Venice to Rome - August 2014 Help please

I know very little about car rentals. For the most part, a car will a hassle except for touring Tuscany. If you are renting a car, don't stay in Florence, but stay at an agritourismo in Tuscany. You can day trip into Florence to see the "biggies".

Add a night to Florence/Tuscany. The other 2 nights could be Cinque Terre, Orvieto, Assisi, or Sorrento/Amalfi coast. If you go to Sorrento, you will need to take some time from elsewhere, as you will need at least 3 nights there.

As for a kitchen, I guess that depends on your travel style. If you are going to be spending all day visiting sights, wineries, etc., and enjoying your time there, you won't have time to cook. Most places will provide breakfast, so you are only on the hook for lunch and dinner, plus gelato breaks. Besides Italian food is one of the greatest pleasures about travel in Italy.

One nice thing about a kitchen while traveling is the extra space it gives you and with 3 people that is always a good thing. We always appreciate an apartment type place (if you are going to be there more than 1 or 2 nights) and it is nice to have breakfast and coffee there. We have never actually cooked while having a kitchen. The food is too good elsewhere.

Auto Europe's car rental numbers are quite straightforward. There are not usually extra fees to drop in a different city, but there can be fees associated with a specific location within a city. Basic CDW and any required insurance are included in the initial price quotes. Your pick-up voucher will state any other fees based on pick-up location, local tax, etc. Super-CDW (coverage for the deductible portion of the insurance) is usually offered for sale at pick up. You can make the booking online without paying, get a draft voucher by email, and review it before calling Auto Europe with your credit card number.

I have driven this whole route, but now lean toward fast trains to connect the big cities. See also today's discussion at https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/drive-frim-rome-to-chianti-or-train-to-florence-then-dtive. You will have to park outside of Florence's city center; see p. 504-5 of Rick's Italy book and www.firenzeparcheggi.it.

You may have already taken care of this, but to ensure your rental car experience doesn't wind up possibly costing you more than you'd bargained for, be sure all drivers have an International Driving Permit (obtainable at AAA offices in the USA). Your rental company can confirm this for you, but we've usually found that there are sometimes extra fees for picking up a car at an airport or train station, as opposed to a "downtown" company office, but no extra fees for dropping off a car anywhere.

Kitchens are great for breakfast, if nothing else, as you can be getting ready while the water's getting hot for coffee, tea, cocoa, etc. That also lets you start your sightseeing day having had breakfast before you leave your accommodation, without having to leave and then go find breakfast, especially when Continental Breakfast is what will likely be available, and you may want something more. When we've been in a place for a week or more, long enought to justify an apartment, having a kitchen and a fridge have been very helpful and have been used. Restaurants are great for dinner, but you can also save money on some meals and have a great experience getting local ingredients at the local market, shopping for what's fresh and looks good, and cooking it yourselves, if worth considering.

Having a car gives you great flexibility.

We drove from Rome Airport to Tuscany. Nice drive and definitely need a car in Tuscany. We also drove from Tuscany to Florence. Try to park where Rick S. recommended in his book. We missed it and ended up in Florence which can get confusing but it turned out to be fun. I made a wrong turn and ended up in the square where the outside David is located. I was sent an $85 dollar ticket for being in the square...electronic cameras.

We drove from Tuscany back to Rome airport and dropped off car. We than took a cab to hotel and used cabs an public transportation which worked well.

Car rental was pretty straight forward but make sure you do rent ahead of time or lines are really long...I used AutoEurope and they were great.

We liked going to the small cappuccino and expresso places for breakfast...part of the experience.

Ah, well if you have a car, more is possible certainly. We did Venice 1 week, Orvieto 4 nights, Rome 3 nights. With a car, I would have stayed longer in Orvieto and done day trips to surrounding hill towns like Assisi, Gubbio, and/or Spello. Orvieto has so much to do, 2 1/2 days was perfect for a small town, plus the walk around the "Rupe", at the bottom of the tufa cliffs. I would do one less night in Rome, add one night in Florence, and insert Orvieto.
With our trip (just returned a few days ago), we had an apartment through air BnB in Venice, on a quiet neighborhood canal, and had a complete kitchen, and yes, we did use it. It is completely realistic, even if you are just making spaghetti. Use the wonderful markets, fresh produce-- it's Italy. Think of the fresh mozzerella that needs to make it to your own table, along with the freshest tomatoes. Yes, you can go out to eat, but the real pleasure is buying a bottle of local wine in a store for about 6 Euros that is some of the best wine you have ever had. The apartment also came with a washing machine, which we used, since we were on a three week total trip (the first week was in the Netherlands, where we also got an apartment. Loved both apartments.