Driving in Italy
 

we are excited about a trip planned for October. Our plan to rent car in Florence and drive to villa near Chiusi. Just went to a talk on traveling in Italy. The presenter (travel agent) who had recently returned from Italy (5 times)told the group, that no way would he rent a car or drive in Italy. Also said the he found the people unwilling to help with directions or help.
He recommended only going with group and having a tour guide/driver.
This is causing me to re-think renting a car.

If you want the car to explore the countryside, that's a great idea. You do not need a car within cities, nor do you need one to travel from city to city. Just get a good map.

Some might suggest you take the train to Chiusi, which is a popular car rental location, if you're concerned about driving in Florence, which can be the nightmare of all traffic nightmares.

I disagree wholeheartedly with the presenter. Apart from the really big cities (Rome, Milan) driving is no problem in Italy. You won't need the car in Florence, as it's small and parking would be a headache, but you'll definitely want it for your villa stay.

If you haven't driven a manual transmission before you will definitely want to make very sure that you get an automatic, but that would be the only issue.

B,

I've driven in Italy twice, once with a friend and once completely solo. In the countryside, it's really very easy. You should prepare by having good maps, getting familiar with your route and the towns along the way.

I would train to Chiusi and pick up there, which I've done. Very easy.

I think your travel expert is just trying to sell tours.

Buon viaggio!

> no way would he rent a car or drive in Italy. <

Total B.S.!!!

It's no different than driving in the U.S. Okay - they might speak a different language there. That's the only difference.

(Assuming this is a question...)

Driving in the cities (like Florence) can be stressful, especially when you are trying to find something (like your hotel). It helps to have three people in the car-- one to drive and avoid obstacles (pedestrians, mopeds, one-way signs), one to look at the map, and one look for the rare street sign and call out your location. It also helps to relax and not expect to find your destination on the first try -- plan to circle around it a few times.

It is less stressful trying to drive out of a city, because you can follow signs to the highways.

Driving in the countryside is not so bad -- similar to country roads and Interstates in the US. Note that the toll highways often have an ``EasyPass'' lane (I forget the name in Italian), where you are expected to have device in your car to accept charges: Don't use that lane. They do have a lighted display to show you the toll amount, so you don't have to worry about not understanding the toll collector.

The small towns have narrow streets, and you may not understand some Italian signage saying, for example, ``no parking'' or ``pedestrians only.'' I have found Italians to be helpful answering questions about parking and such. (They mayfind it difficult to explain complicated driving directions in English, though. )

If you are mostly going to be in small towns and the countryside, go ahead and rent a car.

I personally find it more stressful to drive on the small roads in England, where left and right are switched.

no cap,

left and right are NOT switched in the UK. my right hand is still on the same side as your right hand.

:S-

regards, ann

Thanks to all for the replys. I feel much better about renting car. Some folks recommend getting GPS. My only question now is where to pick up car. Getting it in Florence to drive to Chiusi or just picking it in Chiusi. Our villa is just a few miles from Chiusi. Don't plan to drive in Florence (just gettting out of town).

I too agree with everyone else. We had absolutely no problems, and in the countryside it's much easier to get around and hit some of the smaller towns with a vehicle.

Best wishes,
Tracy

I have driven solo in Italy many times and have had no problems. I have found the people along the way very helpful. It sounds like the speaker wants to sell tours- his advice is way off.

One nice thing about picking up the car in Florence- you can drive some of the 222 route through Chianti and stop for lunch along the way to your villa. It will be a quick snapshot of the Chianti area and an added bonus to the day.

Enjoy your driving!

There is no reason to avoid driving in Italy. We are going in May, and will have a car for a week.

It will be very nice, almost necessary to have a car in Tuscany. OTOH, it will not be very nice to be driving a car thru the city center of any major Italian town.

A good map and a good sense of houmor will get you thru.

Simple to see that the travel agent (presenter) was trying to sell more tours.

There is no reason not to drive in Italy. I woudl never drive in Rome, Florence or other major cities, but the roads are great for small villages and getting across the country. We drive from Sorrento to Tuscany and all around Tuscnay this Sept with no problem at all! We normally drive in N. America

That travel agent is in the wrong business.

I've driven all over Italy over 20 years or more. Sure, they drive fast and it's chaotic in the cities, but I tooled around Umbria and Tuscany for a total of 6 weeks in 2006 and never had a single moment (except for the first time I drove up to the top of Chiusi with a stick shift - and that was fun in an exhilarating will I make it? sort of way)of fear or worry.

Compared to Ireland, Italy is a snap. Seriously. Just have a very good map and study (and mark) it prior to leaving and returning to Florence. I assume one of you will be a navigator. We had no problem coming or going, though coming into Florence was slow (rush hour).

We never had to stop and ask directions throughout Tuscany but again, you MUST have a good map.

carolsc

I agree- good maps or a GPS are all you'll need - I've done it a few times and it was great for the out-of-the-way places where our schedule didn't match the bus/train schedule. Go for it!!

Here's another vote for driving in Italy. I find driving in the countryside EASIER than driving in the U.S. countryside, because in Italy, at most rural intersections there will be signs pointing to the various (sometimes quite small) nearby towns. You don't find that on similar-sized roads in the U.S!

Also, if you want to drive through the countryside on the way to your lodging in Chiusi (s222, already mentioned, is a lovely drive through Chianti), then pick up your car on the way out of Florence. We've done it two ways. Once we took a cab to a AutoEurope rental locations on the outskirts of Florence, near s222. Another time, we just picked up the car in Florence in drove out; it wasn't that difficult.

I agree that driving is easier with two people - one to drive, the other to navigate. We've always only used a detailed map, and it's worked out just fine. We recently bought a TomTom (love the name), mostly for an upcoming trip to Central Europe. We'll see how that works; but I'd always also have the applicable maps.

My husband and I found the driving to be much easier than we expected. We picked our car up in Orvieto, very quiet office and spent a nice day there. We had a few maps, the one from a Chianti vineyard helping us the most. We also used the ones the B&B's gave us with some specific instructions. We were surprised at all the signs at every intersection, made it very easy.

We stopped a few times for directions and everyone went out of their way to help, not speaking English. We never really got lost and had fun stopping in places we didn't know exactly where, but felt like we never wasted any time driving around Tuscany. We have the most beautiful pictures of our drives along the roads. Every road lead us to an unexpected surprise and sometimes a place we intended to find and found by accident.

However, driving into the Florence airport area was like driving in multiple circles to get where we were going. We dropped our car off and that was painless but the line to pick a car up looked and sounded very chaotic and unhappy.

Not knowing anything, I debated the car rental. But I listened to all those that helped me plan my trip here. I'm so glad I had the car. My most anticipated part of my trip in Tuscany wouldn't have been the same.

First - we have done numerous road trips in europe - including Italy. And we have never had any significant problem. Granted Rome can be a little challenging - but to see the countryside driving is really the only sensible way.

IMHO the roads are at least as good as in the US and the drivers are - in general - better. We have never been seriously lost, and have found people perfectly willing to give directions (BUT you must start out with good road maps - and study them before you go).

Assuming you are reasonably competent and confident drivers - and are comfortable parking in small spaces - you should have no problems at all. If you're not used to parallel parking in small spots - practice before you leave. (Living in NYC, this is the standard so we're used to it.)

Just make sure you understand the international driving signs, especially "Do Not Enter" (red circle on white with red horizontal bar). In Italy, "Senso Unico" means one way street.