driving in Italy
 

I will be travelling from venice to florence in July ...Has anyone out there driven in italy ? any tips ? what about toll roads ?are they expensive? <BR>thanks <BR>derek

For a rough estimate of driving costs I use US$ 1 for each 10km for gas and US$ 0.50 for each 10km of Autostrada. From Venice to Florence you should spend approx. US$ 38. A nonstop (no fooling around) drive should normally take 2:30 hours. <BR> <BR>I find it pretty cool driving in Italy. Most Italian drivers know exactly what they're doing. On the Autostrada one should use the right lanes and leave the one further to the left for surpassing. <BR> <BR>Paulo

We drove in Italy on a toll road. The machine wouldnt give us a ticket. Cars were waiting behind us, so we got on anyway. When we got off the toll road, the attendant didn`t speak English. We did`nt know until we got back to the hotel that we had gotten a $76 fine!

Derek, No reason to drive that leg. Take the rails to Florence and get your car when you leave there. Driving is not hard in Italy---just do not drive in the major cities and stay out of the left lane---we should all learn that lesson here as well.

I drove from Florence to Venice in July of last year. It is easy. The only tricky part is figuring out which lane to be in when you are exiting. For example, there may be 12 lanes. Five of them are reserved for people who have electronic passes with them--they just zip through. Two of them have attendants working; if you intend to pay cash, you must be in one of those two. Three of them are for people who have purchased a pre-paid voucher; their cost is deducted off the balance when they insert their card. The other two are for people (like me!) who plan to pay with a credit card. When you get up to the payment stop (a large traffic arm stops your progress), you just insert the card you received when you entered the roadway and then insert your credit card. Usually a receipt is then issued, your card is returned, a mechanical voice says, "Arreviderci!, the arm goes up, and you are on your way. At least once I did not get a receipt. The cost is minimal. It was about $6 from Florence to Venice, if I remember correctly. <BR> <BR>Have fun! <BR>Deborah

Prepare to admire genius car parkers at work. You may need to learn fast. Good news, it's not genetic.