I've been planning this trip to Italy for my husband and I for the past few weeks. This site has helped me tremendously! Thank you so much! I think I have read every single thread ever posted on Italy in history! We leave on April 10th. I am frantically trying to sort of the last details and would appreciate any help you could suggest, esp. with car rentals. Here's our itinerary thus far:

Tues. April 11th 10 PM Arrive in Rome (Albergo Cesari)

Wed, Thurs., Friday day and nites in Rome

Sat. 15th early AM, - pick up car rental*

Visit Montepulciano, visit Montalcino, arrive in Fagiolari(farmhouse) in Panzano in Chianti for the next 2 nights

Easter Sunday: 5 PM cooking class and dinner at Fagiolari

Daytime: explore countryside, Siena? San Giomangi, Greve? Whatever we feel like doing

Monday 17th: 11AM - 3 ish Castello di Verrazzano ("Wine & Food Experience".)

Drive to Florecne and drop off the car*
Stay in Florence for the evening (Hotel Alessandra) & most of the next day

Tuesday: Quickly explore Florence, Accadamia reservations at 2 PM

When we feel like it (~4 - 7 PM) , take the train to Venice

Tues PM, Wed day & nigt: Venice (Locanda Orseolo)

Thursday 11:25 AM, flight to London, ~24 hours in London (Sanctuary House)

Friday 3 PM London to Los Angeles

My most pressing questions are:
1) Is it better to pick-up and drop off the car near our hotels in Rome & Florence or is it easiesr (although more expensive due to transportation to and fro the airports ) to pick-up and drop off at the airports?

2) Does it make more sense to just keep the car while in Florence (~24 hours - garage it) and drive to Venice? Cost-wise it is probably about the same.

3) Is there anything that stands out to you about our trip that I should be aware of, look into and/or perhaps change? I realize this is a bit of traveling around with only 10 days & 9 nights in Italy. As for driving, my husband doesn't mind driving. He gets a kick out of renting a car and driving in New York City!

I am looking forward to a wonderful trip and would appreciate any advice from you expert traveleres!!
I thank you in advance!

IMO which is, obviously, biased, I would ditch the car as soon as I hit Florence, Why pay an extra 24 hours or more to "garage it" if you aren't going to use it?

As to keeping it to drive to Venice...why stress yourself driving to Venice when all you are going to do when you GET there is turn the car in? This way, BOTH of you can kick back and enjoy the ride..."not minding" driving raises my suspicions slightly...I think he'd not mind taking the train even more!

Hi A,

For what it will cost you to take the train to Venice, you might be able to park the car and drive to Venice.

Check with your hotel re parking.

And you might want to look into reservations for the train to Venice or at least know when the train leaves.

Hi acristof, although I have had lots of trips by auto in Italy I would say in your case in that you want to leave Florence on a Tuesday between 4:00 to 7:00pm you could get into some real heavy traffic, especially trucks. One time when leaving Padua around 6:30pm my friend, Italian, was actually ready to lose it due to the traffic conditions driving from Padua towards Venice. In that you will not need the car in Florence, considering the traffic conditions you will probably have driving to Venice, I would return the car before the stay in Florence and than take the train to Venice..a little under 3:00 hour train trip. You will no doubt want to get into Venice in time to get checked into your hotel and get to a restaurant for dinner before closing so I would keep the time frame in mind when deciding what time to leave Florence. Best wishes.

Thank you all for your suggestions. We'll keep our plan and take the train to Venice. I have checked the train schedule and there are a lot of options. I don't want to buy ahead and lock into a time just yet. (Is that OK?) We probably will want to leave by 4 PM at the latest to get there, check in and enjoy the evening in Venice. I just know that it is going to be so hard to leave Florence after such a quick visit....But loveitaly, you are right, I do not want to lose that 1st night in Venice!Thanks again for all of your help! Alexis

To answer your question about where to pick up and drop off the car, I think it mostly depends on how comfortable the driver is (your husband?) with driving in a foreign city. To me (who doesn't mind driving in a foreign city, as long as my DH is navigating me), I'd rather avoid the extra time of dropping off/picking up the car at the airport (though we've done that, too).

We've picked up rental cars upon leaving Florence several times, and haven't had any problems getting out. Just make sure you have a good map (and a good navigator).

Several years ago, I was persuaded that dropping the car in Rome (at a drop-off at the train station, so we could take advantage of the signage to the station) was a bad idea, so we drove to the airport, and took a cab from there into the city. It worked out fine, though it took a little longer, but I still think I could have driven in!!

On driving the car to Venice, it's a close call, but I agree with the analysis about driving during rush hour; that would slow you down and much raise the stress levels.

We like driving in Tuscany - it's part of enjoying the beauty, to us. (Though when I'm navigating, I'm known for landing us on tiny back roads when I see a route that looks scenic). Just keep in mind that driving on roads off the autostrada will take you longer; they're almost all just one lane in each direction (difficult to pass), and can be curvy.

I suggest checking once more the daytime when to leave Florence. If it is true what one of the posters says that the train to Venice takes about 3 hours (I'm always traveling by car, so I don't know it myself), then it might be somewhat late to leave Florence at 4 p.m. Especially if you are first-timers in Venice, you'll need PLENTY of time to get to your hotel, to check in, and to find your way to a restaurant. Locanda Orseolo is easy to find, but not easy to reach from the rail station - even for a local, it's impossible to get there with luggage in less than half an hour, and if you don't know Venice really well, it will probably take you about one hour and 15 minutes (unless you take a boat taxi from the station, which is, however, unreasonably expensive - 60 Euros or so for a ride of less than 10 minutes). Now you'll still have to check in, and you'll want to take a shower... so you won't leave the hotel before 8.45 - and in the immediate surroundings, it would be a VERY bad idea to go for dinner. With no knowledge of that highly confusing city, you might well end up without having found a place where to get a proper meal - restaurants close surprisingly early in Venice, and most places don't accept clients after 9 - 9.30 p.m. (those restaurants which do are usually the typical tourist traps). All in all, I'd take an earlier train unless you already know Venice.

Hello acristof, I think you will be happy that you have made the decision to take the train to Venice. I wanted to say that I agree 100% with Franco's advice to you. I know you will want to spend every moment possible in Florence but that will be true no matter where in Italy you have to leave. You will want to enjoy your first evening in Venice without being a nervous wreck about the time, restaurants closing, etc. Giving yourself time to get to your Venice hotel, checking in, freshing up etc. will start your beautiful visit to Venice in a good and relaxing way.

We also attended the cooking class at Fogialari and enjoyed it. I might mention that while we there some overnight guests arrived and were very cold. This was in May, but the heat was off for the season and those old buildings can stay very cold. You might want to plan accordingly. Also be aware that the agriturisimo is down a long, rutted dirt road.

Thank you all for sharing your opinions and helpful, detailed information with me. We thought we scored and had booked a car through Hertz with a Navigation system in it. Unfortuantely, because of the one-way rental, this option isn't available to us. We look forward to a wonderful adventure together. We appreciate all of your advice.

My Mom and I returned from our two week trip in Italy last Tuesday (my trip report still hasn't written itself). I drove out of Rome and into Florence, with the Tuscan countryside in between. If you decide to drive out of Rome, I would suggest you consider renting from AutoEurope and picking up at the Borghese location. It is a great pick up location. Just make sure to be a great navigator! My Mom, who is really cute, decided that maybe she should start wearing her new reading glasses on the second to last day of our trip! Needless to say, we took a few wrong turns, but it should be simple for you.

Also, make sure you have very detailed directions to get to your destination in Florence. Ours did not account for all of the one way streets. After a couple of days in Florence, we took the train to Venice. We (me since I was doing all the driving) were glad to be rid of the car, as great as it was to have in the countryside. We left around 11am and that worked out well. Based on our experience, I wouldn't wait until 4pm to leave Florence. I would leave by 1pm at the latest.
We loved Venice and loved the Locanda Orseolo. It was a perfect stay and i would never stay anywhere else in Venice. All of the wonderful things that you have read about them are true. Venice was the perfect place to finish our trip. I loved Rome, but I find myself really missing Venice!

For what it is worth, we stayed 3 nights in Montalcino and loved it. We spent one night in San Gimignano and am glad that we stayed there only for the point of reference of how nice the other smaller and less crowded hill towns were. Despite the actual town being attractive, my Mom and I were so unimpressed with San Gimignano. We were there in the off season and it was still mobbed with tourists and I felt the town was just a tourist trap, void of charm. I would skip the time in S.G. and arrive in Florence earlier so that you could then take off for Venice earlier. I think you will be glad to have more time in Venice.

Have a WONDERFUL trip. Lucky you.