Italy train help. Should we just rent a car?

[tacocat]

We have a trip to Italy at the beginning of September and we are starting to book trains (early I know but it keeps my H happy). When I had originally looked we were able to get from Vernazza (in Cinque Terre) to Florence easily by train. Now only 1 train is coming up and it is 8pm at night which takes away a chunk of our very little time we have.

Any route suggestions? I can book Genova - Bologna - Florence, but have to break it up into separate trips. 

We could also drive, it would only be me since H can't drive a stick but it seems pretty close. We could pick up the car in La Spezia and drop off near Florence. Any recommendations for this? I would like to avoid driving downtown if possible. 


TIA!


ETA: I just tried to do a mock booking in June and it was there, so maybe I am being too antsy. 

[sporky]

The train service in Italy is fantastic. We used Italo and had no problems. We booked in advance as well, but I think you are too far out right now. In another couple of months you should be able to pull up the full itineraries.

[tacocat]

Thanks sporky - I figured we were early, he just gets so anxious lol. Back when it was just me I would show up at the train station day of.


I will keep an eye and then if it never shows I will book a car a few weeks out.

[cheezer]

We drove from Florence to Cinque Terre. Our hotel came with a parking space in Cinque Terre. Not anywhere near town but up towards the top of the hill before you get into the city. Without the parking space I imagine it would be very difficult to park but I can't speak for Vernazza specifically so I'd check with your hotel/apartment.

[GilliC]

We bought all of train tickets the day we traveled. In one case we had to wait two hours for the next train, so next time I'd probably buy them a day or two in advance.

Personally I'm not a fan of driving in Italy, but I've only done it in Sardinia. Within the larger cities it wasn't too bad (though some of the other drivers were very enthusiastic), but the GPS was useless in some of the smaller towns (it actually told me to turn left onto a staircase at one point, and when I refused, I was left trying to find my own way). Also, some of the streets were so narrow that I actually scratched the outside mirror trying to squeeze through a street between two buildings that was only a foot or two wider than my Ford-Fiesta-sized rental car. After my last experience, I would only rent a car if I was visiting places that didn't have train service.

[clseale]

Ditto the comments on the train system being fantastic, and that you might still be too far out. I'd give at a few more months.

We rented a car when we were in Florence. (Just one day so that we could visit the country side for a wine tasting & lunch at a family farm, and to visit San Gimignano.) My DH did the driving, but it wasn't bad. We rented through Europcar and picked up at the Florence via del gelsomino location. It was on the outskirts of town, so we didn't have to worry about navigating around the city center.

[tacocat]

Thanks guys. I will wait and see if it shows up and H will just have to deal I usually had just booked day of as well, but we don't have a ton of time so I was getting antsy with him.


If I do end up renting a car I will remember that spot clseale, I drove in Florence once and was miserable!

[Susie]

We took the train from Corniglia to Florence (via La Spezia?), and it wasn't a huge inconvenient thing - I'm guessing more will be available when it gets closer.

I would also be more anti-car trying to get to Florence than most other places.  There's the hassle of dealing with car pickup and drop off, dealing with what I thought were pretty aggressive drivers in Italy, and then once you get to Florence you need to avoid the ZTL (huge traffic tickets if you drive a rental car into the city center) which may complicate logistics once you get to Florence.  No thanks.  Whatever train arrangement I needed to work out, I'd do to avoid that.  Once you get used to the train system it's so easy.

[nancybotwin]

May 4, 2015 20:27:37 GMT -5 tacocat said:

We have a trip to Italy at the beginning of September and we are starting to book trains (early I know but it keeps my H happy). When I had originally looked we were able to get from Vernazza (in Cinque Terre) to Florence easily by train. Now only 1 train is coming up and it is 8pm at night which takes away a chunk of our very little time we have.

Any route suggestions? I can book Genova - Bologna - Florence, but have to break it up into separate trips. 

We could also drive, it would only be me since H can't drive a stick but it seems pretty close. We could pick up the car in La Spezia and drop off near Florence. Any recommendations for this? I would like to avoid driving downtown if possible. 


TIA!


ETA: I just tried to do a mock booking in June and it was there, so maybe I am being too antsy. 

I am working on our trip to Italy as well. What site are you using to book trains?

[tacocat]

May 11, 2015 0:36:30 GMT -5 nancybotwin said:

May 4, 2015 20:27:37 GMT -5 tacocat said:

We have a trip to Italy at the beginning of September and we are starting to book trains (early I know but it keeps my H happy). When I had originally looked we were able to get from Vernazza (in Cinque Terre) to Florence easily by train. Now only 1 train is coming up and it is 8pm at night which takes away a chunk of our very little time we have.

Any route suggestions? I can book Genova - Bologna - Florence, but have to break it up into separate trips. 

We could also drive, it would only be me since H can't drive a stick but it seems pretty close. We could pick up the car in La Spezia and drop off near Florence. Any recommendations for this? I would like to avoid driving downtown if possible. 


TIA!


ETA: I just tried to do a mock booking in June and it was there, so maybe I am being too antsy. 

I am working on our trip to Italy as well. What site are you using to book trains?

Trenitalia. 

Super easy which re-enforces I am being crazy, lol. 

[anna7602]

I also prefer train travel, so ditto PP.

However, if the stick thing is an issue, you can usually pay a premium to rent automatic cars in Europe.