Driving in the country was fine. I would not attempt to drive in Rome.

We purchased our train tickets ahead of time. Whatever works for you. If you want to stand in lines then by all means by those city cards. It sounds like you have tours booked already so I don't see the point to them anyway. One museum a day in a city and I'm done with them for the days. Most of the tours are 3+ hours.

We took about 500 Euros with us and it was plenty. Pretty much everyone took credit cards. You get a better conversion from your credit card company than by e changing money.

Enjoy. Italy is awesome.

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Posted by jordan21210

Member since Apr 2009

13398 posts

Posted on 4/17/16 at 7:37 am to VABuckeye

Thanks for the advice. Y'all have confirmed what I was thinking alreay re: money. I will try to use my credit card as much as possible.

As much as I'd like to get a car in Italy and drive around, I think it'd just be a bit too much hassle for us. Our tours are tours out to the contryside, so we should be good there. Itinerary is:
- Milan for 3 nights. Tour 1 is a small group wine tasting trip to Varenna and the Valtellina Valley.
- Venice for 2 nights.
- Florence for 4 nights. Tour 2 is a small group wine tasting trip through Tuscany. Going to also take a day to hike Cinque Terre.
- Rome for 4 nights with an entire day set aside for Vatican City.

I went to Italy two years ago with a similar route, but this is my gf's first time there. Don't want to spend a ton of time in Museums, but don't want to miss the must sees...and I know some you need to book ahead of time.
That's why I inquired about the city cards, would be nice to have immediate access to some things...but I still don't know if they are worth purchasing. Rick Steves seems to shy away from them