driving in Italy

If you do not want to travel on the highway, there are several alternatives, you can take the road to Faenza (Via Faentina), Ravenna, Chioggia and Venice or go to Bologna, Ferrara, Rovigo, Venice. I personally traveled by bike several times the road that goes to Ravenna, crosses the Po Delta to Chioggia and I liked it.

When I was a young student with no money, I drove from Florence to Trieste all on regular highways, because I wanted to save the freeway tolls. That was a waste of time, because it takes twice as long to go anyplace. Also if you run into a truck in front of you on a two way highway, forget it.
Personally I don't find anything interesting to see between Bologna and Venezia Mestre. It's all flat farm land and factories with lots of trucks on the road which make it difficult to pass. Just a boring as driving in the midwest plains. If you want to take the via Bolognese between Florence and Bologna, instead of the A1 freeway, that's ok. It's nice driving through the Apennines and it's pretty (however it's a two lane highway with difficult passing) . Maybe you can stop at Sasso and see Guglielmo Marconi's (inventor of the radio) house. But as soon as you hit Casalecchio, outside Bologna, I'd get back on the freeway and drive the rest of the way to Venice on the freeway.

a tip for you, on these roads if you find a truck in front of you, you will spend hours before to pass it, however, the trucks can not be driven on the weekend, so this is a good time to move on these roads.

When driving the autostrade from Florence to Bologna, the first 50 miles or so is pretty congested and a little mountainous. From Bologna over to Venice looks like Northern Illinoisflat as a board and fast moving. When going into Venice on the causeway, pay attention to the speed limit. They have radar cameras installed. I was later charged by Hertz for a ticket they paid and $44 for their service fees. Just beware to adhere to the speed limit. We ran up to Venice from Certaldo on a day trip, and had no problems parking in large parking garages. We took the water bus into St. Marks and back to the garage. In a week driving throughout Chianti and Tuscany, we had no problems with anything. The roads are a joy to drive from hill town to hill town. You'll get your fill of back roads going to San Gim, Volterra and other cities.

There is no problem driving on back roads. I did it on our last trip. It is helpful to have a GPS. It is slower and can be frustrating, however, you get to experience smaller towns and a more unique experience.

Be sure to get the IDL for anyone in car or pay heavy fines.

Something to keep in mind.....this time of year the fog can get very thick to where it's no more than a few feet visibility. Do-able on the autostrada but could be a problem on those smaller back roads.

Thank you all for the helpful information. I think we are going to simply bee-line from Tuscany to Venezia and save the exploration for driving from greater Roma to Firenze. I have been reading some on the Maremma area which seems enticing. Any suggestions or reports on Piombino Peninsula and surroundings?

Piombino area--take the car ferry over to Elba and spend a few days driving around there. Beautiful. Much nicer than I expected and we liked it better than Maremma.

Forget Piombino. That's useful only to take the Ferry to Elba. If you do you'll like Elba, however it's time consuming since the ferries aren't that fast. On the coastal side of Tuscany, if you decide to take that route betw Rome and Florence, I suggest that you visit Capalbio and the Peninsula of Monte Argentario. From Porto Santo Stefano you could take a ferry and visit the Island of Giglio. Just make sure the Ferry isn't piloted by Captain Schettino of the Costa Concordia :-) More to the north, still in Maremma, the area in the Commune of Manciano is the best(Terme di Saturnia, Pitigliano, Montemerano, Sorano, Sovana). But take a look below. Don't forget to taste acquacotta and wild boar dishes.
http://maremma.guidatoscana.it/en/default.asp

Again, thanks. Yes, the more I read on Maremma, the more I am drawn. We love hiking and history so it seems that we will find much to engage. The link you provided, Roberto, was very helpful.