We plan on staying in Venice for 2 nights and then driving to (a town?) convenient for parking the car and backpacking by train into Florence for an overnight and day of museums. Everything I read tells me driving into Florence isn't worth the challenges. We will then train back out to the parked car and continue the road trip down thru Tuscany and Montepulciano ultimately ending in Rome.
We will most likely stop in Bologna for lunch en route and looking for suggestions for a town with great character and convenience to train into Florence yet convenient for continuing on toward Tuscany. Also interested to read your itinerary suggestions and or routes that will include great scenic routes, must sees along with food and wine stops.