four friends 10 nights in Italy
 

we are headed to italy for 10 nights 3 in Rome, 5 in Florance, 2 nights in Venice...any Ideas for things to do on the road between these citys?

www.orvieto.info cute little Etruscan Hill town North of Rome
one of my favs. slowtrav.com/italy eurocheapo.com 2 other
good sites for you for day trip suggestions out from your
cities and good budget tips.

Have fun!

Welcome to Fodor's, hopefully we can provide some assistance. Orvieto is a good idea. You can explore a little of the area around Florence and see Siena and San Gimignano which are both worthy of a visit.

However, I'm not sure that hiring a car is the best option. The train system is very good is Italy and here are numerous threads here about visitors receiving very expensive fines for inadvertently driving into restricted zones in Florence.

A car in Rome is a hassle. A car in Florence is a liability. A car in Venice is impossible.

the car is just for getting from town to town then parking it somewhere. and we are staying just outside of these citys not in them i guess i should have mentioned trhat before.

thanks for the welcome.

If it isn't too late, please consider staying in the cities and moving between them by train. Though you might spend a little more on hotels, you will be closer to the things you want to see and the trains in Italy are wonderful. You definitely do not need a car (or want) a car in any of those cities and staying outside the cities you won't want to drive into them. It is so much more fun and convenient to be walking distance from the major sights.

And parking can be horrifically expensive (so is gas).

I hope you are staying in Rome if you plan to visit the city. Staying outside would be a hassle and waste what little time you have.

You can't drive in many cities as it's restricted to residents (Google ZTL tickets Italy).

You only need a car as you leave Rome to visit the areas between Rome and Florence. Make sure the car is big enough to hold your luggage and that you have IDP's for anyone driving (required in Italy).

Why have you scheduled most of your nights in Florence? Are you flying out of Venice? Two nights there will only give you one day to sightsee.

We might be able to give better suggestions if you tell us where you are staying.

You do not have time for the big 3--why consider other destinations?

We stopped in Bologna for lunch between Florence and Venice. We wished that we had more time there, but it was also brutally hot that day.

Seriously, your strategy is not wise. Take the train between these cities and stay in the city centers. The car, for your purposes, is expensive and a lead weight you will drag around.
do this instead:

Stay In central Rome for 4 nights. Take the train to Orvieto for one night. Train to Florence for three nights. Train to Venice for the rest.

There is so much to see in Rome, four nights (three days, really) is barely a start. Orvieto for one night is a charming change from the bustle of Rome. Florence has a lot to see if you are interested in art and Renaissance architecture, but a day trip by bus to Fiesole (very near) or Siena (much longer) is doable.
Venice is worth all the rest of your time.

Staying outside these cities to be able to use a car is a really bad idea. With this type of itinerary much better to take the train and spend the money you wold have paid for the car, gas and parking for hotels in more central locations.

Staying outside Rome can mean an hour or more to get into the sights you want to see.

Staying outside of Venice - well you may as well not go. the best of Venice is in the late afternoon and evening when most of the tourists have gone and you can see the town more like a local. Staying on the mainland - or even on the Lido - is a major PIA.

And this is from someone who usually does road trips - we have done at least 40 in various parts of europe (but they included lot of smaller towns and countryside - not just major tourists centers).

I really like Charnees' proposed itinerary, and I agree completely with the other advice based on five trips to Italy, two in the last year.

I am awaiting the tickets and credit card charges I am almost certainly going to get for driving in a pedestrian zone in Vicenza and the speeding tickets from traffic cameras in a couple of other areas. They have a year to send them to me.

Please listen to this advice. You are wasting your time driving with such short timeline. It will be a complete hassle. Others have been to Italy dozens of times. Listen to our collective experience: take the train & stay in the centre of Rome, Florence & Venice.