Hello,
I am considering picking up a rental car in the city center of Florence and driving to Pisa. I've read that both cities have bad traffic and poorly marked streets, etc. I have the option of picking up the car in Lucca. Would it be less hassle to pick up the car in Lucca and driving to Pisa, or is driving out of the Florence city center not that big of an issue? Also, is driving in Pisa that pesty?

Thanks

<< Would it be less hassle to pick up the car in Lucca and driving to Pisa, or is driving out of the Florence city center not that big of an issue? >>

Not that big...

<< Also, is driving in Pisa that pesty? >>

No.

Best wishes,

Rex

Hi cch1, the problem with driving in cities in Italy is that signs are not like we have in the US (assume you live in the US). Streets are often indicated on the side of buildings, as cities in Italy were built before automobiles were invented.

My husband always drove throughout Italy including all the cities, Milan, Rome, Naples, Florence etc. I was the navigator and fortuantly am a good one (I am good at reading maps). Having a good navigator is such a big help, even if I do say so myself.

The funny thing was the only time we had a problem was leaving Pisa, we were than headed to Lucca and Florence. We never could find the Autostrada. But that turned out just fine as we went on secondary roads and it was a beautiful drive.

In your case you will be going into Pisa, so you shouldn't have a problem. Will you be driving to somewhere else in Italy when you leave Pisa? If so have your hotel or someone at a restaurant in Pisa mark you map as to which streets you should take. And most importantly, have a fun and beautiful time!

Driving in the center of Florence is like driving in any other mideival city. Streets are small and narrow, most are one way and stret signs are often on the sides of buidlings.

That said - it's actually quite a small town (the center that is) and if you have a really good driving map (a walking map is no good because it doesn;t show which direction the traffic goes on which street) and a competent navigator it's easy.

We made it in and out of Florence first try without any misturns. And as soon as you're out of the historic center there are signs for the highway. Similarly, from the highway you just follow the signs for centro (don;t bother to look for street names until you get into the center).

nytraveller-
Which really good map do you use that shows one way streets? I would love to know!
We had quite a bit of trouble driving into Florence and Rome.
Thanks,
Dina

Hello all,
I have driven in Europe before and have familiarity with driving in the old world streets of Sevilla, Cordoba and Cadiz-Spain. I know about the signs inlaid into the walls of streets. All I am wanting to do is to venture into the center of Pisa to see the Torre and to leave town headed to Assisi. Provided there are signs for centro/centre and signs for parking and then signs for the exit of the city, I should be OK. I was just wanting to know if either of these cities have any distinction amongst European cities for being particularly bad. Thanks!

Hi cc,

Are you aware that you can train from Florence SMN to Pisa and Lucca in about 1:20 hr?

See www.trenitalia.com

We drove INTO Florence last week (from the A1 Highway) to return a rental car at the Avis office on Borgo Ognissanti. It was a snap, but only because I had the print out from ViaMichelin for general directions and a map indicating the street directions published by the German company B&B; this is a lamintated map that should be easy to find at places like Barnes and Noble. Their web site is www.mapmyway.com. I have used their maps all over Europe and find them to be excellent for center cities and surrounding areas. Since you will be picking up the car (at which rental office?) in the city, you will be able to get good directions from the staff at the office, I would think.

Hello,
Yes, I am aware of the train possibilities, however, I prefer the independence of a car and I'd think it'd save me time versus trains. I thought I could do a sweep through Pisa and head back to Lucca for the remainder of the day if I pick up the car in Florence. I think the office where I am planning on picking up the car in Florence is on via Borgo Ognissanti.

Dina 4 -

For country map we use Michelin (grat for major highways, distances and country roads). For getting into and out of cities we use maapy.com - with all of the variations of zooming in and out - it has always had what we need.

Did you plan your route in and out carefully before you got to the cities? I know a lot of people have trouble in Florence because they don;t realize that streets along the river are one-way.

Borgo Ognissanti is easy to locate; it is one way, like most streets in the city but if you have a map similar to the one I mentioned earlier you should have no trouble. Also, the car rental people can be of assistance. If you are leaving from the Avis office on that street, they are very helpful and the woman on duty when we were there last week spoke perfect English. If you are still nervous about getting out of the city and not on too tight a budget, you can arrange to follow a taxi from the office to the entrance to the highway but that should not be necessary in Florence. By the way, two of the taxis we took while there had GPS systems in them, something I had never seen in a cab.

I have found that www.mappy.com is great for maps in Europe. Print out a few for the towns you are going to as the general Michelin maps don't have enought detail.