car rental for italy, florence to venice

I like renting through autoeurope.com. I've used them many times and never had a bad experience. In Italy drivers need an International Drivers Permit (IDP), which you can get at any AAA office. You should also get as much insurance coverage as you can. I always buy the super CDW, which covers you fully and doesn't require dealing with any third parties.

autoeurope though I would choose train travel Florence to Venice
and just rent car for countryside driving

A thread you might want to review: http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/helpline/index.cfm?fuseaction=readtopic&topicID=28422&page=2

Karen, Don't forget for driving in Italy that each driver will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. Failure to produce an IDP if requested can result in fines on the spot. Cheers!

Unless you are planning side trips on the way to Venice, I would suggest you take the EuroStar train, first or second class. Takes about 3 1/2 hours. There is not that much scenery between Florence and Venice compared to other areas. Mostly farmlands and small towns.

From where do I take the Eurostar? Florence? You say it's 3 1/2 hrs? We would have to add the 2hrs from Assisi where we are staying 1 night. We wanted at least 1 day to drive through that area

Also, we still need to pay for 2 days for the car; this would add to the cost to buy 2 train txs

High-speed EuroStar Italia trains make the run between Florence and Venice in 2 hours, not 3 1/2.

Tim is correct about the 2hrs for the EuroStar. I forgot that we took the "milk train" the last time we went from Venice to Florence, not the EuroStar, which is much faster but more expensive.