landscape venice to rome??

Personally I would not give up a night in Venice for a single night in Tuscany. One night stops are just not worthwhile, IMHO. I liked the ride between Venice and Rome. You'll see some nice scenery, but also railyards, of course. If you want to experience a hilltown, you could daytrip to Orvieto from Rome, if you have time. It's only an hour away from Rome by train.

Julie, as you get closer to Rome, you'll have views of the Castelli Romani from the train.

I was recently in Rome for New Year's and took a day trip to Orvieto. It's only 1 hour 20 minutes by train. I'd do that rather than breaking up your travel from Venice to Rome. Tuscany really deserves more than a night and you'll get a good view from the train without having to rent a car and worry about driving instead of "seeing".

Julie, The answer to your question probably depends to some degree on personal preference. I've travelled by train from Venice to Rome, and find the scenery to be beautiful, especially through Bella Toscana. While some of the hilltowns will be somewhat "in the distance" they're still quite visible. As you'll likely be travelling via EuroStar Italia / Alta Velocita, the scenery will be passing by the window at a fairly quick pace! If you've never travelled on the fast trains, "The Train Ride" will give some sense of the speed (this was on the Florence-Rome section). How many days will you be spending in Venice? That may have a bearing on whether or not to spend one night in Tuscany. I don't really care for "one night stops", but will occasionally do that if the circumstances fit. You could also stop in Florence for a night, as that's also in Tuscany. However, in that case the scenery will be the same from there to Rome, as the train will be following the same route. Siena is further to the west so the route will be different, and more travel time will be involved. Happy travels!

To everyone who has replied to my question, a million thanks. I so appreciate having feedback from those who have already done this. To Ken, Thanks for "The Train Ride". It did help to see what I would be seeing from the window. We will be in Venice Thursday afternoon, and plan to spend three nights there, and leave sunday morning. I also don't like the idea of doing the "one night", but I thought it would be okay to do a day of driving from Florence to Siena, stay the night in Monterrigioni, (my son really does want to see that town) head out the next morning, continuing our drive back through Montepulciano and/or Pienze until we get to Chiusi or Orvieto, drop the car, and head to rome, where we will have monday night through thursday night. We will be leaving for the states on Friday. I am traveling with my teenage son, and we are not on a mission to "see" all the landmarks, but rather to get a taste of Tuscany, since we really don't have several days to "do" Tuscany. If it seems too ambitious, we may still opt for the train straight to Rome. I will continue to digest all the advice. There really are a lot of options. I also don't know if it is realistic to wake up in Monterrigioni and do a liesurely drive to Chiusi to catch the train for Rome. I thought if we get to Rome in late afternoon or early evening, it would still be okay. Thanks again for all the help.
julie

Dawn, You echo my thoughts about whether dealing with getting a car is worth it, weighing it against the simplicity of traveling through and taking in the sights, whatever they are. Perhaps the bus from Florence to Siena and then to the train station to head for rome would be a better option. If we can't spend real time in tuscany, we thought it would at least be nice to experience the hill country from the window. Orvieto is a good option for a day trip to a town, but don't know if we really get a taste of the tuscan landscape that way.
thanks.