I will be in Florence for 5 days and I am thinking of renting a car. Is the countryside worth the drive?

If the purpose of the car is to explore the countryside outside of Florence, definately! But if you are planning to stay in the city, skip a car. Driving in the city is chaos! We rented a car in Florence, and couldn't wait to get away from the city, due to the traffic. We based ourselves in the Chiant area, and planned on going back to Florence to explore the city. We ended up taking a bus back into Florence, to avoid the traffic. Too many crazy drivers!!!

Good advice - a car in Florence itself is a handicap, rather than a help. It may be worth it to get around some of the countryside, but there are buses to do that, so really, you could avoid the expense of car rental altogether.

I would not recommend renting a car while in Florence, it is a small enough city to navigate completely by foot. Trains go into and out of the city to outlying towns so you could make a few of those day-trips, while keeping Florence as your base.

The countryside IS worth the drive, but rent the car at the Florence airport, which is on the outskirts of the city. Then you're not dealing with city traffic, and you'll be out in the countryside within 20 minutes.