I'm a newbie that just found this site and wish I'd consulted earlier! My itinerary is *Rome - July 1, 2 & 3 *Tuscany - July 4, & 5 *Lake Garda-July 6, 7 & 8 and *Venice - July 9 & 10 (Fly out of Rome on 11th) My hotel reservations are set but we would like to rent a car when leaving Rome and turn it in at Vicenza - catching the train into Venice & back to Rome. Am I being overzealous? Is this possible to do? Also, if anyone knows of "must eat at" places please share!

*Rome - July 1, 2 & 3 *
Tuscany - July 4, & 5 *
Lake Garda-July 6, 7 & 8 and *
Venice - July 9 & 10 (Fly out of Rome on 11th)

My hotel reservations are set but we would like to rent a car when leaving Rome and turn it in at Vicenza - catching the train into Venice & back to Rome

My Cup - well at least you've found your way here now. ideally in 10 days you'd only have a max of 3 [two is better] places to stay, but your 4 are just about doable as you don't have that far to go between each one.

of course it's possible to rent a car as you leave Rome and to return it to Vicenza, though it may be just as easy to drive it straight to Venice and return it there. your problem may be at the end of your stay - what time is your flight out of Rome? are you planning to get the train back to Rome on the 10th? or to leave it to the 11th? that might be quite a risky option.

ref places to eat, in Rome they are almost too numerous to mention, but there are a number of threads about recommended restaurants and the same in Venice.

have a great trip!

Cup: can you include more details? Like when you arrive, where you're staying in Tuscany and Lake Garda, and when you leave?

We could probably help more if we knew more.

For info on restaurants it would help to know who/how many you are (are there any kids) and what your budget is. With the exception of Venice (way too many tourists versus few locals) it's hard to get bad food in Italy (except for tourist traps). It's easy to recognize the latter, they are right near major tourist sights, the menus re listed in about 2 languages and they sometimes even have pictures of the food. Avoid like the plague any of these places.

Hi Cup,

FYI next trip:

You can fly into Venice and out of Rome or VV for just about the same price as RT one city.

This is called "open jaw".

It saves you a day of travel.

>...it may be just as easy to drive it straight to Venice and return it there...<
Good advice from Annh

Wow - thanks guys! We are two 50 yr old women leaving husbands & kids home! Arrival in Rome is 5p on the 30th, depart on the 11th at 7a. Wish I'd booked the "open jaw" but don't want to pay for the change now. We plan to take the train on the 10th. I will take the advice of driving the car to venice! We are staying at the H10(Rome), Casolare di Libbiano(near San Gimignano), Hotel Vela D'Oro(Bardolino), and Hotel Al Sole(Venice). Accomodations can be changed if anyone has a warning regarding these! Budget is moderate for dining.(30 to 40 euros per person, per meal?) Is driving that difficult and will traffic be less early morning, etc?

hi again, mycup,

with an early morning flight home, ideally you want to be in Rome as your last destination. and arriving on the 30th at 5pm, you have only 11 nights - a bit tight for staying in 4 separate places.

given that in July it doesn't get dark until late, I think that i would move your trip round. so that from arriving in Rome, you get the train straight to Venice; after 3 nights there pick EITHER lake garda OR tuscany, spend 4 nights, then go to Rome for your final 4 nights.