Hi all, I am planning the first leg of my honeymoon for next May/June. We plan on flying into Venice and spending 2 nights there. From there I intend to rent a car and head south to Florence and spend 2 nights. Lastly, we would head south to Rome and spend 3 nights there. I understand that you can't drive in to the city so we'd be willing stay out of the city walls.

Our reason for wanting the car is because we'd like to venture off and check out some other smaller cities; maybe drive down to Sorrento for the day. We feel comfortable driving in a foreign country and don't mind being on the road.

I'd like to know if this is realistic and if anyone can offer some advice about taking this trip by car.

Thanks for your help!

With 7 nights you barely have time to scratch the surface of the 3 places you have already identified, so you really dont have time to do any more. Every time you move you lose half a day to packing, checking out, travelling, and doing it all again at the end location. So currently you have:

Day 1 - arrive in Venice
Day 2 - Venice (jetlagged)
Day 3 - travel to Florence
Day 4 - Florence
Day 5 - travel to Rome
Day 6 - Rome
Day 7 - Rome
Day 8 - travel home

You will barely have time to even see this. If you add in a car, driving time, parking, commuting into these cities (which will increase your costs) you will have little time to actually see these places to begin with.

With 8 days I would do two locations at most, you could squeeze in 3 but it would limit what you can see. I would also forget the car - it adds time to your travel, is a hassle and completely unneccessary in the cities you plan to visit, and will force you to stay on the outskirts of these cities - again not ideal due to the commute in and not being in these great cities during the evenings. You also wont be able to pop back to your hotel to freshen up during the day.

Travel in Europe isnt like travel in North America and a car for travel to these three cities will be a hinderance as you dont have time to take advantage of the flexibility between the cities.

Take the trains, forget the car and enjoy these great cities. Or pick one city and then get a car and enjoy the countryside around one of them. You just dont have time for both.

Happy Planning!

well you cannot drive in Venice, Florence, you can get inside the walls but not inside the area where cars are banned and Rome you can drive inside the walls, though again there are banned areas.

However, Italian cities were built around the cart (a roughly 1.8 metre wide object) so cars can get a bit tight in many cities, especially when cars are parked along the length of a road and a skip is on the other side. So, you want a small car and when you leave it, every time pull in the mirrors.

Would I do it? Only if I loads of stuff or kids to schlump about. The trains are first class.

Forgetting the fact that your itinerary seems to tight and rushed (to each his own), the car idea is probably a bad one.

You want a car so you can head off to tucked-away places? Where does that fit in to your itinerary? And what are those places that can't be reached by train or bus?

Forget the car. The one exception might be a one-day rental out of Rome to drive to Sorrento, although given the time you have, that seems questionable, too.

If you are going to places like Sorrento for the day, it makes more, if you are starting in Rome, to take the train. If you are going to go to Florence and Rome, it is much better to stay in the center, and if you try to combine a car with that, it turns into a very expensive situation.

Are you sure you want to go to Florence and Rome? A lot of people taking a honeymoon in Italy would go to Venice, then rent a car and go stay in the countryside somewhere, especially people who enjoy car trips. if you are very interested in scholarly art and history, then of course you won-t want to miss Florence and Rome.

But if you are going to Italy to enjoy the adventure and beauty of Italy, you can have a lovely time and encounter lots of art and history in the middle of gorgeous scenery and wine country by simply heading to Tuscany or Umbria, and then flying out of whatever airport is convenient.

Discuss with your fiaance whether you would rather have an art and history honeymoon via train, or a driving honeymoon through scenic Italy. Better to pick one or the other. Whichever you pick, dont overcrowd your schedule or try to cover too much ground. Italy is not a speedy place most of the time.

>>>I'd like to know if this is realistic and if anyone can offer some advice about taking this trip by car.<<<

No, it's not realistic. You don't really have time to see the cities you listed as overnights. Two nights in a location is only one sightseeing day. As pointed out, you aren't allowed to drive in the centers of Florence or Rome and overnight parking outside the ZTL runs about 30-40€ per night. Even small towns have ZTL, but not usually controlled by cameras (that take pics of you license plate to issue tickets) like the bigger towns.

I think you need to figure out how to add a few more days to your honeymoon and perhaps spend a few days in Tuscany with a car (day trip to Florence).