Italy help?

So we are looking into booking our trip to Italy for March/April. We are taking a week to be with his family and a week to tour on our own. We decided just to rent a car and go off on our own because we both don't like tour guides.

So here is my question. I know nothing about Italy. Where should we go and how far are these places from each other. I am guessing we should do Rome and Venice but I have no idea how far apart these are. ANy other places?

I also heard the Alfami coast is nice but how far is this from Rome?

Thanks so much!

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Posted by Mici n KC

For our HM we went to Venice, Florence and Rome. We did not rent a car. Venice is 2.5 hours from Florence and another 1.5 hours to Rome. So if you plan to go to Venice and Florence, that's 4 hours on the train (like Amtrak Acela). You cannot drive in Venice - no streets!. The Amalfi Coast is close to Rome (not sure exactly). I don't recommend renting a car there. It is 1,000,000 times worse with drivers than NY! I definitely recommend using the rail service. It's fast and drops you off in a central location. Where is your DH's family from? That will help when planning your trip?

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I agree and was just about to post the same thing, but I couldn't remember how much time it took to get from one city to the next. I do not recommend driving in Italy because it is completely different. If they have traffic laws it doesn't seem like they follow them. DH and I found it hard to even cross the street sometimes!!
We also traveled via train to Rome, Venice, and Positano. Our travel agent recommended a car service pick us up to and from the stations and I must say it worked out well. We also did not want to use tour guides while we visited and although we didn't drive everything was pretty easy to get to by foot and more fun too!