Italy - driving from Palermo (South) to Venice (North East)

[Lexual]

Hi... we're planning a 2 week trip for next June to travel through Italy, flying into Palermo and driving up through Naples, Rome, Florence and then Venice, probably stop at a couple of small villages in-between.

Has anyone done something similar? we're looking at a budget of around £1500 each.. car hire and fuel and flights are going to be around £400 each... accommodation £200 each (hostels) and the rest is spending money.

Would welcome any tips on what to see and what to avoid? great beaches? villages? 'must dos'? nice wine districts etc?

Thanks...

[burriana]

Louise and I did Le Mans - Suisse - Italy and French Riviera in 2012 and are doing it again next summer but without the four days at Le Mans. We'll go from the ferry straight across Germany, Stelvio, then down the Adriatic Coast and drop into Tuscany, going as far down as Rome this time.

I am going to look up the Mille Miglia route and see if we can follow some of that. However, if you get chance, you must visit Florence and Sienna and, there is one road in particular that runs from the coast, NW towards Sienna through a village called Roccastrada (stuff of PH road trip folklore - ask Tony Hetherington and Ted). If you're in the area, well worth making the detour, we did :-)