Which section would you drive?

All the cities you listed have great train access. As far as spending time in the Dolomites, it just depends on how much time you are allotting to the other cities. 14-16 days is shorter than it sounds. I would do Venice train to Florence and rent a car upon leaving Florence and spend some time in the Tuscany region and research some small villages to visit and stay. I would skip Cinque Terre and trade it for Tuscany. Drop the car in Rome. Enjoy.

You don’t need a car for any of that, and it would be either impossible or a hassle, but if you wanted to stay somewhere rural, and go exploring (say, in Tuscany), then you would find one useful. How long a trip are you planning?

I'd like to point out that most of Italy (and definitely including Florence) tends to be very hot in mid-summer. One area that usually is not--assuming you stay at altitude--is the Dolomites. So for a July trip, I think spending some time in the Dolomites would be a fine idea. There are many beautiful villages, and if you opted to have a car for that segment of the trip, you'd be able to explore some routes that may not be well-connected by buses. I have never driven in Europe, so I cannot provide specific advice, but I can say that the Dolomites are beautiful. It's important to stay up in the mountains, though. Bressanone and Bolzano are very pretty places, but they are down in the valley and can get very hot--a situation not yet fully recognized by hotels in the area, many of which are not air conditioned.

As already mentioned, trains connect the major cities, and they are much faster than driving, so you'll do best, time-wise, by only using a car when it really benefits you. That could be in the Dolomites, or it could be used for visiting small Tuscan towns.

I don't think 14-16 days is long enough for Venice, Dolomites, Florence and some little Tuscan villages, the Cinque Terre and Rome.

Read this about driving in Italy and restrictions involved [ZTLs]; avoid leaving anything of value in a car when parked:

http://driventoit.blogspot.com/

While having a car is useful if not essential out in the countryside, because of ZTL issues driving is not an efficient means of traveling between cities.

I suggest you seriously consider the wisdom of being in the Cinque Terre in July because of crowds, worse when cruise ships are in port:

http://crew-center.com/la-spezia-italy-cruise-ship-schedule-2020

See multi-city flights into Venice and out of Rome on www.skyscanner.com. If that is doable, scrap CT and include a driving trip: Dolmites on arrival at VCE for 5 nights in 2 locations, car dump in Venice staying 3; or 3-4 in one place in Tuscany [e.g. Val d'Orcia] between Florence and Rome.

Venice-Florence-CT-Rome in 14-16 days is a packed schedule. Adding the Dolomites would not be in your best interest. If you want the Dolomites then 'something has to give' elsewhere.

Your trip, so your decision. Trading CT for the Dolomites would be the most reasonable trade off.

If you stick with your original 4, a car is more a bother than any sort of help.

If you do decide on the Dolomites, drive the Great Dolomites Road (Grande Strada delle Dolomiti) from Cortina d’Ampezzo to Bolzano. It’s a great experience on very good roads.

Lots of great advice and suggestions here! Thank you so much. I guess my family and I will have to decide whether we skip Cinque Terre for Tuscany or possibly the Dolomites. It is sooo hard trying to limit the places we go but I know that moving to too many destinations ends up with a lot of time packing up and moving to the next spot.

rzolezzi "Dolmites on arrival at VCE for 5 nights in 2 locations, car dump in Venice staying 3; or 3-4 in one place in Tuscany [e.g. Val d'Orcia] between Florence and Rome." This does sound like a good idea.

Aside from Florence and Siena, what are some other nice Tuscan towns to see?

I do appreciate all the help on this forum!

A car is useful for Tuscan hill towns, otherwise a burden. For the long distances, a controlled access highway is a highway. It's no help to fading testosterone levels. (Written by a 68-year old man.)

There are hundreds of Tuscan towns--first I would decide whether you want the cool respite of the Dolomites or will shrug off the heat in Tuscany--agree with others you have to be selective even with two weeks (actually first decide how much time for each city is a must for you). I would steer well clear of Cinque Terre in July, but there are parts of Tuscany where you can do coastal hiking, as well as alternates in Liguria.