ITALY Readers's Tips - Rome is on the wrong side of the country for that.ly from Rome, or take a ferry from the Adriatic side, Bari and possibly VeniceTrieste and down the coast. Click here.

We are going to Italy for three weeks starting on Oct.3.WE are going to use a mix of train and car travel.We are going to rent a car between MilanBolzanoVenice and then from La Spezia thru Tuscany to Sorennto and back to Rome.We are riding the rails between Venice to Florence and Florence to Pisa then on to La SpeziaCinque Terre.Should we have all of these car rental and train tickets arranged before we leave or can we purchase when we get there Also we will be leaving Cinque Terre.where would be the most convenient town to set up a car rentalThanks, I have learned so much on these messsage boards. Check with your travel agent or AAA (Auto Club. The "Eurail Pass" offers a combination train and rental car package that we found very reasonable. We were actually there one year ago this October, and we travelled for 17 days with 3 train rides and 2 car rentals (in Milan and Florence and the total for 4 people was about 300. per person...a fantastic deal. Hope this helps, DenDuke

If you're schedule is nailed down, then booking everything ahead of your visit makes sense, both for the time it frees up on holiday, and also the chance of cheaper train tickets (the old €29 and €39 offers. However for offthecuff day trips, these are best done over there as you can line them up for suitable weather, or not bother if you're enjoying where you are. regards Ian

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