michele_d

Absolutely, I agree about the need for maps in addition to a gps. You need to have a good idea the direction you are going (north, east?), the distance on each of the major roads (will I be on here for 5 minutes or 50 minutes?) and time expected to get there (2 hrs or 3 hrs?) and then you can set your gps and relax a little bit. When you arrive to your town you really need to be on point to find your location as sometimes the gps makes mistakes in tiny towns.

Overall we had a great gps experience but I always had a local map within reach.

stevewith

^^Driving in Italy - the rule of the horn! IME^^

Someone posted this above, but your drivers should know that honking one's horn in Italy is against the law unless you are doing it as an accident-prevention measure. You may not honk horns to make others to speed up, or move out of an intersection, etc. That is why you often see Italian drivers blink their headlights at other drivers (or make gestures other than honk!)

If you have driven in Italy and gotten honked at a lot, you were driving dangerously.

kybourbon

>>>In Orvieto, stay at the Hotel Duomo, which has a garage.<<<

Not really necessary as there is free parking at the train station and a huge lot on one side of Orvieto connected by escalators.

>>>will usually have prepaid pumps that accept banknotes.<<

Yes, you will find pumps that accept euro.

tdyls

Lookin_Glass:

For regional travel or travel just on major roads, the Michelin maps (1:400,000 scale) are fine. For backroads driving and/or mountain driving, get the Touring Club Italiano maps (1:200,000 scale) instead.

ahotpoet

I am in Sicily now and driving everywhere. I have an iPhone with an Italian SIM card and I am using google maps. It has not steered me wrong yet. It makes everything very easy.

Lookin_Glass

Thanks again everyone for all you valuable suggestions.

Valentin1947

Your trip may be over by now but wanted everyone to be aware of the ZLT zones. You MUST register your car with the hotel if you need to go through the ZLT to reach the hotel. I have just finished paying my ticket for driving through a ZLT zone to get to my hotel.....no excuses. Hotels don't ask you and the rental car company doesn't offer any advice. We had to register our car in San Gimingiano where we rented a villa in a ZLT zone and in Lerici where we didn't register our car with the Hotel Doria before arriving. Have fun!

kybourbon

In Florence, you can only drive to your hotel on arrival/departure days (if your hotel participates) for luggage purposes, not in and out for day trips.

Lookin_Glass

They had a fantastic trip, were not intimidated at all, contrary to what they were told. Hope this thread helps others, as the assurance that they would be comfortable driving while understanding the zones etc really made their trip!

nochblad

Gas on Sundays - not a problem. Have some cash with you. Insert the banknote and when it has been accepted you will see the amount - 10,20,50 on the screen. Then press the pump station where your car is. Remember green for gas and black for diesel.

On the autostrade stay in the right hand lane unless overtaking. Do NOT overtake on the inside lane.

Get lost - especially in Tuscany. Your most memorable experiences will be these.

PalenQ

When driving on side roads I notice that traffic can be very heavy with folks avoiding autoroutes with their predatory high tolls (Berlosconi I believe once or does aown the autoroute plaza or the roads themselves!) but between noon and 3 - the tradition long lunch hour I found the roads largely empty - and at that time gas stations would also close - then many did not have automatic pumps but assume they do now.