TrevisoCarService, Italy

After traveling between Venice and Bolzano in 2017, I wrote about the difficulties I experienced boarding a couple of trains. Specifically, the door to my coach did not open once, and later we were directed to wait for the train at the wrong place (Jan. '18, pg. 47).

In researching my 2018 trip to Italy, I found that the bus on that route took 4 hours, 40 minutes and received poor reviews (sometimes the bus never arrived!), so I went to the other extreme and, for the first time, booked a car and driver.

After seeing excellent reviews online, I settled on TrevisoCarService (Treviso, Italy; phone +39 338 20 44 390, www.trevisocarservice.com/en), located 17 kilometers from the Venice Marco Polo Airport (where I would spend the night at Marriott's Courtyard Venice Airport after arriving from Portland). Treviso's trip coordinator was Marta. Via email, she promptly answered all of my questions.

Surprisingly, no deposit was required to make the booking. In answer to a question, I was told that either cash or approved credit card would be acceptable. Preferred, but not necessary, was half credit and half cash, which is how I paid. A voucher with all the details was emailed for me to print and carry.

As requested, my driver arrived promptly at 8:30 a.m. on June 1. He drove a low, sleek, dark-gray Mercedes that could comfortably seat five; I chose to sit in the front seat. Salvatore was most personable and spoke enough English that we could converse easily.

He avoided the freeways, making it a more pleasurable experience, and he was an excellent driver; I was never frightened that we were going too fast (my biggest worry).

We made no stops, and in just over three hours we arrived at my favorite Bolzano accommodation, the Parkhotel Laurin (Via Laurino, 4, Bolzano; phone +39 0471 311000, www.laurin.it/en).

The cost for this transport service was €420 (near $480), including the tip. It was worth the price for a quick, quiet, smooth, luxurious method of transport… and complete peace of mind.

That was expensive, though — a once-in-a-lifetime experience — so I took the train back to the Venice Mestre station and then a taxi (€26) from Mestre to my B&B in the Veneto area.

MARILYN HILL

Portland, OR