Italy

Why do you want to drive? You won't need or use a car in Venice, so why not take train there.. same with Florence, you won't want to drive or use car inside Florence, so really, is it just because as North Americans we are used to the idea of driving to get everywhere.. consider the very well run train system. A car is useful if one wants to explore more rural countryside though, but it sounds like you are just going from city to city.

Yes, we know the trains are good, just trying to decide which to do. Thanks.

A car will be completely useless in Venice, a pain in Florence (you'll have to stay outside the cit limits) Pisa and Assisi are small enough to do on foot. The only time you may enjoy a car would be to drive around Tuscany, and you can do that at a car rental agency @ Florence train station or airport, so you don't have it inside the city. Then you can return it there and not bother with it otherwise. If you want to rent a car in Italy after all of us "negativos"
make sure to go to your local AAA office and get your international drivers permit. No test, just passport photos and a small fee. I still can't understand why it's needed, but it is.

We went from Rome to Florence to Venice by train and it was very easy. We booked our train tickets in advance using the on-line reservation system. The hardest part was our printed tickets did not give us the car on the train so we had to ask at an information booth but in both places they were very willing to help. The train station in Florence and Venice were very centrally located. In Florence, we walked 10 min from the train station to our hotel.

Thanks to all. Info is appreciated.