italy and Switzerland with my family of 4 adults. Since I'm paying for everyone does mass transit, train etc still make sense? I've read about hiring drivers and curious if that will make more sense, especially in Italy as we travel from Rome to Florence to Venice. I figure to use taxis in the cities but to and from destinations I'm interested in seeing what the group feels is best option. Safety will be a concern too if hiring drivers. Thanks all!!
Posted by
Green Bay
21153 posts
Hiring a driver would be much more expensive than using the fast (twice as fast as a car going the legal speed limit), frequent (every hour) and inexpensive (especially if you buy nonrefundable tickets well in advance) trains.
Posted by
Chicago
8165 posts
Take the train they are more secure than driving. In most cases they go and get you where you need to go faster than cars It is nothing like what we have here with Amtrak. You should hire day tours where someone is doing the driving to towns (e.g. Tuscany) not well served by public transportation
Posted by
Minneapolis
1261 posts
Hi. For train schedules and prices, see trenitalia.com. If dates are after June 10, schedules may be incomplete, so use a date in late May to get the idea. Use station names Roma Termini, Firenze SMN, Venezia SL. If you can commit to an exact date and time, you can buy a discount fare, otherwise just wait and buy your tix in Italy, you will pay the 'base' fare. There is huge capacity on these routes, so no need to worry about trains selling out. Enjoy your trip!
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8319 posts
Train travel would be your best bet in Italy. And since you're in the northeast when you're in Venice, why don't you bypass the Switzerland leg of your trip? You could easily take a train out of Venice over to Verona and north through the Brenner Pass into Austria. Western Tirol is essentially the same mountains as Switzerland and the scenery is simply breathtaking. Austria's easier and much cheaper to travel through too.
Posted by
Basel, Switzerland
8889 posts
Rome to Florence to Venice. I figure to use taxis in the cities
There are of course no taxis in Venice, unless you count water taxis and gondolas.
As the others say, trains are a lot faster, more comfortable and cheaper than paying a driver. Italy is not a cheap wage economy.
Posted by
OP
25 posts
Thank you everyone! Very good advice I will certainly heed!