jkstrouse

Hello, everyone,

My Italy trip with my mom and two aunts is coming up next month. We had originally planned to take the train from Venice to Fossato di Vico, with a stop in Bologna, and then the bus on to Gubbio. We're now wondering whether it might be nicer to go part of the way via car rather than spend all that time on a train. Is there a way to find out the approximate drive times between Florence and Gubbio, Gubbio and Assisi, Assisi and Siena, and Siena and Florence? My travel books aren't much help on this subject. If anyone could point me to a resource or is willing to share their experience, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks!

Jennifer

BATUFFOLINA

I find www.viamichelin.com an excellent source of info about maps, driving directions and distances info. Try it.

jkstrouse

What a great site! This is just what I was looking for. Thanks so much!

sandi_travelnut

also try www.mappy.com

tedgale

The answer is: Each one of those trips will take FOREVER.

Not wanting to be discouraging but:

When we were in Tuscany and Umbria this year -- and certainly not in parts as remote as Gubbio -- I could not believe how long the day-trips took.

We never went more than 40 miles from Montepulciano -- yet it seemed some days we spent the whole day in the car.

Can't explain it. Wonderful trip. No regrets. But sometimes I thought I could run faster than that.

tuscanlifeedit

aaaaargh, tedgale, you are scaring me.

I usually like to limit my car time to point-to-point travel and short day trips, but I was thinking of something different for March.

We were planning on staying a little west of Florence and then day tripping into Chianti, north to the Marradi area, and southwest to San Gimi and Volterra. None of these are short trips.

Oh... now I'm confused. Can you tell me more about your day trips?

sandi_travelnut

Tedgale, where are you getting your information from? They are the perfect distance for daytrips.

Florence and Gubbio = 2h19m
Gubbio and Assisi = 54minutes
Assisi and Siena = 1hr 31m
Siena and Florence = 1 hour

sandi_travelnut

jk, please look at the sites you were given so you can see the actual maps. Don't panic, you are just fine.

tedgale

I'm not saying you cannot do it.

Just commenting that in Tuscany, once off the motorways (including the free one Siena-Perugia, whatever that is called) everything seemed to take forever.

jkstrouse

Thanks, everybody, for all of the advice and these two great sites. We're probably not going to do all of these drives, but we're hoping to get in one or two at least. Much nicer than the train, I think! Again, I appreciate the help.

chaz2316

The reality is that, for an American, the distances in Tuscany and Umbria are really very short. The perception, however, is that they are long and a bit tedious. In my experience, this is because the roads are not only twisty, but often heavily wooded. The vistas of sunny vineyards and wheat fields exist, but not as often as the promotional materials would suggest.

The views that you get are worth it, but off the autostrade it can be a bit of work getting them.