driving outiside of Rome

In my opinion...

Question 1) I would allocate more time for Florence than Venice -- perhaps doing them as part of a loop. Maybe something like starting the trip in Rome, then travel to Venice to spend the afternoon/evening, night in Venice, head over to Florence on the second afternoon, spend 2-3 nights and 2-3 days in Florence, then back to Rome.

Question 2) I like trains, particularly for trips that exceed a couple of hours, which these do. A car does you no good in Venice nor Florence, so I wouldn't bother with using one to connect them.

Having driven in both Boston and Rome -- you would only have minor adjustment issues if you chose to drive there... Roman Taxi drivers are like Manhattan taxi drivers lost in Boston. But, who wants to? When we lived in CT, we'd drive to Framingham, MA and catch the train in to Boston. Same concept.

Now... the advice you didn't ask for:

While home-basing in Rome for 2 weeks, a side trip to Pompeii and/or Herculaneam is a must-see.

I would definitely not rent a car. Train travel is very easy in Italy & much less stressful. We rented a car in Tuscany this past September but driving in Tuscany is much different than driving to/from Venice, Florence & Rome. You definitely don't want to drive in Florence or Rome; you will surely get a ticket...and there's no use for a car in Venice.

I would fly into Milan Malpensa, take the train to Venice & start your trip in Venice. Next, Florence & then end the trip in Rome. I assume when you say that you will be in Italy for 2 weeks that you mean 14 days. I would spend 4 nights in Venice. Your first day will be spent recovering from jet lag & taking the train from Milan to Venice so that really leaves 3 full days in Venice. I'd spend 2 days exploring Venice and 1 day in Burano/Murano (an easy day trip from Venice).

Next, I would spend 3 nights in Florence & perhaps work in a day trip to Siena. Finally, Rome! I would spend the remainder of your time in Rome & take day trips. Definitely visit Orvieto; it's a vibrant and interesting town. I would also take day trips to Ostia Antica & Tivoli (Hadrian's Villa &/or Villa d'Este). There is a lot to do in Rome & I think a minimum of 4 days can easily be spent in Rome itself. I would fly out of Rome; most airlines don't charge extra for open-jaw itineraries. Have a wonderful time in Italy!

Michelle - Having grown up driving in Boston I know that you can drive anywhere!! But , actually my thought after many, many years in Italy(Since I'm Italian) would be torent the car in Florence and spend at least a few days experiencing Tuscany, and possibly Liguria with Le Cinque Terre. There are those on here that simply are afraid to drive in Europe - No reason to be - the roads, in many cases, are better than our's and you won't be sorry.
The train from Florence to Venice is easy and very pleasant. I can guarantee one thing - You will love Italy!!

Go Red Sox, Greg

I've driven into Venice and Florence and wouldn't recommend it.

Venice is a zoo. We parked at a secure private parking lot, rather than the main one. It took at least an hour to park and retrieve our car and was very expensive.

Florence issues massive amounts of tickets to people who drive in the city center in a car not registered locally. We knew this up front and found a garage about a mile north of the center. We had one carry on each but were still not thrilled to pack them a mile to our hotel to avoid a ticket.

Parking costs significantly increased our overall cost of staying in both cities.

If you aren't planning an activity where you need a car (roaming in the country), it's better to take the train and save yourself the bother.

If a car is neccesary, I'd park on the mainland outside of Venice and train into town. It will be faster, cheaper and safer (for the car). For Florence, I'd find lodging outside the center where you can park your car. Pick a place with convenient public transportation into town so you can get downtown to see the sites.

If you do drive, bring a GPS. You will be glad to have one as Italy's signage presents some pretty major obstacles.

Let me see if I get this right.

1 -- no need to drive in Rome

2 -- really, really hard to drive in Venice

3 -- driving in Florence will break the bank

4 -- trains connect all three cities

What was the question again?

Four days in Rome, two in Florence, two in Venice; that's eight (maybe). If there are a couple left over for the hill towns, do them from Florence in a car.

Point taken Ed :)! Just to clarify- it is MY HUSBAND-not me who wants to and will be driving. His rationale is that it will be cheaper to drive TO to these destinations, park and then do everything on foot VS 4 people paying for trains and schlepping luggage. It also gives us more freedom to travel to the smaller locations. I put the question out there for support :)!

"I put the question out there for support :)!"

Michelle - Anyone thinking about driving in Florence, or trying to think of reasons not to do that, should read/browse this discussion thread.

Cheaper. Hmmm. If you need support maybe you should put your husband in charge of researching the price of rental cars, insurance, gasoline and parking in Italy. Even with the four of you, I suspect he may be applying American ideas about driving, parking, car rental in Italy. Remember theft insurance will be mandatory. Cars are much smaller so unless all four of you and your bags will fit into a Fiat Panda, you will need to rent something larger for four people and luggage. That is harder to find and more expensive. If you do fit in that Panda you will not have as comfortable of a drive as you are used to. As far as schlepping unless you plan your whole vacation around finding lodging near parking lots outside of city center, you will park no where NEAR your hotels so your car will be a nuisance. You may incur taxi charges getting to your hotel or have to schlepp on the bus.

Drive through Tuscany though, it's worth it.

Just got back from 2 weeks in italy. i realize everyone says not to drive, but frankly, we love it. my husband does the driving and i do the navigating. we always pick up our rental at the airport, and yes, for 4 people it IS cheaper (even with gas and tolls) than taking a train. not sure about venice, but in florence, parking is free at piazzale michelangiolo and you can take the 12 or 13 bus to cross the arno into town. very easy. it took about 3 hours to get from rome to florence. you have tremendous freedom to stop when you want and see the scenery of tuscany. even better is driving the amalfi coast. we also got to climb mount vesuvious. all for $127 car rental including the CDW insurance (for a citroen picasso 4 door with hatchback) plus gas. with 4 people, i'd never take a train. then on your last day you just take yourself back to the airport and drop off the car.