Hello,
We are planning ahead for our 2010 vacation. My husband, myself, and our two kids (ages 9 and 11) will be spending 3 weeks on our trip. We would appreciate any and all comments (especially recommendations for the kids). Here is our itinerary so far:

Fly from Seattle to Pisa & stay overnight
See leaning tower, pick up rental car & drive to agristurismo
One week at Spannochia (www.spannocchia.com/index.cfm )Spend time on site & do some trips into the countryside (san G, Chianti, Montepulciano, etc.)
Drive to Florence& drop off car.
3 days in Florence. (no hotel picked out yet)
Train to Venice
4 days in Venice (no hotel picket out yet)
Train to Salzburg/St. Gilgen
One week in St. Gilgen at apt. (we had hoped to rent the apt. that KayDee recommended, but it is not available!)
Fly home from Munich?

Have you considered going to Florence from Pisa, picking up your car in Florence, spending your week in the countryside, and then driving to Venice to drop off your car? Fewer changes in transportation modes make travel easier. Also, I think it's easier to drive out of Florence, than drive in to find the rental car location and avoid the ZTL.

Also, are you sure you want to rely on public transportation in St. Gilgen? For a week you might want a car.

It's a pretty long haul from Venice to Salzburg on the trains. If you decide to rent a car for the Austrian portion of your trip, you could pick one up in either Villach or Innsbruck.

We flew into Pisa a few years ago and picked up our car there before driving to our agriturismo near Castellina the next day. (We stayed at a lovely B&B near Pisa overnight as we didn't arrive until late in the day.) It was no trouble at all. If you are flying into Pisa also, I don't know why you would wait to get a car in Florence.

I've just reread your post. We had trouble getting to see the Leaning Tower the next day before driving on as there were crowds of school kids around and, since we already had our car, parking was difficult (and I couldn't walk far).

However, if you don't pick up your car until after your tour of Pisa, that shouldn't be a problem. But have you thought of how you'd get around, especially with kids? Pisa isn't a village; it isn't that small. My preference would be to do as we did and pick up your rental at the airport. It gives you much more flexibility.

Ann

Thanks for the comments so far.
I hadn't thought how we'd get around Pisa. I've been before as a backpacker (came in on the train) without a car & it was fine, but I don't remember the details of how I got around then.

One of the reasons we are taking the train for some legs of the journey is that our kids really get a kick out of riding on the train. Unless the journey is much longer & has several transfers, we'd lean toward still taking the train.

Unless you stay in the very center of Salzburg, consider getting a car also around there.

Both Florence and Pisa have ZTLs (limited traffic zones in the center). Travel forums here, on Tripadvisor, and Fodors are full of tales of people who inadvertently entered the ZTLs, and got dinged substantial sums on their credit cards from the auto rental agencies months later. Here's an article about ZTL's which gives statistics for Florence.

Here's a map of the Pisa ZTL , and a Slow Travel Article on the subject.

While obviously thousands navigate successfully without problems, I just wouldn't want the hassle of worrying about it in a new place, and that is why I would go to Florence by train from Pisa, spend your 3 days in Florence, and then rent the car upon leaving. It's easier driving out of Florence than navigating in and finding a specific address of a rental car agency, and then you are unlikely to run afoul of the ZTL's.

Here is the Austrian Rail Website . Connections are more infrequent than you might think (you can put St. Gilgen in as a destination, and it will direct you to the bus between Salzburg and St. Gilgen). Putting in a dummy date in August, I see only 3 possible connections a day, and one of them's a bus to Villach, then continuing by train.

My only other comment is that you might not want to absolutely commit yourself in terms of prearranged lodging accommodations to flying in to Pisa, because it has much more limited volume of traffic than Milan or Rome, and less likely to have cheaper airfare. If it's not prohibitively expensive, of course fly in there, but I would leave a little wiggle room in case it's just much more expensive on your dates, or takes forever from Seattle, and of course you can't know the rate a year ahead.

We did this similar itinerary several years ago. We took the train from Venice to Innsbruck (6hr i think?) and then went to Salzburg and then to Munich.
If your children are big Sound of Music Fans then they will adore the touristy but fun tour in Salzburg! Also, you must take them to Mad Ludwig's Castle outside of Munich. It is unbelievable and I've seen a lot of castles!
A car would be nice to explore this area.
yndy

There are small hotels within 2000 ft of the leaning tower that are inexpensive. The hotel will sell you a daily parking permit for 6 euro/day. Best time we found is around 4 pm in the afternoon. Once you find a parking spot cherish it (don't leave) for the duration of your stay.