What is the best way to travel to and from cities in Central/Northern Italy?

Question

My friend and I have already purchased our tickets, we fly in and out of Rome. Idealy, we would like to go from Rome to Florence, then Venice, then Paris for a couple days, and then back to Rome. What is best way to do this, by train (w/o having to buy the 1 month Eurorail pass since its too expensive), bus or local airline? We don't mind alternating forms of transporation from city to city. I can't seem to find flights that go in and out of where I need them. I'd appreciate any help and details :-)

Answer 1

Oh do I have some suggestions for you !!!  I used to live in Northern Italy and have traveled all over - sometimes only having a few hours, other times having weeks.  There are some very inexpensive ways of getting around - even getting to and from Paris!  Here are my suggestions:

ROME TO FLORENCE:  Train - buy the tickets at the station, they are almost always available and easy to get.

FLORENCE TO VENICE:  Again, train - same way

VENICE TO PARIS:  FLY - and don't pay regular airline fares!  Go to www.ryanair.com and depending on the day of the week you go, you can fly from Venice to Paris for 39 Euros each way (sometimes it's as low as 10 Euros!).  The airports are not the main airports, but they do have shuttles that run into the cities.

PARIS TO ROME:  You can do two things:  You can fly back from Paris via RyanAir (or try www.volareweb.com).  Or, if you have more time and more money, you can take the train through Switzerland (BEAUTIFUL!!!) and then to Rome.  

If you need more help or suggestions, email me at [e-mail] and I'll gladly help!

Answer 2

Train and small airlines. A good site for cheap tickets in Italy is:http://www.attitudetravel.com/italy/lowc...

Answer 3

Train of course! Going to Paris and coming back to italy look at Ryanair.com or easyjet  they are cheap airlines that take u arround EU

Answer 4

My husband and I went from Rome to Sarrento, then back up to Florence, Assisi, Siena and then to Milan, all by bus and/or train. We had a blast, the buses were very efficient, the people were very friendly. The trains were fine, except when you buy a ticket at the electronic kiosk, it seems you can buy a ticket and choose a seat. This is not reality. When we got on the train the first time, we looked and looked for the car or wagon on our ticket and the seat. Indeed, we could find open seats, but not the seat number we had. So you are buying a ticket for the train, but don't look for the exact seat number. Unlike in other countries such as Russia, the seats are not assigned when you buy the train ticket in Italy. We also took a train from Paris to Germany and found it easy to get around. We bought our train tickets in Italy, France and Germany with our mastercard.

Answer 5

Journeying on to Florence  through  the Tuscan  countryside: Lucca, Pisa, Siena, Arezzo and other delightful towns dot the road to Pisa where who are guested of the Agostini family Villa di Corliano. The family - and 2 resident ghosts - still welcome guest at the Villa, much as it they were at the height of its fame in the 1770’s.



The stay at Bagni di Pisa (health giving waters are still offered to an international clientele) and visit Pisa during one of the city’s festivals, staying at the Agostini Palace to enjoy the best view of the festivities http://www.provincia.pisa.it/pisalive/it...



The Villa has hosted many illustrious guests such as Gustavus III of Sweden, Christian II of Denmark, the Royal Family of Great Britain, Benedict Stuart Cardinal of York, General Murat, Luigi Buonaparte, Paolina Borghese, Carlo Alberto of Savoy, the poets Byron and Shelley, and various other personages from the history books.



The area of the Pisa hills was already an attraction for enlightened travellers in the first half of the 1700s with the growth of the thermal spa of San Giuliano, which became a fashionable spot for the well-off classes. The mansions on the road along the hills, already renowned as places of gentle idleness and relaxation in the heart of the countryside and also for their small industrial facilities for the transformation of agricultural products, soon assumed the characteristics of true leisure resorts, just like those narrated by Carlo Goldoni and which we can continue to enjoy today.



The Relais dell’ Ussero at the Villa Agostini della Seta di Corliano is on the road which runs along the foot of the hills from Pisa to Lucca, passing through the small town of San Giuliano Terme. The Villa is a historical fifteenth century mansion surrounded by a centuries old park. It is a property of great charm in which the owners offer, in 12 rooms and 2 suites, a relaxing stay immersed in the beauties of the local countryside.

Guests, if they like, can join in the day to day activities of the villa. They can have relaxing strolls in the park, potter around in the gardens, chat or have dinner with the owners in the farmhouse of the villa – today a high class restaurant http://www.ladycarlotta.it/



They can also organize all the necessary details for your meetings, convention, weddings at 1700’s small pivate church or at 1400’s sky garden or at the park of the Villa or at the oldest Italian cinema http://www.lumierecinema.it/ restructured with modern audio visual technologies on 2004 near the Vecchio Dado Resturant http://www.vecchiodado.com/ for a very good ice cream at the old “diacciaia” (now De Coltelli gelateria) http://www.decoltelli.it/



Relais dell’Ussero a

VILLA di CORLIANO

Residenza d’epoca - Historical House Hospitality

http://www.villacorliano.it



last but not least … legend has it that in the Villa della Seta at Corliano along the road running at the foot of the mount between Pisa and Lucca, there still moves the apparition of Teresa della Seta Bocca Gaetani, of famed beauty, descendant of an ancient Pisan family and given in marriage, in 1755, to the Count Cosimo Baldassarre Agostini. It seems that the noblewoman appears every now and then in the rooms of the mansion, moving tapestries and ornaments. Other times she has been known to slam doors and open windows. Some of the local peasants recall her arriving on certain nights by the light of the full moon. She appears on the drive of the park leading a coach and six, and then stops on the bend of the Ragnaia (“Cobweb corner”, so-called from the old name for the nets that hunters formerly used in the woods to capture small birds) to cast a glance towards the home where she once lived happily. The ghost, obviously of good nature, has been heard other times hurrying along and giggling in the underground passages of the villa, beneath the large wine cellars. The years go by and stories are told and retold, and there are still those who recall the evening in which there was the sound of an almighty clatter as one of the crystal chandeliers of the hall crashed to the floor. Those present dashed to the hall, only to discover on arriving there, that the chandelier was very much in its place. And still today odd episodes occur …

Answer 6

Train, Train, and Train

It's nothing like train travel in the U.S. It's a way of life in Italy.

Forget about getting a Eurail Pass-Just show up when you want to go somewhere, buy a ticket and hop on the train!

Answer 7

Best way: rent a car

Next Best way: train

Answer 8

Rome to Florence:

Train (1 hr, 36 min), First Class Eu 54, Second Eu 38

Florence to Veniza

Train (2 hr, 49 min), First Class Eu 50, Second Eu 34

Venezia to Milan (3 hrs)

Milan to Paris (6 hrs, 38 min) First Class Eu 147, Second Eu 120

Paris to Rome (14 hrs, 36 min; overnight)

Second Class Eu 140

I would recommend the train. You'll see more of Europe, and meet all sorts of interesting people.

I did check, and British Midlands offers a flight from Venice to Paris (thru London) for $274. (Travelocity)