We are arriving Rome on October 3rd at 8 am. I rented a car to drive to Amalfi coast where we will stay for a week (Villa 2 km from Praiano). Then we'll drive to Tuscany, for another week and then we'll go for 3 days to Venice.

It is my husband's first trip to Italy and I thought it would be nice to spend just a few hours in Rome - may be to go to St. Peter's, and stroll through Forum and Colosseum. We have 3 kids with us but they are seasoned travelers and I do not see a problem here (except may be a slower pace). I thought of driving into the city, park somewhere close to subway station and just walk for a few hours.

Is it doable or am I crazy? Where would we park? Given it is Saturday morning how heavy is usually the traffic? How difficult and how long is the drive from Rome to Praiano(I know it is about 300km, but I am not sure we can make it in 3 hours)

Also, where is more convenient to return car in Venice - they offer airport and city location.
Thank you!

Seems like you're doing a lot of driving. I'm just back from Italy where I hired and returned a car at Florence airport and drove around Tuscany for a week. I guess you may be from the US in which case you'll be driving on the same side of the road as you normally do. I'm Irish so getting familiar with the opposite side of the road was the first step but it became normal after a while. I didn't have any major problems driving in Italy but drivers aren't courteous, like to tailgate, overtake on bends, ignore speed limits entirely on the Autostrada and that kind of thing. To me it was a bit intimidating to start with but then I decided it was their problem and just worried about my own driving and left them to get on with theirs.

On the plus side the Autostrada are excellent and road signage is good. Driving around Tuscany even in the small towns was less stressful as there's less traffic. I would invest in good maps the 1:200000 series from www.touringclubitalia.it are good. As for driving in Rome, having been there as a pedestrian I wouldn't go anywhere near the city centre driving. Similarly I'd much rather return a car at an out of town location.

For planning the Rome-Praiano part of the trip see the route planner on www.rac.co.uk it gives good route and timing information. Enjoy the trip.

www.vistaphotos.com

Also meant to say that I found the article at http://www.castellobanfi.com/driving.html gave some very good tips on driving in Italy.

I've driven in Italy and in Rome. It is doable. The highways are very easy. Toll booths take credit cards without any problems. Driving in Rome is a hectic (to say the least). Make sure, where ever you park in Rome, stay away form the historic center (near pantheon, Navona, trevi). It is very difficult to drive there. Many of the very small street aren't even on most maps, and many of the streets are one way. Maybe someone here can direct you to a parking lot a little beyond the center of town (possibly near the Vatican). We kept our car in the city for an overnight (after driving in from Orvieto) to use the next morning for a day trip to Pompeii. We drove to our hotel (in the center of it all) and it was not pleasant, to put it mildly. We found a more direct route out of town early the next morning, and on our drive back from Pompeii we returned the car to the Termini area. That was a pretty direct route from the highway and not too bad at all. That area also may be a good location to seek out a parking lot. It also would be near other transportation.

Thank you for the useful links. I will definitely use the RAC Route Planner.

MFNYC You gave me hope

Any advice on a parking near Vatican?

I like ambitious people as long as they're sane. The only way you'll be able to do Rome in a few hours is if you get into Rome quickly and park your car immediately. Only someone experienced with Rome streets can do that. Traffic in Rome is rarely consistent and there's no map that tells you which way the one-way streets go because the city changes traffic patterns fairly often because more and more of the city center is closed to vehicular traffic. If you can make contact with someone in Rome who can give you specific directions and lead you to a parking garage north of the Vatican, then you might be able to pull this off. If I were you, I'd book a Vatican tour with ScalaReale.org and ask Tom Rankin to help you with directions. He drives in Rome everyday and has been a terrific help locating parking garages and traffic routes for me.

By all means, drop your rental at Piazzale Roma. It's the most time and cost effective drop-off location for a rental. It's a short walk to the Vaporetto stops. Luggage on wheels will come in handy, for sure.

zebra: Is it possible to pick your car up in town after you have done your sightseeing? Airport pickups usually cost more and you would be burdened with the car until you were ready to leave Rome. You could stow your luggage at Termini and then pick your car up there when you are ready.

If you use the Autostrada and don't make many stops (which may be necesary at roadside gas/restaurant areas for the children) you should be able to make your destination in several hours. We don't feel it is a difficult drive, just less interesting than on the "country" roads. Your drive from the Amalfi Coast to Tuscany obviously will take much longer.

In Venice we dropped our car off in Piazzale Roma, where the agency was located and then took a water taxi to our hotel (it was pouring rain or we would have opted for less expensive transport). We have never flown into Venice, so can't speak to car drop off at the airport.

Hope you have a wonderful trip and your husband will succumb to Italy's charm and want to return again.

Glad to give you "hope". I can relate, we also had our 2 kids with us. With the exception of driving into Rome, we actually enjoyed the driving, and the flexibility to be able to stop on a whim is worth it.

Hi Zebra
This is what I found about parking places. I live near Rome so I found this news to give to you: the list of parking places in Rome, with addies fares and positions. Hope they are useful.

In areas like Termini and the Vatican, as well as in other central areas, there are spaces on the street indicated by blue lines where you can park for € 1,00 per hour. The hours of the day when you must pay for parking are usually from 8am to 8pm, and in some parts of town, until 11pm. The tickets can be purchased either at the vending machines along the sidewalk (coins only), at tobacconists, or newsstands. There are also some large public and private parking garages around the city.The most accessible are:

ParkSì - Villa Borghese: Viale del Galoppatoio, 33 (Villa Borghese) - tel. 0039 06 3225934 - fax 06 3610805 - [email protected] .
Hours: every day 0.00 - 24.00. Car places: 1800
Price:

Per hour € 1,15
4th to 15th hour € 0,90
Per day € 14,45

Terminal Park: Via Marsala 30/32 (Stazione Termini) - tel. 0039 06 4454694.
Hours: every day 6.00 - 01.00. Car places: 290
Price:

First two hours € 5,00
3rd to 12th hour € 1,50
From 12th Euro 0,70
Per day € 28,40
From the 2nd day € 16,48

Piazzale Partigiani : Piazzale dei Partigiani - tel. 0039 06 57 45 942.
Hours: every day 6.00 - 23.00. Car places: 400 circa
Price:

Per hour € 0,77
Per day € 9,30
Special weekend price

Parking Ludovisi : Via Ludovisi, 60 (Via Veneto) - tel. 0039 06 47 40 632 - fax 06 484580.
Hours: every day 5.30 - 01.30. Car places: 500
Price:

Per hour € 2,00
From the 6th hour € 1,00
Per day € 18,00

Autosilo Via Mantova: Via Mantova, 24 (Piazza Fiume) - tel. 0039 06 84 13 853.
Hours: every day 0.00 - 24.00. Car places: 417
Price:

Per hour € 2,00
From the 3rd hour € 1,03

Parking dell'Auditorium: Viale Pilsudsky, 21 (Piazza Euclide) - tel. 0039 06 80 81 646 - fax 06 8081647.
Hours: every day 7,30 - 01,00. Car places: 540
Price:

First hour (7.30 - 21) € 1,00
Two hours (7.30 - 21) Euro 2,00
Per day (7.30 - 21) € 2,55
All night (21 - 7.30) € 7,75

Terminal Gianicolo : Via di Porta Cavalleggeri (Vaticano) - tel. 0039 06 68 40 331.
Hours: every day 7.00 - 01.30. Car places: 723. Bus places: 90. Restaurant/ Self service/ Meeting rooms
Price:

Per hour € 1,30
one week € 51,70

The other option is the "parcheggi di scambio", Parking lots located by metro stations a bit farther away from the historical center (like Anagnina and Cinecittà on line A, or Ponte Mammolo on line B). From there you can simply take the metro into the center. At € 1,50 per day, the parking is very economical, but the lots are unattended.

Non-resident cars are not allowed to drive in the historical center. If you are bringing a car to Rome, we recommend that you park it in the Termini or Vatican area and use public transportation (or you own two feet) to explore the historical center.

Driving in Rome is WILD with all motorcycles, etc. buzzing by. I've driven all over Europe several times but would never have a car in Rome. I'd take train, subways, and taxi's and then pick up your car as you leave Rome.

It's all spread out so trying to walk to all sites is a mistake. You can do the jump on jump off narrated bus tours and see a lot (overview) in a day.

I would love to rent a car in the City. Can we leave our luggage in Termini? I did not know it is a possibility.

I am not trying to see all sites in Rome - I realize it is impossible. But I think that one could get a feel of the greatness even in a few hours. Whatever we will be able to see is fine with me, I really hope to come back to Rome and stay there for at least a week.

Batuffolina, thank you so much the info!!

There is a left baggage place in Termini Station if you want to leave your baggage there. Actually there are 2 but the automatic lockers place should be temporarily closed, but you could try the "normal" one where you leave your bags to a clerk, pay and he gives you a receipt.
Here is where you can find more info:

http://www.romatermini.it/pagine.cfm..._3&lang=en

There are both info on lockers.