My husband and I are flying into Nice from the US and driving the same day into Rome. We are staying at the Hotel santa Maria. I have of course some concerns about driving, but mostly parking the car in Rome. The hotel states there is parking"if available", but we probably won't arrive in Rome until 6pm at the earliest. Any suggestions for parking from people who have been as crazy as we are to drive in , and also any advice on routes from Nice to Rome. The driving is a done deal, and we really can't change it, but anything to make it easier would be helpful. (I/m not too worried about actually driving with Italians-we've drive in a large city regularly and I think my own husband's driving will rival anyone there!!)

This doesn't answer your question.

But don't do it.

To travel overnight - and therefore inevitably be short of sleep - and then drive 450 miles on proper, grown-up, European motorways isn't crazy.

It's stupid and criminally irresponsible.

Your note reads as if you've not driven in Italy before. It's nothing at all like the calm, laid-back, slow driving that goes on in US cities.

Jet-lagged - and possibly unused to Italian driving norms - you simply won't have the reflexes to deal with other drivers. You will be a serious danger to yourselves and others.

It really would be better if you stayed at home. Dangerous drivers aren't welcome here.

I appreciate your concern for us and for others on the highway. Certainly, we will adjust our plans if necessary. We are extremely accustomed, whether good or bad, to doing things, much more serious than driving, that require precision without any sleep. Is it safe and is it the right thing to do? I don't think so, but the government does. that being said, I have already reserved a place to stay around Nice in case we feel we cannot make it. Do you actually have any advice on parking or a route? that;s what I really want to know. I didn't mean to make light of the seriousness of driving in a foreign country.

When I was in Nice I took an overnight train to Rome. There may be faster trains during the day, but you would need to research it. If you are flying in the same day, you may be way too tired to drive all that way! If you don't necessarily need a car until you leave Rome, I would suggest not driving until you need to. I have never driven in Rome, but if you do a search on this site you will find it highly non-recommeded. Good luck!

Flanneruk - I'm not sure which US cities have calm, laid back drivers - but New York definitely isn't one of them. And while driving in rome is certainly an exhilerating experience - I would match some of our kamikaze cab drivers against the worst in Rome any day (u-turns on a 1-way street, driving up onto the sidewalk to bypass a double parked oil delivey truck, taking a corner so fast the car actually turned onto it's side? never mind routinely cutting in and out in complete disregard of leanes and other traffic horns a-honk). I agree driving in many US cities is tame compared to Rome - but not all are the same.

Havae a look at the viamichelin.com and mappy.com web sites. Both have options for finding lodgings and pull-overs along the way.

But let me add my voice to those above: trying to drive all the way from Nice to Rome right after a flight from the U.S. is not a good idea. Among other problems, you will need to get used to a whole new set of traffic signs and regulations (like the infamous French "rule of the right," which gives priority to anyone coming out onto a road from the right. Driving in Europe really is different in many ways, and you want to be at your most alert when setting out.