To rent a car or not - travelling with toddler

No need. All those places are connected by rail, easily accessible, fast, and relatively inexpensive. You'd only need a car if you want to get to some inaccessible hil town...and even then, most of them have good bus service. I certainly wouldn't drive in Rome, Florence, or Paris...and a car's not much use in Venice.

No need. All those places are connected by rail, easily accessible, fast, and relatively inexpensive. You'd only need a car if you want to get to some inaccessible hil town...and even then, most of them have good bus service. I certainly wouldn't drive in Rome, Florence, or Paris...and a car's not much use in Venice.

EDITED

Train it. No need for a car in Venice (for obvious reasons), Rome, or Florence. You don't want to drive in the latter as they have restricted traffic zones (ZTL) where you will be fined heavily if you enter them (especially Florence). It's insane to drive in Rome anyway. If you want to, rent a car in Florence at the AIRPORT and drive to Pisa and Siena, otherwise take the bus or train. The Autostrada entrance is just outside the airport. Travel between the major cities by train and walk Venice, Florence, and Rome (whenever possible). Rome is very walkable, but more spread out. In Rome, I would use taxis when needed instead of hauling the kiddo on and off of buses with all the toddler paraphernalia. The buses in Rome can be extremely crowded, and with the distraction of a toddler you may be a good target for a thief.

Sonia, now for a mother's perspective. In reference to your Italy itinerary, yes, you can travel to all of those cities by train. However, there is a bigger consideration for you--you are travelling with a toddler. I commend you for doing this trip with a little one and you're going to have a great time. However, it will definitely be challenging. This is one aspect of your trip you can control--how you get from point A to point B in the easiest way possible. Besides your luggage, your child's luggage, and a diaper bag, are you going to have a stroller, or a child's seat for the airplane? You are also going to be carrying your toddler in your arms many times. Can you carry everything up and down stairs and through train stations, sometimes running to catch your train. Rent a car for convenience and your sanity.

We have driven to several of the cities on your itinerary. However, we do not drive into the city--we stay on the outskirts. Yes, if you stay on the outskirts, you are still going to have "stuff" to take with you on public transportation. However, you can scale it down.

One other thought: when travelling in a car, your child can be in his own seat, out of your arms, and sleeping on the longer trips. Again, it's just my opinion but I do think you'll enjoy yourself more if you rent a car. Either way, have fun on your trip making lifetime memories with your family!

As a mom, I agree with Denise. I took the baby to Greece when she was 3 months old and it was great to have the car--naps in the car! Privacy and a place to stow the gear. A toddler, gear and luggage will be lot to handle on trains and buses and annoy some others, as I'm sure you are imagining. Not fun for you, unless your partner will really be "onboard." Unfortunately, if you get a small car, you may have to plan to stay outside the cities and train in, as you cannot take cars into Italian cities as others have posted. But, there are car parks right outside the cities with fees, too. Our family party of 5 is doing just that for two weeks soon. After a lot of shopping around, we got a great rate for a van (far less than all the train tickets for 5 of us) and we will be staying near, but not in, Siena, Florence and Venice. This gives us the opportunity to see the Tuscan hill towns, stop at will, and stay at a winery in Chianti. We pick up the van after several car-free days in Rome. Good luck and have fun!

We too usually travel by car with our family. We did so in Italy as well.

However, we did not rent the vehicle till AFTER we've seen Rome. A car in Rome is a headache (hard to find parking, crazy traffic) and the city is quite compact and walkable.

In Tuscany we stayed not in Florence. We stayed at an agriturismo (very child friendly with a playground and pool) and took the bus into Florence for a daytrip. Most parking lots are still quite a distance from the historic centre, the bus station got us closer. We did use the car for a daytrip to Siena as the there are some parking lots (e.g. Stadium) well outside the restricted areas and still not too far from the historic centre.

As the other answers show as well, if you travel by car you'd better stay outside of the large cities. If you want to stay right in the big cities the car won't work well.

You didn't say how you fly in/out of Italy. If you fly into Rome you could take a taxi to bring you to your hotel with all your stuff and spend a few days in the city. When you're ready to leave rent a car and spend some time in Tuscany. Head to Venice, drop the car at the train station or airport and take a taxi into the historic centre. And from there a taxi back to the airport to fly home. Or do it all the other way around :-)

Toddler or not, cars are a headache especially in the cities you will be visiting. Toddlers in trains is a common sight.

I enjoy the freedom of a car in almost every travel scenario. Those confined to trains miss out on a lot of the countryside and spontaneous side trips. But, if you are only interested in the big cities you listed, a car will be more of a hindrance than a benefit. I also hope you planned a toddler friendly itinerary. Not too many museums and plenty of play time

I would do Florence and Tuscany to Rome by car. Skip Venice until the toddler is older. It will be a magical place for a school aged child. This will give you more days in Tuscany area. Plus Venice is a maze and will involve a lot of walking and very few parks or other toddler things to stop and see... plus the added stress of water everywhere. I would skip it with a toddler.
Rent the car outside Florence not in the City. Leave the car in Chiusi or Orvieto and train the rest to Rome. Florence and Rome are doable with a toddler. Just plan in some park time.
Having a car with a toddler is a must for napping and will be a more relaxing way to see Italy.