This is hands down one of my favourite road trips we have ever done. Driving from Venice to Rome, down through Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Tuscany, showed a side of Italy I had never seen before. Stopping off at some of the most beautiful little villages and natural wonderlands along the way we completely fell in love with the area. If you are contemplating a road trip in Italy then I could not recommend this one more! We took this trip as a part of our 3 week trip to Italy where we started in the Dolomites, drove through Tuscany and ended up in the Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre. It was the absolute dream Italy drip – but the best part was definitely this road trip through the Tuscan Countryside. At no other point on our trip did we stay in such beautiful places or get to see so many unique towns.
So, with that let’s get started!
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Our 7 Day Road Trip Itinerary
- Day 1 – Venice
- Day 2: Mantova
- Day 3: San Marino
- Day 4: Urbino
- Day 5: Gola Del Furlo, Lago Trasimeno, Church of San Biagio, bagni San Filippo, Manciano
- Day 6: Pitigliano, Rome
Hiring A Car in Italy
I personally think the best way to travel around Tuscany is by car, thus this is a road trip Italy guide. Only because it means that you can stop whenever you want and be a little more spontaneous. I have written this blog post as an Italy road trip itinerary so many of the spots are hard to reach by public transport.
We hired our car in Verona or a previous part of our trip and drive around The Dolomites first. From here we drove to Venice and then started our trip. In my experience the best place to hire a car is at the airport. Although, if you are looking for a more budget option it is usually cheaper to hire cars in the city outlets rather than the airport.
When travelling around this area of Europe, we usually hire our cars from Discover Cars. They have cars from all major car hire dealers in Italy so it is really easy to find the best price for the period of your stay!
I recommend always getting comprehensive car insurance. This is especially true when you are on a road trip in Italy as sometimes the drivers there can be a little bit crazier than you are used to. When we had finished our road trip from Venice to Rome we left the car at the airport in Rome.
it Italy they drive on the right side of the road.
The Best Hotels To Stay At from Venice to Rome
I have added the details of all accomodations below! I recommend every single one of them for their own reasons! We booked them all on either Airbnb or Booking.com.
Venice to Rome – the dreamiest Summer Italy Road Trip
Day 1: Starting the road trip in Venice
We chose to start our road trip in Venice as this was a destination we had wanted to visit for a long time and it seemed like the perfect anchor point for a Tuscan trip. We spent 2 days in Venice before beginning our Italy road trip which was the perfect amount of time.
If you want more detailed information on Venice, see this post!
There are quite a few amazing sights in Venice that are worth seeing, but truthfully I would say the best way to enjoy the city is just to spend all day aimlessly walking around, trying to get lost. It is harder than you think, with all streets seeming to connect and lead you back to the same place, but it is amazing when you find alleyways and squares that are off the beaten track. This is when it really feels like a magical city! Venice is a great place to start your road trip in Italy, with easy international access and it is close by to the best places to visit!
How To Get To Venice
Depending where in your trip you are visiting Venice, there are so many options to getting there! You can fly into the airport, and then either get a shuttle bus into the city or take the express airport ferry. If you are arriving by car like we did, you have to park your car in one of the car parks outside of the city and then walk, or catch a ferry, to your accomodation! You have to book these car parks in advance, especially in peak season, as it is incredibly busy and they fill up really quickly! We booked ours into Garage San Marco. It was quite good value and the process was all very smooth. You give them your booking reference, they show you to your spot and you leave your keys, and when you come back you just show your reference again and off you go!
Where To Stay In Venice
We stayed at Hotel Ala, and I could not recommend anywhere more! It felt so fancy for the price we paid, and was located right in the centre of the city so it was really easy to head back to through out the day! It also has an amazing rooftop where you can see the entire city from above. You can order drinks to here from the bar, or bring your own.
Top Sights
- Take a gondola ride
- Saint Mark’s Square and Basilica di San Marco
- The Rialto Bridge
- The Grand Canal
- Burano Island – super colourful old fishing town
- Palazzo Contarini de Bovolo
Day 2: The day in Mantova
Otherwise known as Mantua, this beautiful town is located in Lombardy, around a 2 hour drive North West of Venice. The city is known for its Old Town, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site! Mantova Basilica safeguards the vessels holding soil soaked by the blood of Christ, it is said that Longinus, the Roman soldier that speared Jesus on the cross, carried the soil from Palestine to Mantova and buried it here. So because of this, the city has quite a big religious history. Every year they throw a big parade where they honour the remains in the church.
The Old Town is really beautiful to walk around, especially in the late afternoon when all the restaurants and cafes are bustling with Aperitivo!
Where To Stay In Mantova
We stayed at Residensa Accamedia, it was a little random because the studio itself didn’t have a reception so you had to go to a different hotel to get the keys and then walk around to the apartments. But it was a really nice spot in the centre of the city, with a courtyard and an outside area!
Cost: €60 a night for a double room.
What to visit in Mantova:
- Ducale Palace
- Basilica di Sant’Andrea
- St George’s Castle
- Mantua Cathedral
- Take a walk along the canal
Where to Eat in Mantova, Italy
The best places in Mantova for Aperitivo
Aperitivo is a time, usually between 4 and 6pm, where you go to a restaurant for a drink and usually get a plate of food or a snack bar included! This is THE BEST way to save money while you are travelling and still be able to live in luxury!
We loved Bar Venezia – with every Aperol Spritz we got a bowl of potato chips and a selection of canapes! They have a really beautiful outside area too!
We also stopped at Pane al Pane for breakfast and they had the most delicious sandwiches, pastries and home made pizzas!
The Best Restaurant in Mantova
We had such a hard time deciding between where to eat dinner, but we ended up at Ristorante Hosteria Leon d’Oro and it was DELICIOUS! We both had pasta dishes that are local to the area combined with a local wine and it was just perfect! I would recommend this place 100%!
Local Delicacies From Mantova
When we left our apartment, we were given a Torta Sbrisolona, a sort of Almond Oat Cake, famous to Lombardy! It’s something they sell in most shops and cafes and is something to try if you want to try the local culture.
Day 3: Visit San Marino
We hadn’t really planned to add this into our itinerary until a few weeks before our trip when we became totally obsessed with San Marino in the Eurovision song content. Serhat’s 2019 entry “Say Na Na Na” was something we sung non stop for weeks before and kind of persuaded us to visit San Marino. We spent the entire drive into the country listening to this song on repeat!
But in all seriousness, San Marino is a beautiful place to visit! It is a small country, completely surrounded by Italy, that is often forgotten by travellers in this region! The capital city, also called San Marino, sits on top of a big hill, surrounded by a hilly green landscape.
The Top Things To Do In San Marino
The majority of the best things to do are inside the Capital City. The best way to get here is to either park at the bottom of the city and take the cable car up, or drive up the hill and park in the massive multi story car park at the top!
When you arrive at the city, you are given a map with all the top sights, museums and walks on. The best way to explore San Marino from here is to walk up main pathway into the city and follow it around until you reach Monte Titano at the top of the hill!
Day 4: Visit the historical city of Urbino
Urbino is a quite a big, walled city in the West of Italy, just South of San Marino. It is a city with so much culture, as well as beauty! It’s worth spending a few days here so you can have time to explore the city, visit all the museums and spend time at the restaurants and markets! We really loved just strolling around the city, down all the narrow backstreets, enjoying the small town feel of it! This is a great stop for any Italy road trip if you want to discover a bit more of the culture of the land.
Where To Stay in Urbino
We stayed at Residenza Ambrogi, a luxury B&B just a few minutes walk from the city centre! It was quite expensive (€80 a night) but it was so beautiful! The lady who owned it was really lovely and brought us coffee and chocolate when we arrived. Breakfast was included, a variety of cold meats, breads, eggs, juices, and home made cakes! It really was amazing!
What to do in Urbino:
Palazzo Ducale di Urbino
Urbino Cathedral
Galleria Nazionale delle Marche
- Panorama
The Best Restaurants In Urbino
Where to have aperitivo in Italy
We spent pretty much the whole afternoon in Urbino having Aperitivo, stopping at so many different restaurants to compare them! Our favourites were actually Caffè Degli Archi and Caffè Basili, two cafes right next to each other opposite Istituto Nazionale Previdenza Sociale. They both had a really great view and the drinks were delicious and cheap!
The best restaurants in Urbino
After much deliberation, wee ended up eating at Osteria Km 0, a small hole in the wall restaurant that didn’t look like much, but the food and the service were both amazing!
We really wanted to eat at Tartufi Antiche Bontà but unfortunately it was closed on the night we were there! We have heard so many good reviews from here!
Day 5: Drive around Urbino and Tuscany
Visit Gola Del Furlo
Gola Del Furlo is not a town, it is a beautiful green gorge that runs via the Ancient Roman Road Via Flaminia. It is such a pretty place to stop, or even just drive past!
Lago Trasimeno
I have actually been here twice – once on this road trip, and once around 15 years ago on a family holiday! When we first went, we found a beautiful spot where you could hire a pedalo and swim around! When we stopped their this time, we just found a small harbour at the end of a town where we sat and ate lunch and watched a storm roll in over the horizon! It was really beautiful!
Church of San Biagio
This is a really big, beautiful church on the outskirts of Montepulciano, Tuscany. You have to pay to go inside, but it is even worth visiting just to walk around the outside! The drive here is also so beautiful, the landscape is all rolling yellow and green hills, just like you imagine Tuscany to be!
Bagni San Filippo – Picturesque Hot Springs just outside of Manciano, Tuscany
These are beautiful hot springs, about an hours drive out of Manciano! The area itself is about 400m long, different pools and waterfalls along the stretch making an amazing set of natural pools!
They are free to visit but you do have to pay for parking! The road down is often packed with cars so you should park as soon as you find a spot to avoid having to drive back up to the top! It gets really busy here in the summer time but if you go in the late afternoon or early morning you are more likely to have a pool to yourself!
Day 6: Visit Manciano
We arrived in Manciano quite late and didn’t really get so much time to explore! The main reason we stayed here was to visit Terme di Saturnia for the sunrise, when we knew it would not be busy! However, we ended up having so much fun at Bagni San Filippo, that we decided not to bother as we knew it was incredibly touristy! I hope to go back another year through!
If you are looking to visit Terme di Saturnia, it is about a 20 minute drive outside of Manciano. I have heard the best time to visit is in the morning as there are much less people around then!
Where To Stay In Manciano
We stayed at the most incredible B&B in Manciano! Casale Giacomini, was more of a farm stay than a hotel, located on a big property just outside the town. The owners were Italian, with very little English, but they were both such beautiful people! Breakfast was included in the morning, and we ended up making good friends with the other guests staying there too as we shared an intimate breakfast table!
The garden is picturesque with the best view of Manciano. This was the best place we stayed between Venice and Rome and this alone made me want to do this Italy road trip every year!
The Best Pizza In Manciano
We just got takeaway pizza from Osée, which was a circus themed pizzeria just inside the town! The pizza was so tasty! We ended up just having their speciality, a flavour that won 2nd best pizza in the world 2001.
Visit the historical city of Pitigliano
Before driving to Rome, a great place to stop is the ancient city of Pitigliano. Pitigliano is an fairytale city, located on top of a sharp cliff with big city walls. It’s history dates back to prehistoric era, and there are also so many Etruscan and Roman traces to be seen. As you drive into the city you are met with rows of houses carved into the edge of a cliff.
Our favourite thing to do here was just walk around the city, exploring the sites of old ruins, and getting lost down narrow alleyways! If you are into history, there are so many museums and ruins here that are worth visiting!
We didn’t spend much time here, just stopping for a coffee and a walk on our way down to Rome, but I would love to go back in the future and really dive into the cultural side of the city!
Rounding off Venice to Rome: Road Trip through Tuscany, Italy
I hope you enjoyed this guide to the ultimate Italy road trip from Venice to Rome! And I hope that it can help you in your future travels!
If you have any questions of places that I should add next time we make the trip I would love to hear!
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I would love a road trip across Italy 🙂 so this blog is perfect for me. Thank you for sharing all these great tips.
It was genuinely the best trip I have done! You will love it!
Doing a road trip in Italy is serious goals! Would LOVE to do that 🙂 Also your photos are amazing Katie!
THANKS! This was one of my favourite trips I have ever done, I think it should be on top of everyones bucket list! 🙂