Hello Fodorites - My wife and I will be travelling to Italy later this month, spending time in Florence and Venice. We will be renting a car to travel between the two cities and would like to spend a night in a small town somewhere in between. Does anyone have a recommendation for a small town or rural hotel we could stay in between the two, probably in eastern tuscany or emilia-romagna?

I'm topping this for you and also asking a question. Is the only reason you're renting a car to travel between Florence and Venice? If so, you don't need a car in either of those cities and it's very easy to take the train between the two. If you want a taste of a smaller city you can always add that night on in Florence and daytrip to Siena, Arezzo or San Gimignano.

Ditto, tf.

I would get a car only to spend 3-4 days between the two cities.

Thank you for the responses. The car would not be so much to get from point A to B but rather to spend a couple days travelling the countryside instead of spending it in a city. We've done similar itineraries in Spain and France, but do you think it's not worth it in Italy?

Regarding your suggestion, travelfan1, if we were to add an extra night in Florence, would you recommend renting a car for the day to see the small towns and countryside or is that something better done by train?

There's a difference between spending 1 night and several. If several nights, how about southern Tuscany in the Val d'Orcia area. You can visit Montepulciano, Montalcino, Pienza, etc. It will extend your driving time between the two locations - we'll be driving from this area returning to Venice in the spring. Our last trip visiting Venice and Florence was strictly by train. We did day trips from Florence to Siena (1 hr bus right into the "old" part of town) and took the train to Arezzo. Both were wonderful and easy daytrips and no hassles with a car. You don't want a car in Florence.

Someone else may be able to recommend some towns which wouldn't be out of the way - if it's for several nights.

Have a wonderful trip.

Modena's a nice place to stop for a night. The historic center and duomo are compact and easy to enjoy in a few hours, and really pretty and a night is enough time to enjoy a fabulous dinner. Modena's really great for food. La Gola is one of my favorite restaurants, and right behind the Hotel Donatello...which is also a nice hotel with fair prices.