Hi, people!

I will be in Italy for 8+ days (Jan. 6-15). This will be my second trip as I spent two weeks in the country 10 years ago. My plan is to rent a car and fit in as much sightseeing as possible.

Here's my general plan:
Jan. 6 - arrive to Rome.
Jan. 7 - start driving North, do some sightseeing and spend the night in Siena.
Jan. 8 - Pisa and Lucca.
Jan. 9 - Venice
Jan. 10 - Venice
Jan. 11 - Florence
Jan. 12 - Florence
Jan. 13 - Returning to Rome (I'll return my rental car as son as I'm back in Rome).
Jan. 14 - Rome
Jan. 15 - Rome (or Pompeii???).

Good? Bad? Ugly?

Thanks in advance for your comments!

Hi
You've got 7-8 stops in 10 days.
It's a whirlwind.
I think at most you should have three major stops, with perhaps one or two daytrips if for some reason you find yourself bored where you are.
None of the places you are going to require having a car, or did you want one for a specific reason?
What will you do with the car while you are in Venice?

Gramercy, thanks for your reply. I don't see the 7-8 stops you're referring to. I think that Rome, Florence and Venice are my major stops and Siena, Pisa and Lucca are the kind of side trips you may be referring to.

I wanted to have a car to give myself flexibility, make as many stops as I wish and be able to see a couple of gems (e.g., between Rome and Florence) hardly reachable by public transport. Not having to carry my luggage is also a plus. I don't plan on driving in inner cities - would probably park the car as soon as I got to Siena/Florence/Venice.

Too much in too short a time. With only 8 days, you shouldn't do more than 2 or maybe 3 cities.

Do you have tickets already? Are you locked into flying in/out of Rome? It doesn't make any sense to back track to Rome on such a short trip. If you could fly into Rome and out of Florence or Venice, that would be better.

You really should NOT drive in Rome, Florence or Pisa and you can't drive in Venice. I wouldn't rent a car. There's no need to.

EugeneNY, whether they are stops or overnighters or daytrips from somewhere else, by my count you are trying to see 7 or 8 places in 10 days.
Unless this is a return trip to Italy and, for example, you've already spent more sigificant time in Rome, Florence, and/or Venice, this is way too much in my opinion. and I still am not sure why you feel the car is going to help. Driving into those towns and finding parking can be a nightmare; parking outside of town and taking a bus to the center takes up a lot of time as well.

Although you think having a car will allow for spontaneity/flexibility, the ground you're trying to cover precludes much variation from the basic itinerary. Just parking the car anywhere presents an entire set of challenges (including in smaller towns a fair amount of walking to/from the city center). And what about driving in bad weather?

Suggestions: Book open-jaw flights into Rome and out of Venice. Use public transportation; don't rent a car. Skip Pisa, Lucca and Pompei. When you arrive in Rome, don't spend the first night there; keep moving to the next destination.

I totally agree with the other posters - reduce the number of places you want to stop & visit, and take a train instead of a car.

Early January is not the most scenic time to be in the countryside of Italy. In order to adhear to your schedule, you will have to take the freeway most of the time, and very few "gems" are next to feeways or can be spoted from the freeway. If you pick up the car in Rome, head north, and get off the freeway near Montepulciano and try to visit Montepulciano, Pienza, San Quirico, & Montalcino (or only 1 or 2 of these), and then on to Siena - that will leave you with almost zero time to see Siena itself. It will be dark by 4:30.

Are you aware that Jan 8 is a Sunday and almost all shops in both Siena and Lucca will be closed then. In Lucca, they pull down corrigated aluminum shutters (usually covered with grafiti) over the store windows so you can't even window shop. We were in Lucca during the lunch closing several years ago, and it looked like they were preparing for an invasion. It was quite dreary. Both Rome and Venice are just as enjoyable on a Sunday as on any other day of the week. Start your trip at one of those two spots, and stay there 3 days.

I've driven in or out of all the cities on your list - it's not a pleasant experience.

Stu Dudley

A belated thank you for everyone's responses. We decided to go ahead with renting a car but will cut down on the number of cities we will be visiting. Thanks again.