Driving in Italy? Get a GPS!
 

My husband and I just returned from a 10 day trip to Italy. I will post my trip report soon but wanted to add this comment on its own. We spent four days in Tuscany/Umbria between our time in Rome and Florence. A friend recommended that we rent a GPS with our rental car. We rented through Auto Europe and it was only 11 extra euro a day. It was one of the best decisions that we made when working out the details for this trip. It made driving in the hill towns so much easier. If you are planning to drive anywhere in Italy, I highly recommend it. We also had a good Michelin map of Tuscany and Umbria to help keep us on track as well.

I think a GPS could be a good idea but I honestly felt that it was pretty easy to get around Italy. We spent a week exploring the hill towns of Umbria, and we purchased a good, detailed map but found that road signs pointing to towns were everywhere so we didn't have any of the problems we thought we would.

I hope you had a great trip, and I look forward to reading your trip report!

Tract

Sorry...I can't spell today. My name is "Tracy", not "tract"!

Tracy

Our GPS certainly came in handy in Switzerland last May. I programmed it to avoid "toll" roads as I didn't want to purchase the vignette for a week's travel, and it took us on all the secondary highways & byways. We saw some great scenery, and it took a lot of stress off my wife looking for the next turn. We only used the map for directional waypoints prior to setting out on the next day's journey.

I agree, bmccadas, having driven in Europe with one, I won't leave home without it. ((b))

Ahhhh, youse guys what uses GPS are just a buncha woosies.

Real men don't use GPS.

They don't ask directions etiher. :)

((I))

Yeah, they just take the bus/train/taxi. :-) ((b))

We have GPS in our car and have often thought it would be very convenient to have GPS in Europe. So glad you posted this as this could be very helpful to me. We have never had any real problems driving in the country but I have to agree that in the cities it is hard to read street signs as they are on the buildings and not always easy to find. Would this be a big advantage in the cities, i.e. Rome?
Is the GPS that you rented easy to read/follow?
Thank you

Real men don't smoke, either.

I agree that once you've traveled with one, particularly in a foreign country, a GPS can seem to be worth its weight in gold.

That recent thread about a Mother and daughter taking their driving trip in the UK kinda cried out for a GPS recommendation IMO.

I think it depends on what kind of traveller you are. We recently went to Italy with another couple. My husband & I don't get too bent out of shape if we have to backtrack a bit, but our friend's enjoyment was often proportional to how sure he was of exactly where we were in relation to where we were going. So that comfort level of knowing that we were to turn left in 200 m or whatever was quite stress relieving.

For us the GPS was totally worth it. Programming the GPS took us right to the door of our hotel in Munich and the convent we stayed at in Florence with not one false move. Some people thrive on the challenges of travel, others would prefer just to get to where they are going and enjoy themselves.

I personally would recommend it - it saved so much time of rifling through maps written in another language and certainly avoided alot of bickering.

We rented the GPS system through Auto Europe (which ended up being Europcar). It was a TomTom system which I have seen advertised in the States since we have been home. I have never used a GPS system before and found it extremely easy to use. We used it to navigate from Siena to Florence our last day with the rental car. It was VERY helpful to use in FLorence and it took us directly to our rental car place with perfect directions.

I second the comments about it saving the hassle of readng through maps. With the GPS system programmed, both my husband and I were able to enjoy the scenery and not constantly looking out for the next turn on the map.

I went to the AutoEurope sit and could not find a place to sign up for a GPS. How did you do that? How much was it?

Am I the only person who enjoys getting a little lost in Europe? After all, it isn't the Gobi desert.

Shirleya53 -
I contacted AutoEurope via phone b/c I found GPS information on their website a little confusing. They were very helpful and helped me located the places in Rome that offered the GPS. It was 11 euros per day. We paid Europcar for it directly when we picked up our car in Rome instead of through AutoEurope.

I hope this helps.
Beth

Beth: If you rented directly through Europcar and not through AutoEurope then how are you insured that there will be a GPS available? Also what about the language? Is it in English?
When I asked AutoEurope about a GPS rental they said they program it and mail it to me prior to my leaving for Europe. Which leads me to believe that it might be difficult to program or possible language difficulties when renting over in Europe?? How did you get AutoEurope to not insist on your getting it from them prior to leaving?
I am really looking forward to hearing of your experience with the GPS and your answers.
Thank you

I rented a car, for the first time in Europe, on my last trip recently to southern Tuscany. I thought I should get a GPS because of this and ordered one. They told me they could not guarantee it but they would put in a request for it and I should hope for the best.

When getting the car, they told me the GPS was available, it was an extra 10 Euros per day and I was glad that I could get it. But when I made the good move of asking whether it was insured for theft or damage, they told me that it was not and I would/could be charged the price of $600 if something happened to it. I right then and there said no thank you and did not get it.

I had absolutely no trouble navigating the small winding roads of Tuscany, or the autostrada getting out of Rome, without the GPS. And as kerouac says, getting lost in a place like southern Tuscany small hill towns only proved to be a plus. We ended up visiting several places that were not even in my plans and they were some of the nicest !!

Our GPS is portable and weighs less than 10 oz. When we stop for lunch/shopping, my wife disconnects it from its base and places it in her Barney Bag (her purse). :-)

We were in Tuscany for a week, and twice getting lost wasn't fun. Once we missed our lunch reservations, and another time we wanted to get back to our home base before dark.

To each his own, but I wouldn't leave home without it. ((b))

This is probably a dumb question, but can you buy a portable GPS in the US and get the software you need for, say, France? And can you plug it into any car you rent?

Carolynk, I've been thinking the same thing. I'm considering getting one for my husband for Christmas and have been checking reviews. Naturally, the one with the best reviews (Garmin) is very expensive, around $700.

I'm still looking. I want one that's small & portable and can be loaded with all different countries software. I'll post back what I decide.

Yes. Garmin sells both the portable & the European maps. It depends upon which Garmin you have. For example, I have the C330 StreetPilot which came loaded with the North American maps. I had to purchase separately the City Navigator Europe software plus a SD card which plugs into the GPS unit.

If you buy direct from Garmin, it will be more expensive than if you shop, shop, shop on the internet for deals. They are out there. Prices seem to be dropping as these are getting more popular. ((b))

We got ours for $600 (my wife bought it for Christmas last year), and you can now get them for $400. The Europe V8 software is now about $250. I paid $280 for the V7 version, so there are deals out there.

Linda, the $700 one probably has a lot of "stuff" on it that I would never use, so I would recommend checking out the features.

Here's a list of stores on line that sells Garmin products, plus I'm sure many other GPS manufacturers. They are all different prices between stores, so shop around. http://www.garmin.com/cgi-bin/online...T=Show+Dealers ((b))

Traveler2 -
We rented our car through AutoEurope in the US and requested the GPS system with them. They didn't offer the option of sending it to me in advance. That might not be a bad idea if you want to guarentee that you have it on your trip. It's possible that when we arrived at Europcar in Rome (I think AutoEurope works with them quite a bit.) that the GPS would not have been there waiting for us. This wasn't the case for us. Maybe we just got lucky? How much is AutoEurope charging you to have it sent in advance?

I didn't think about the insurance situation as Flame123 mentioned. It was very small so we always put it into the glove compartment or into my bag. Maybe if you order it through AutoEurope they insure it themselves?

It has many different language options (English being one of them!) and was very easy to program our different destinations.

I hope this answers your questions. Let me know if you need any more information.

Budman - I agree with you. We did get lost one day when we hadn't plugged in the system yet b/c we thought it would be a quick easy drive. It was getting dark and it just became too frustrating. It was definitely a smart choice for us!

Thanks Budman. I'll check it out.

We wish we had GPS during our last trip to Piedmont, Italy. Northern Italy in autumn/winter gets foggy. We were trying to drive back to Milan’s Malpensa Airport from Piedmont. Fog was so think that we could not see road signs at all. We made wrong turn and headed to opposite direction. If we had GPS, we would not have missed our flight!

bmccadas: I talked with AutoEurope today as I could not remember if they had quoted me a price. Got a different story today. They said that Europcar provides the GPS when I get there. I guess you get different answers from different people even though they work at the same company. (You can get that anywhere; as I have been dealing with this type problem at a hotel)

They quoted me 11 euros a day.

Did you drive out of Rome or in Rome? If so, did it help getting around there?

We are travelling to Europe in April and here in Australia have been offered the hire of a Seymor Garmin Nuvi 300 GPSwhich sounds great. It's $10 Aus. a day and they ( Driveaway Holidays) deliver it a few days before we leave and pick it up on our return so it just goes everywhere with us. It also has MP3 and translator. Extra sortware is only $66 per card.
Sounds a good deal.
Rosie:)

Traveler2 -

Yes, we did drove out of Rome. We picked up the rental car at the location near the Borghese (spelling?). We had some challenges leaving Rome but they weren't necessarily related to the GPS. It took time to get used to the GPS directions. The traffic was crazy in Rome with the cars and all of the scooters. Often the GPS would be telling us to turn but we couldn't get over in time! In general, I think you will find it very helpful.

I have used a GPS receiver in Ireland, England and Wales. In the hedgerows in Wales, you can easily drive right past a road you are looking for to reach your destination. We were in Ireland in 1999, and the road signage was not what we were used to. Even without the maps downloaded into the receiver, I was able to create wayponts using www.multimap.com to get the lat&long for the places we planned to visit. If you don't have the place pre-programed, once you have made it to a destination, mark the waypoint and you can find your way back MUCH more easily.

Beth: Thanks for your reply. It seems most of the car rentals are picked up near Borghese, so I will also have to find my way out of Rome and I think the GPS will help make a bad situation a little better.

For anyone who is looking for a Garmin StreetPilot C340 GPS, Costco.com has it on sale for $350

We bought a Garmin Nuvi 350 and tried it out in Italy a couple of weeks ago. It was wonderful. We won't be leaving home without it now.

The maps available are excellent for Western Europe and Poland, but are only ok for parts of Central and eastern Europe.

Traveler2 -

I am so glad the informatin was helpful for you. Good luck with the driving! Have a wonderful trip.

Beth

Buona sera tutti,
Just this afternoon I confirmed my car rental with Auto Europe and ordered a GPS as I will be spending 4 days touring around southern Umbria. They will ship the GPS prior to my departure date. In fact, they even asked what date I wanted to receive it. I asked that it be delivered 2 days prior to my departure so I could pre-program a few routes and POIs. My trip totals 9 days, and my cost is $99US. There is no charge for the days before or after. There is a $40US shipping and return charge. My only shock was the $2.50US per day theft insurance which has a $300US deductible. Naturally, I declined that coverage. When I leave the car, the GPS will leave with me.

I do have a question for those who have used these GPS's. I was told by Auto Europe that they run on normal alkaline batteries, and warned that if the battery runs down, it won't recharge, and you lose the use of the GPS(hence do not use it as a hand-held while wandering through Perugia). If that is so, then why does it plug into the cig-lighter in the car?
saluti,
BellaLuna

Dear bmccadas / Beth,
Thanks for starting this thread. My Family is heading to Italy in 2 months & I will rent a Van is we are 5 people. I bought the latest Garmin "nuvi" navigation unit. I AM DELIGHTED TO KNOW IT WORKS IN RURAL AREAS. We will spend 3 days in Rome (car free) and on last day have this wonderful 'Europe Auto" drop the car @ my Hotel so we can drive to rural parts & head back to the airport after 7 days. Your comments have put me @ total ease. Thanks a bunch. Shawn (Montreal Canada). P.S.If anyone has any comments on driving into airport for car drop off.. please let me know.

Kerouac and Ira: We are also a family that loves to get lost in Europe. GPS is for tourists not travelers. Our best experiences are when we were lost.