my first trip to tuscany/venice help!!!
 

My husband and I are arriving in Rome the 26 of Sept. spending one night there because ofarrival time and then heading to florence by train. Staying 3 nights at Relais Certosa Hotel. Any comments there would help. Then renting car and exporing. Lucca,Cinque Terre??? Three nights open. Train to Venice for three nights Train to Milan 1 night then home. Should we keep car and drive to venice and Milan. Or is driving too crazy? Thanks for any input.

Lucky you, Venice is my favorite place. I would probably ask about dropping off the car in Venice since you won't be able to use it while you are there and then take the train to Milan. I love taking trains and find it relaxing and much easier than driving.

Better keep an eye out for the weather in Venice as your departure date approaches. With all the flooding in Europe this year, Venice is likely to fall victim also. Enjoy your trip.

If you are renting a car, you should better head south towards the Chianti area or northeast toward the Casentino area. Lucca and Cinque terre are easier (and cheaper) to visit by train. Also, you might consider to use the car for only two days: take your car and head south towards Siena, crossing Chianti, spend the night in some agriturismo and the next day visit San Galgano, Volterra, a dn Massa Marittima as you move north towards Florence again. Spend one more night in Florence and in the morning take a train to Lucca. One more night in Florence and in the morning take the train to Venice. In case Venice is floded, consider moving west to the Cinque terre area (better if you do not stay in Cinque terre: they are nice for a one-day hike, but for longer stays I would suggest village La Francesca in Bonassola, further west: http://www.villaggilafrancesca.it/ or staying in Santo Stefano di Magra on the nearby mountains), than further west exploring (you can do it by train).

Ome nore thing: booth Genova and Venice are beautifully connected by train with Milano, so you will not need a car.