France and Italy

I read two parts to your question - 1. driving in both France and Italy and 2. Parking in/near the Cinque Terre.

If you're picking up your rental in France and dropping in Italy, you'll likely pay a significant drop charge. So you might consider dropping your car before leaving France and take the train to the Cinque Terre. After visiting the CT, you can pick up a rental in La Spezia or Florence if you're visiting there (after visiting Florence) That way you save the drop charge and the days of parking when you don't need the rental car.

Otherwise, you can park a rental car in La Spezia while you're in the CT. With your schedule, I'd allow an overnight in the CT to enjoy one evening there. Hope this helps.

We were going to drive from Nice to Venice 2 days then to Florence 2 days and then maybe do a day trip to Cinque Terre or stay overnight but the plan is then to drive south to Pisa, Civita Sienna, etc eventually back up to Rome and dropping our car there. Are you saying that going to Cinque Terre first is a better option?

Adding to Doug's comments. Drop your car in Nice to avoid the international drop-off fee and take the train to the Cinque Terre. A car will be a burden, not an asset, in both Venice and Florence. Take the train from the CT to Venice and from Venice to Florence. Pick up a car in Florence for the rest of your trip.

Thanks a lot. We have decided to go with the train to CT. We considered it earlier but with the comments have decided it is the better option.