Adeline

Sounds like you have alot on your plate. Might I suggest one more thing. When my parents spent 3 weeks in Europe for their honeymoon, over 25 years ago, they were also just as ambitious about trying to see everything. They found that traveling by train was much more efficient than driving. They planned it out so that much their travel from country to country was done on the train at night. Not only did they get from one place to another without trying to navigate Europe (I live in Germany, it can get confusing sometimes), they were also able to save on hotel stays because they usually traveled through the night and slept on the train. Just another idea. Happy travels.

StCirq

michael:

I would suggest that you find some way to drop off the rental car within France and get to Rome by train. You'll probably be looking at a hefty drop-off fee to leave the car in a different country from the one you picked it up in. Besides, no sane person wants a car in Rome.
In Paris I often stay at the Hôtel de France, 102 Boulevard de la Tour Maubourg in the 7me. It's friendly, clean, in a nice neighborhood, and in your price range.

amcc

what an amazing trip! We love to travel by car, but check to see if you can maybe cut out the dropping it off in a different country as that was expensive for us on our last trip. For example, see if you can find a train from Munich to Venice and then pick up a car in Venice again once you start on the Italian leg of your journey. It will also save you the parking fee there.

On our honeymoon, we went from Venice to Siena, with a leisurely turn through Verona, Padua, a little of the Dolomites. Verona is a great place to spend a night as their plaza is one of the most lively I found in Venice and the city was great to walk around in. If you like architecture, Vicenza has many Palladian villas, and the countryside outside of Venice is dotted with villas you can tour.

isabel

Actually on more than one multi-country driving trip I priced out various options and found the different country drop fees were not enough to cancel the extra expense of two or more seperate car rentals. You obviously need to price it out yourself but I just never found it was worth it to do several different rentals just to keep them within one country. AutoEurope is a good place to start, they usually, though not always, have the best deals. I usually start with their web site but then call the 800 number once I have an idea of what I want, sometimes it's less expensive that way.

I would consider dropping your car in Orvieto and taking the train that last hour or so to Rome. I didn't drive in Rome but just walking there I was soooo glad I took everyone's advice and didn't drive there (and I drive in Manhattan and Boston). Plus Orvieto is worth a stop anyway, very nice town.

I think your trip sounds great.

Adeline

Just one more suggestion if you're driving...pay extra and get the on-star system on your rental car if you can, or check out the web site mappy.com for European driving directions. I know you can get directions on mapquest and other more US specific sites, but mappy is very specific to Europe. It can be hard to drive here and this site provides you with written directions, maps, as well as what the signs look like that you will see as you drive. I highly recommend it, or you will get lost.

joegri

Michael: Eminently doable! Really sounds like a neat trip. I agree one night in Pisa is enough, but I would do the one night. Not central enough for a base. Stop in Siena or Florence for a couple of nights and add a day to Venice which will romance the pants off you; even after six years. Don't let anyone talk you out of the car. It is the only way to really see Europe. Congratulations and have a great trip.