After receiving such great advice from people on this helpline, I thought some quick tips could serve as "payback" and might be helpful as you're planning your trip:
TRANSPORTATION:
- train service is excellent
- we rented a car and enjoyed it, but likely woudn't do so again - not really worth the worry, despite the fact that it allowed us to explore some hidden places in Tuscany
- trains in Cinque Terre are frequent and easy
- buy a vaporetto pass in Venice - you think you won't use it, you think everything is within walking distance, but individual tickets are quite expensive
- take everyone's advice and use "official" taxi services, especially in Rome and especially from train stations
- use Romecabs (www.romecabs.com) for a ride from the airport into Rome and return. Very reliable, very friendly, hassle free - Enza was our driver and she was fun and informative
- flights from North America to Italy are very long - if you're tempted to arrange a flight with a connection somewhere just to save a few dollars, think again. The flight is a means to an end, and especially coming home, a direct flight is worth its weight in gold!
- this might be just a personal thing, but we found the ViaMichelin "mapquest" directions extremely confusing and difficult to follow. If you have the choice, I would opt for Mapquest or Google Maps instead
To be continued