Um, it's left-hand drive in Italy too.

<<Um, it's left-hand drive in Italy too.>> Reminds me of this quote-

"Europeans, like some Americans, drive on the right side of the road, except in England. In Italy, they drive on the sidewalks."


Driving in italy, especially the Tuscan countryside, is easy. Reserve your car through kemwel.com or autoeurope.com. You will pay for the car in US dollars when you book. Be sure to check the deductables.

Since this is your first time driving in Italy you might want to train from Rome to Chiusi and pick up the car there. The drive to the Pienza/Montepulciano area is an easy 45 minutes on country roads.

Here is a link to tips on driving, trains and the Rome metro-

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/instructions/index.htm

In Tuscany, I prefer basing in the area near Pienza (Val d'Orcia) over Chianti. May is the perfect time to visit the Tuscan countryside. It is beautiful and not crowded. 3 days will be just scratching the surface, but you can always return for a longer stay. This is where I love to stay-

http://fontebertusi.com/eng/

With 10 nights total, you might even consider skipping Rome and heading directly to Tuscany and then Venice. The last 2 weeks of May are really, really, really beautiful in southern Tuscany.

Enjoy your trip!

angel,

I think your revised ITINERARY is wonderful. Too little time in each place, but hey, it's a start and a nice mix for a first trip.

Save Pisa for when you visit Florence. It's an easy train day trip from Florence. 3 days in Tuscany in May is paradise and will fly by!

I've picked up/dropped cars in Siena, Orvieto, and Chiusi. Orvieto and Chiusi are the easiest. Driving in the countryside is fun and easy. Just don't get all freaked out if you miss a turn/exit and have to backtrack a little to correct course. So what if you get a little lost? You're on VACATION in ITALY! Just remember to park in the parking areas BEFORE you get into the hilltowns. Look for the blue square, white "P" signs.

Maybe pick up in Orvieto and drop in Florence, take the train to Venice.

Buon viaggio!

Dayle, your comments are much appreciated but do not deserve to be directed at me. Period. Nothing justifies the behavior of posters toward me.

angel025,

Forgive me if your reasons for wanting to visit the places you select goes beyond what you have posted, but you keep leaving the impression with your that you think it is MOST important to follow a "recommended" itinerary when coming to Italy to the first time, and follow in other people's footsteps.

You will get some support on this message board for just that way of thinking, so it is definitely one way lots of people like to go. Some people will, in fact, defend it to the death around here.

But please be aware that many, many, MANY people who have traveled to Italy more than once very much REGRETTED doing what became to be known as the "Big 3" and marching in lockstep with an itinerary imposed on them by schoolteachers. It was an enormous revelation for them to get off the mass tourist track and discover how much more they enjoyed their vacations and their experience of Italy when they looked beyond the "recommended itinerary."

I am not trying to dissuade you or anybody from seeing Rome and Florence, or the areas of Tuscany you've identified. I've seen them, enjoyed them and have returned to some of them time and again.

But you are overvaluing the idea of being a "first time" visitor -- Italy is not difficult nor does it need to be approached like a school lesson -- and you may seriously be underestimating how much being constantly in the places that have become dominated by tourists will keep you from engaging with the culture of Italy.

Many people will argue to the point of blowing up threads that there is "nothing wrong with being a tourist" and "the tourist are tourist places for a reason." But it's is just a plain fact that the most touristed parts of Italy can (a) be some people's least enjoyable part of Italy and (b) have been altered to attract foreigners in ways that have driven out Italian culture.

Many of Italy's most important artifacts -- important historically to the development of global politics and art -- are located in the most heavily touristed parts of Italy. If you want to see them, you must go there.

But not everybody wants or needs to see them, and there is no truth in the myth that you must seem them in a particular order in your life.

I have no idea if you have the slightest temptation to do anything else other than what you are planning to do, but I just wanted you to know this. Have a great time in Italy, whatever you do and wherever you go.