Driving/Parking in Italy vs. Driving/Parking in New York City
 

Is it worse to drive/park in Rome and Florence then in New York City?

See my response on http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34417118 where you also appended a similar question to another thread.

Best wishes,

Rex

Might be slightly less regard for traffic rules in Italy, but ... if you drive in Manhattan, you can totally handle Italy.

Whew - now I feel much better! Thanks!

If you drive comfortably in lower Manhattan, you probably will have no problem in Italy. The big difference geographically speaking is that parallel streets are almost non-existent, which creates a problem when most streets are one way.

driving in Italy is fine - but driving in Rome definitely is harder.

here is what I posted to your question on the other thread.: Message: yes - MUCH harder. NYC is laid out on a grid so though traffic is slow, at least it is
it is semi-organized. Driving in these cities is just as congested as NYC, but there is the added problem of extremely narrow streets laid out hundreds of years ago. Plus trying to drive while confronted by signs in Italian or French. Hard if you are fluent - terrible if not.

I had a hard time with 5 lanes of cars going down a 4 lane street.

Hi
I read Rex's and others' responses to your other thread, and will add the following as a New York City resident and past visitor to Florence:

Manhattan, at least most of it, is made for navigation, with its grid of streets. Rome and Florence have narrow twisting streets, lanes really, that may be,especially in Florence, as crowded with pedestrians as with cars since sidewalks are so narrow.

Manhattan imo has more designated cross walks, and many more traffic lights allowing stops and gos. Rome, in my observation, had some wider avenues that were more like racetracks, with cars at top speeds sort of dodging the brave pedestrians who attempted to cross.

Parking may be cheaper in Italy, but there are fewer (obvious) public lots and garages than in NYC (in my opinion). There seems to be a lot of ad hoc parking: I'll stop driving now and just leave the car in a jumble with other cars.

In heavy traffic, getting out of New York, especially rush hour, can be a nightmare. It can be exactly the same situation in small Florence, where when I was taking a bus to Siena, most of the journey time was in leaving the city limits of Florence.

I avoid driving and parking within NYC;
I'd avoid it like the plague in Rome and Florence. Maybe it's just less famiiar.

As an experience NYC driver, I strongly feel that driving here much, much easier than in Rome! As the previous poster said, I'd avoid it like the plague. You not only have other drivers to contend with but also a plethora of scooters!
Parking in Rome? Forget it! Finding a parking space is miracle. Finding a parking garage is merely difficult!

I would drive in Manhattan. I would never drive in Rome. In addition to the problems of narrow, windy streets with no grid pattern and no parking, there is a whole different attitude toward driving in Rome, where it is viewed as a sport. The lines down the middle of the street seem to be used for advisory purposes only.

When pedestrians cross the street, they must do so before the cars have slowed for the intersection. If they wait for cars to slow or stop before they cross, they will never make it across. Therefore, the drivers drive all the way up to the crosswalk before they stop. They don't appear to slow down until they are ready to stop, very abruptly. The game appears to be to get as close as possible without actually hitting anyone or anything.

Motorcycles weave in and out of traffic continuously, and get at the front of the line to wait for the light to change. It's amazing they don't all get killed.

The rules really are different there.