Last August it cost us about 220 pounds to rent from Avis at Milan Malpensa airport, plus another hundred or so for extra insurance so that we didn't have pay any excesses in case of damage. This was for 8 days in a Fiat Punto, a small car by US standards but with full aircon and power steering etc.

See the Avis or any other car hire website for rates for a particular period of dates. There would be lots of other similar deals, we chose Avis because we could use airline miles to pay the basic hire charge.

If you read all the small print and worry about the cost of the extra insurance, yes it's stressful. You have to turn off that response, pay up, and enjoy your holiday.

There is quite a lot of traffic but at least coming from the US you'll be used to driving on the right. Like most countries its quite easy to navigate on the long distance roads and quite easy to get lost when you are off them --- so allow extra time and plan for getting lost a few times (it can be more fun and we found a wonderful lunch on our first day when we didn't actually know where we were).

Another time I might do the longer distances by train.

Weather is beautiful in Italy throughout all of May, also in April.

Cars are easiest to rent if you do so beforehand. I would recommend doing so through this web site: http://www.autoeurope.com/ -- they offer good deals, are quite reliable and have offices throughout the country. All the really necessary insurance is included, unless you want the ( I think unneccessary suplemental -- you're using a credit card ) supplemental.

Have fun!

I was checking out some car rentals on line....it seems expensive...and are all cars manual???? sheesh....is it going to be a hassle to rent one???

Car rental is not a hassle at all, book throught autoeurope.com. If you dont know how to drive manual, I would learn how to. Renting a car with automatic is MUCH more expensive.