Venice to Rome via Florence - rail or road

[jfer8580]

Hi,

In May; we will be cruising out of Civi but plan flying into Venice and doing two nights there, an overnighter in Florence then 3 in Rome prior to our cruise. Is it better to rent a car for that trip or would the trains be easy enough to navigate. We are 4 people and will have a fair amount of luggage to drag around with us as it will be 6 days on land and another 10 day cruise.

 

Also, does anyone have any experiences with the Hotel Colombina in Venice and Hotel Grifo in Rome? They seem to be centrally located to a lot of sight seeing and restaurants. Haven't looked into Florence yet!!

[HeinBloed]

Hi,

In May; we will be cruising out of Civi but plan flying into Venice and doing two nights there, an overnighter in Florence then 3 in Rome prior to our cruise. Is it better to rent a car for that trip or would the trains be easy enough to navigate. We are 4 people and will have a fair amount of luggage to drag around with us as it will be 6 days on land and another 10 day cruise.

 

Also, does anyone have any experiences with the Hotel Colombina in Venice and Hotel Grifo in Rome? They seem to be centrally located to a lot of sight seeing and restaurants. Haven't looked into Florence yet!!

 

Honestly: if you rent an GPS and you are 4 it would be much more easier and cheaper to rent a car especially with all baggage transfers and transfers yourself from hotel to station etc.

 

If you take Hertz you have the advantage that you are just five minutes away from the port entrance in Civitavecchia.

 

With Avis or Europcar it would be 15-20 minutes.

 

We drive last year from Civitavecchia via San Gimignano, Florence and Pisa back to the ship in Livorno.

 

But the car eased us to see the countryside in the Tuscany. Siena you can do easily as it is on the road between Florence and Civitavecchia if you do not use the autoroute.

 

Some impressions of the tour:

 

http://heinbloed-ncl.blogspot.com/2009/11/tag-52-auf-der-norwegian-gem-in.html

 

http://heinbloed-ncl.blogspot.com/2009/11/tag-53-auf-der-norwegian-gem-in.html

 

http://heinbloed-ncl.blogspot.com/2009/11/tag-61-auf-der-norwegian-gem-in-livorno.html

 

http://heinbloed-ncl.blogspot.com/2009/11/tag-62-auf-der-norwegian-gem-in-livorno.html

 

It was really easy driving.

 

In Venice you must drive carefully... many roads are flooded...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[jfer8580]

Honestly: if you rent an GPS and you are 4 it would be much more easier and cheaper to rent a car especially with all baggage transfers and transfers yourself from hotel to station etc.

 

If you take Hertz you have the advantage that you are just five minutes away from the port entrance in Civitavecchia.

 

With Avis or Europcar it would be 15-20 minutes.

 

We drive last year from Civitavecchia via San Gimignano, Florence and Pisa back to the ship in Livorno.

 

But the car eased us to see the countryside in the Tuscany. Siena you can do easily as it is on the road between Florence and Civitavecchia if you do not use the autoroute.

 

Some impressions of the tour:

 

http://heinbloed-ncl.blogspot.com/2009/11/tag-52-auf-der-norwegian-gem-in.html

 

http://heinbloed-ncl.blogspot.com/2009/11/tag-53-auf-der-norwegian-gem-in.html

 

http://heinbloed-ncl.blogspot.com/2009/11/tag-61-auf-der-norwegian-gem-in-livorno.html

 

http://heinbloed-ncl.blogspot.com/2009/11/tag-62-auf-der-norwegian-gem-in-livorno.html

 

It was really easy driving.

 

In Venice you must drive carefully... many roads are flooded...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

 

 

Thanks for the info.

 

I don't know if we will actually do too much driving in Venice as we will walk around for two days then rent the car to head to Florence.

 

As far as the port also once we get to Rome we may turn the car in, do our sight seeing there then either take a train to the port or a transfer. Not sure if actually keeping the car for three days in Rome will be worth it just to get to the port later. I guess I'll see how much it is and how much parking is and things like that.

[HeinBloed]

Thanks for the info.

 

I don't know if we will actually do too much driving in Venice as we will walk around for two days then rent the car to head to Florence.

 

As far as the port also once we get to Rome we may turn the car in, do our sight seeing there then either take a train to the port or a transfer. Not sure if actually keeping the car for three days in Rome will be worth it just to get to the port later. I guess I'll see how much it is and how much parking is and things like that.

 

Venice was a joke... all streets are flooded - canals... so it really does not make sense to drive and it would be a good idea to rent the car before you are leaving for Florence.

 

Personally I would do following:

 

1 night in Civitavecchia and ask the hotel to store your bags for 2 further nights.

 

Continue with the car to Ostia Antica...

 

after that you return the car at Fiumicino Airport.

 

Go with handbaggage for two nights only by train to Rome and return to Civitavecchia by train after two days in Rome...

 

Collect your bags and get on the ship...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[jfer8580]

Venice was a joke... all streets are flooded - canals... so it really does not make sense to drive and it would be a good idea to rent the car before you are leaving for Florence.

 

Personally I would do following:

 

1 night in Civitavecchia and ask the hotel to store your bags for 2 further nights.

 

Continue with the car to Ostia Antica...

 

after that you return the car at Fiumicino Airport.

 

Go with handbaggage for two nights only by train to Rome and return to Civitavecchia by train after two days in Rome...

 

Collect your bags and get on the ship...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

 

That's a really good idea. That way we travel with less luggage and still see what we want to in Rome.

[CathyCruises]

We spent a lot of time driving in Italy and it was great, although we took the train instead of the car to Rome. My only issue would be that with 4 people and a lot of luggage, you will have to rent a really large car which could be very expensive. There were two of us and we had trouble getting all of our things in a 4 door Renault--so keep that in mind. We had the backseat to use which you will not have. On the train there is no surcharge for luggage so do your homework on costs.

[jfer8580]

We spent a lot of time driving in Italy and it was great, although we took the train instead of the car to Rome. My only issue would be that with 4 people and a lot of luggage, you will have to rent a really large car which could be very expensive. There were two of us and we had trouble getting all of our things in a 4 door Renault--so keep that in mind. We had the backseat to use which you will not have. On the train there is no surcharge for luggage so do your homework on costs.

 

Yes, something else to consider. The train sounds like the romantic way to go but the car will provide us with flexibility. One of the things we want to do is stop in the town of Ferrara as that is our last name and it is between Venice and Florence. We figured, how could we go to Italy and not see it......although it's a little weird becuase we are Sicilian and Ferrara is way up north...the nearest we can figure is that our people migrated south and settled in Italy.

[Susan-M]

There is frequent train service (~hourly) from Venice to Ferrara and from there you could take the train on to Florence (also frequent service). Perhaps you could take a late afternoon train to Ferrara, spend the night and then on to Florence the next day.

 

Agree with Cathy to consider the need for a larger car (or traveling with less luggage... pack lighter and have laundry done on board). Also, if comparing costs between train and car... take into consideration costs for tolls, fuel, plus parking in Florence for a rental car.

[HeinBloed]

The train sounds like the romantic way to go...

 

Hope you know that all major long-distance routes are high-speed tracks and not too romantic...

 

If you go alongside the coast like from Genova southbound or Verona northbound to pass the Alps... that's romantic...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

[jfer8580]

There is frequent train service (~hourly) from Venice to Ferrara and from there you could take the train on to Florence (also frequent service). Perhaps you could take a late afternoon train to Ferrara, spend the night and then on to Florence the next day.

 

Agree with Cathy to consider the need for a larger car (or traveling with less luggage... pack lighter and have laundry done on board). Also, if comparing costs between train and car... take into consideration costs for tolls, fuel, plus parking in Florence for a rental car.

 

 

We will pack light but if we do the cruise we are looking at, it's on Celebrity and they don't have self service laundry. Maybe we can do it on our last afternoon in Rome.

I figure as far as price goes; I don't want that to be the deciding factor in how we do it, just want to do it our way. If I start pricing it first, I may be scared away altogether.....HA!!

[jfer8580]

Hope you know that all major long-distance routes are high-speed tracks and not too romantic...

 

If you go alongside the coast like from Genova southbound or Verona northbound to pass the Alps... that's romantic...

 

Regards

HeinBloed

 

 

Yeah, I was kind of using the term loosely. What I really meant was being able to sit back, relax and look out the window to see the sights rather than trying to read street signs in Italian, looking at the GPS and generally getting frustrated when we inevitably get lost....HA!!

[Susan-M]

We will pack light but if we do the cruise we are looking at, it's on Celebrity and they don't have self service laundry. Maybe we can do it on our last afternoon in Rome.

I figure as far as price goes; I don't want that to be the deciding factor in how we do it, just want to do it our way. If I start pricing it first, I may be scared away altogether.....HA!!

 

We've been on Celebrity and I've come to realize that it's not a bad thing not to have self service laundry ... if avoids spending precious vacation time doing it yourself, which I always do when it is available (as on Azamara). I budget the laundry expense into the trip and find that any amount spent on laundry is more than offset by the pleasure of traveling light, and not having to purchase all the extra clothes to lug with me on the trip.:)

 

Agree that between car and train, basing the decision on the most enjoyable/stress free way is important. Cost probably won't be too different between the two anyways.

[jfer8580]

We've been on Celebrity and I've come to realize that it's not a bad thing not to have self service laundry ... if avoids spending precious vacation time doing it yourself, which I always do when it is available (as on Azamara). I budget the laundry expense into the trip and find that any amount spent on laundry is more than offset by the pleasure of traveling light, and not having to purchase all the extra clothes to lug with me on the trip.:)

 

Agree that between car and train, basing the decision on the most enjoyable/stress free way is important. Cost probably won't be too different between the two anyways.

 

HA....I actually agree with you, we always say why do laundry on vacation but usually when there is one on board, we do it......maybe we're a bit OCD in that regard. When we did celebrity, we got along just fine without it although that was seven days, this will be a total of 16....not sure if my wife can go that long without washing something!!

[CathyCruises]

These laundry threads always crack me up. When you consider how much you are paying for a cruise, and air, and specialty restaurants, and excursions, and cocktails! to worry about another $25 for having your laundry nicely done for you is just ludicrous. I am very frugal, but even I had to pinch myself and say hey! this is nothing in the scheme of things! Sometimes you just need to put things in perspective.

 

I would never dream of not doing my own laundry at home, but on vacation? In Italy? Have at it!

[jfer8580]

These laundry threads always crack me up. When you consider how much you are paying for a cruise, and air, and specialty restaurants, and excursions, and cocktails! to worry about another $25 for having your laundry nicely done for you is just ludicrous. I am very frugal, but even I had to pinch myself and say hey! this is nothing in the scheme of things! Sometimes you just need to put things in perspective.

 

I would never dream of not doing my own laundry at home, but on vacation? In Italy? Have at it!

 

 

Not sure where this came from....I never said anything about cost and Susan said she didn't have a problem with the cost.

[CathyCruises]

Sorry--I was referring to the numerous laundry threads on the Celebrity boards--this just reminded me of it.

[jfer8580]

Sorry--I was referring to the numerous laundry threads on the Celebrity boards--this just reminded me of it.

 

 

Ha....I shouldn't have snapped back so quickly. Sorry about that and I do agree with you, doing laundry on vacation is a bit nuts!! In this case we will use the on board service so as to not have to overpack.