Italy

The first thing to do is buy a guidebook. Rick Steves Italy works very well. Might hit your local library and check out some travel DVDs. Now that you have some ideas, you might come back here and tell us what you like to see and do, so someone can give you some recommendations without taking a lot of shots in dark which wastes a lot of time and effort.

Based on the amount of cars in Rome I'd say renting one is mandatory although there isn't much left to see that isn't ruined.

No reason to rent a car in Rome and lots of reasons not to. You need a car in Tuscany only if you want to go to different small hilltop towns. Otherwise, the train is the way to go. Also, you might want to edit your topic name, since this is the Italy section, after all, and all topics are about Italy.

Well, what do you like? Big city or small village? Hill towns, beaches, lakes, mountains, modern city full of glass sky scrapers? Art, architecture, history, gardens, people watching, fun in the sun, hiking, water sports, etc.? Without any idea what things you enjoy, how can we give you suggestions?

I am interested in old cities,, history, churches nothing
modern just the plain every day life in Italy

Well old cities narrows Italian cities down by about 5%. The Cinque Terre is a group of 5 small medieval seaside villages. Volterra is so old that it has a 2500 year old Etruscan wall. Orvieto has some old Etruscan caves. Places like Siena and San Gimignano haven't changed hardly at all since medieval times. Venice was a major shipping empire until about 500 years ago and hasn't changed much since then. Verona has a roman arena that is still used for concerts. Pompeii And Herculaneum were frozen in time nearly 2000 due being buried in 30 feet of ash from Mt. Vesuvius. Ravenna has beautiful Byzantine mosaics. Has this helped at all, or do you need further ideas?

I really enjoyed as a half-day trip from Rome - Appia Antica (Appian Way) - the ancient Roman road...there are some catacombs there (the origin of catacombs I guess) and some really ancient ruins (Tomb of Cecilia Metella is neat)...and walk up the road to see the remnants of the ancient road complete with the chariot wheel ruts! I really enjoyed it - it was a lovely late Sept day and was a highlight for is. You can take the bus from Coliseum, I think it was 20-30 min, but it was 4 yrs ago - may have been longer, may have been shorter

" I am interested in old cities,, history, churches nothing
modern just the plain every day life in Italy" You have just described Pistoia, an unspoiled gem about 15 miles from Florence.

Richard, you're having a good time on April Fool's Day, aren't you? Kid, I've never needed a car in/around Rome. I've only rented a car in Tuscany when I was traveling with some friends. Tuscany is doable by train/bus. If you are staying in Florence and renting a car, check out some of the posts in this forum relating to restricted driving areas and tickets that are issued for violations. From Rome, a day trip to Orvieto would be great, also to Ostia Antica (the old port of Rome). From Florence, depending on what you like to do, there are several nearby towns/cities: Siena, Montalcino, Montepulciano. If you want to go a little further east into Umbria for a couple of nights, there's Assisi and a host of other medieval hill towns. As suggested, guidebook will be helpful, as will more information on what your interestes are.

Don't forget to use Google Maps Streetview as a planning resource, and also flickr.com or some equivalent photo sharing site to get a sense of a place before you make a decision.