Hi I am planning on renting a car and driving from Venice to Assisi. I am traveling with my mother and we will be staying 2 nights in Assisi, then driving to Rome for another 2 nights. Does anyone have any suggestion of places to visit on our road trip from Venice to Assisi and then from our road trip from Assisi to Rome. Something special. its my first time driving in Italy so nothing dangerous please.
Richard
WIthout knowing your interests, it's hard to recommend which stops or even which route to take.
Are you doing the Venice-Assisi drive in one day, or would you consider staying overnight along the way? Ditto for the Assisi-Rome leg?
Driving from Venice to Assisi, you could go via Ravenna if you're particularly interested in the Byzantine empire. The mosaics are spectacular and unique, but to visit there will take you a few hours. The more direct route through Bologna and Florence will be more on main highways. South of Florence you could stop in Colle Val d'Elsa (known for crystal) and Siena before heading southeast via Perugia.
From Assisi to Rome, if you headed west via Montepulciano and Orvieto, those towns are popular tourist destinations. However, on the direct route south of Assisi is Spoleto, which is also popular (though not on main highway).
It's all toll roads/motorways from Venice to Rome. First town up is Verona. Second town would be Bologna, Third town would be Florence. Then Siena and/or San Gimignano.
Below Assisi, you've got Orvieto. You could turn the car in there (if a Hertz rental) and take the train into Rome Termini (70 minutes.)
Sounds as if you need to take a pick of a town, as maybe your time in Italy is short. Venice alone is a 3 day town, Florence is another 3 day town and Rome is worthy of a minimum 4 day visit.
A faster option would be to take a fast train (with reservations) from Venice to Florence. And take a cab to a car rental office in the city. Then head south. From Venice to Bologna is mostly a big flat plain that looks like Arkansas and is not that interesting.
Sorry if I wasn't more detailed in my interests. I am actually staying in Italy for 3 weeks. I start off in Rome for a few days and then off to Venice for a few days. Then lake maggiorno, Milan and Venice. Those cities will be our hub with excursions to sienna and San gimiano pisa, but at the end we will be in Venice and decided to rent a car and drive the last leg of the trip, with a 2 night stay in Assisi. Then back to Rome before we leave. Since I am driving from Venice to Assisi I would like to do a nice drive with a stop or two on our way to Assisi followed by Rome. I know if we stay in the main highway you really don't see much. So any thoughts of places to visit on our road trip would be appreciated. An example was Rimini or maybe San Marino, etc.
Citta di Castello and Gubbio would make nice stops on the way to Assisi
Ricky
I assume that you have read some/many/all of the threads on the Italy Forum about the things to watch out for when driving in Italy, so you can avoid major expense? If you need filling in on any or all of IDP, ZTL, cameras, TUTOR, or tolls, please ask for clarification.
There is often a flood of unhappy posts by (much poorer) drivers who didn't research the differences in driving in Italy.
