All I can say is, we took the rail from Rome to Florence last year - it was a very quick and easy trip. The idea of driving it is really silly.

Train travel in the world is not the same as American Amtrak. Please recognize this and explain to your dad. My teen hates public transportation in the US but raves about our train trips through Europe and Asia. It's just done differently there. You will hate coming back to our transportation mess and the car ride will be less comfy for your trip I promise.

Anonymous wrote:OP again - yes, I agree with everyone saying train is way better. I agree. I have gone over the price difference, time difference, mentioned business/first class on train. He still insists on a private car. He thinks lugging his luggage around on the trains will “be a hassle”. I’ve given up and not going to try and argue anymore. He said he’d pay for the car!

I am with your dad. I pay for a driver to go hotel to hotel...

daytrip.com

https://daytrip.com/en/configurator/stops?op=41.9214534%2C12.7135121&dp=43.7695604%2C11.2558136&departureAt=1775379600000&oln=Rome&olsk=ChIJw0rXGxGKJRMRAIE4sppPCQM&dln=Florence&dlsk=1c7d33d0-d6d7-434d-9d56-c35dc5a9e5ab&al=0&pd=l%7E1%2C0%7Ca%7E1%2C0%7Ca%7E1%2C0%7Ca%7E1%2C0&ri=7a71d7e8-99c2-4205-a8dc-e2c0c02ebc5a&adults=4&children=0&v=2&cur=1&t=&tss=search&tripType=oneWay&ms=1

$900 for a van, a little extra for stops

I just saw a lllooonnnggg taxi line (with no taxis available) after a cancelled flight in Florence. A private van drove by and I heard him quote a family 1000 euros to take them to Rome airport on the spot. (Then he drove off before the family could decide.)

We were just in Florence in Rome and used private car service several times (but opted for train for the Florence to Rome portion). But one driver came in a Mercedes 8 passenger van, was prompt, polite and excellent English. I cancelled other cars and used this service for the rest of the trip. I found him through booking.com. The company is Welcome Pickups and the driver's name is Nabil Lamtakham. I can dig up his WhatsApp # if you're interested. We'll be back to Italy in a couple months and I will book with him exclusively.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't he want to take the train? Trains are one of the reasons I love going to Europe so much!

It quite literally does not matter why he doesn't want to. They are not going on a train. Move on.

In my experience, it's often wild how people form strong opinions about something based on old or incorrect information, or something some random person told them once. Sometimes it's good to say "why is that?" and see if you can give them accurate information that may make them see things differently.

Of course a lot of the times people are just stuck in their ways or have some weird thing that you won't get them off of. But it's worth asking.

She already explained why.

In the 8th post. And it's one in the second group (a specific thing you probably won't get them off of), not the first group.

Ugh are you always this annoying and unhelpful?

I’m not that poster but I think the annoying and not that helpful people were the 4-5 different posters who tried to argue against taking the train.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't he want to take the train? Trains are one of the reasons I love going to Europe so much!

It quite literally does not matter why he doesn't want to. They are not going on a train. Move on.

In my experience, it's often wild how people form strong opinions about something based on old or incorrect information, or something some random person told them once. Sometimes it's good to say "why is that?" and see if you can give them accurate information that may make them see things differently.

Of course a lot of the times people are just stuck in their ways or have some weird thing that you won't get them off of. But it's worth asking.

She already explained why.

In the 8th post. And it's one in the second group (a specific thing you probably won't get them off of), not the first group.

Ugh are you always this annoying and unhelpful?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't he want to take the train? Trains are one of the reasons I love going to Europe so much!

It quite literally does not matter why he doesn't want to. They are not going on a train. Move on.

In my experience, it's often wild how people form strong opinions about something based on old or incorrect information, or something some random person told them once. Sometimes it's good to say "why is that?" and see if you can give them accurate information that may make them see things differently.

Of course a lot of the times people are just stuck in their ways or have some weird thing that you won't get them off of. But it's worth asking.

She already explained why.

In the 8th post. And it's one in the second group (a specific thing you probably won't get them off of), not the first group.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't he want to take the train? Trains are one of the reasons I love going to Europe so much!

It quite literally does not matter why he doesn't want to. They are not going on a train. Move on.

In my experience, it's often wild how people form strong opinions about something based on old or incorrect information, or something some random person told them once. Sometimes it's good to say "why is that?" and see if you can give them accurate information that may make them see things differently.

Of course a lot of the times people are just stuck in their ways or have some weird thing that you won't get them off of. But it's worth asking.

She already explained why.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why doesn't he want to take the train? Trains are one of the reasons I love going to Europe so much!

It quite literally does not matter why he doesn't want to. They are not going on a train. Move on.

In my experience, it's often wild how people form strong opinions about something based on old or incorrect information, or something some random person told them once. Sometimes it's good to say "why is that?" and see if you can give them accurate information that may make them see things differently.

Of course a lot of the times people are just stuck in their ways or have some weird thing that you won't get them off of. But it's worth asking.

Anonymous wrote:OP again - yes, I agree with everyone saying train is way better. I agree. I have gone over the price difference, time difference, mentioned business/first class on train. He still insists on a private car. He thinks lugging his luggage around on the trains will “be a hassle”. I’ve given up and not going to try and argue anymore. He said he’d pay for the car!

I have done private cars in Italy. The drivers are f’ing crazy. 175 kph 10’ off the bumper of the car in front of you. It’s a white knuckle ride and you will see 2-3 trains passing you while on the highway.

Most of the private cars are smaller vs what you have in US. So not much room for luggage or passengers. No stops 3 and 1/2 hours. With stops and lunch the drive will be 5-8 hours. It is expensive and the bigger car cost more.

Go by train! Get Bagaglio Facile (Easy Luggage) is Trenitalia's service with partner Zyppy for door-to-door luggage delivery in Italy, picking up from/delivering to your hotel. Great for Frecce train travelers. Have to booking via Zyppy with your PNR. No carrying bags on crowded trains.

You can also use Moveolux. They offer greeters who meet you at the platform or curbside in Florence (SMN) and arrange for porters to handle your luggage to your car or seat.


You have to talk sense in to the man. Why waste your limited time on a highway?