Upcoming Anniversary Trip

Denise, Madrid- rent car drive to Andaulcia-Barcelona- drop car BCN easyjet Barcelona-Lyon (around $35) rent car drive thru Provence drop car in Nice- train to Milan-Venice-Florence then rent car for drive thru Tuscany to Rome Drop car at Orvieto or Rome airport- train into Rome Do Not drive into any city they get you with tickets that are very expensive. I know this sounds a little crazy, but there is a charge for dropping a car in a different country. Ok if you're leasing, no cdw or drop charge. No point in a car in Milan, Venice or Florence just high priced parking. I know you give up some freedom by taking the train,but unless there are points between those cities that you want to see, it's not worth the trouble.
Have fun planning

Gerri's recommends are good. Starting and ending point are not terribly important. Use an open jaw ticket to min back tracking to get home. Probably start at most southern point and work north. May can still be cool and rainy and it can be hot by the end of May in places like Rome. Cars can be big problems in major cities. And some rentals will not let you take their cars into Italy. So you need to research your car rental option very carefully.

I would suggest returning the car before getting to Italy. The public transportation there is wonderful and cheap and driving is a hassle. You won't be able to drive into Rome, Florence or Venice so you'll have to find and pay for parking. It's also very expensive to drive in Italy. Most rentals companies charge extra and insist on insurance when driving there. Check out your options carefully before deciding. You can check out the train schedules and fares at: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD depending on the dates and times you are traveling you could qualify for the "mini" fares which are less than half price of the base fare. Donna

I look at costs and time of flights. I have noticed that there is a difference in cost when you compare flying into region A and out of region B with flying into region B and out of region A. Sometimes the cost isn't much but sometimes it is. I also look at what time the flight home leaves from a region and what time will it put me home. I don't want to deal with a flight that leaves at 7:30 in the morning out of Rome, but I also don't want to walk into my house at 1 am either because I took the 2 pm flight instead. Lastly I do look at airlines, especially those who have a strict carry-on policy, like Alitalia or that have me flying into another European country before I actually get to the states. i try to avoid those situations. When I compare my first European trip (Spain) with my last trip late 2010 (Italy), I see Spain more laid back than Italy. So with that said, maybe Italy first while you have a lot of energy and mental capacity (the hustle and bustle of ROme threw me into a frenzy, which is very unlike me), and then head west to France and Spain.