WE ARE RENTING A CAR FOR 8 DAYS AND DRIVE BY TUSCANY, INCLUDING ASSISI,FLORENCE, VENICE,GARDA, MILAN HOW HARD AND HOW EXPENSIVE COULD PARKING BE? DO ITALIANS HAVE PUBLIC PARKING FACILITIES...HOW WXPENSIVE? THANKYOU

Why you people so boring after 5 pm and on the weekends? I get so bored...

You have a lot of questions packed into one thought. Only one of the places you mention (Florence) is IN Tuscany, and parking is extremely limited (euphemism for non-existent) except on the edge of the city, and then deal with the bus system. <BR> <BR>You will park you car in Mestre or on the parking (structure) island of Tronchetto for Venice, and then not have ready access to it again until you depart. <BR> <BR>It is useful to have a car to get to Assisi. When I drove there, the parking was about 1000-1500 meters walk from the hotel. <BR> <BR>Parking in Milan is moderately expensive - - rarely, you might be able to find on street parking. The very heart of center city is closed to ordinary driving. <BR> <BR>I cannot tell you about Garda. <BR> <BR>Most importantly, this is way too much territory to consider covering in 8 days. Spend 4 days in Tuscany (minimum), then eliminate two of the other four destinations, perhaps. <BR> <BR>Best wishes, <BR> <BR>Rex <BR>

I just returned Sunday and to give you a ballpark figure, I picked-up my car and parked in Milan, Verona, Pisa, Siena (free hotel parking), Assisi and dropped off Rome's Airport. In Milan, Verona, and Pisa it was 30,000L per night thru the hotel in a parking garage, in Assisi with a hotel coupon at a public lot it was cheaper maybe 15/20,000L. I'd assume Venice would be more expensive. Just a couple of things I noticed: be aware even if you find a legal parking space or lot in a city you still might need a parking permit to park legally. Check the closing time of the manned lots, you might have to pay in advance and get your ticket validated/coded in order to open up the gate (Assisi's lot closes at 2100). I had to park at a unmanned underground lot in Verona for a few hours, before I left I had to use a vending machine to validate my ticket to open the gate, easy and instructions also in English. HTH Regard, Walter <BR>

Thanks for the info. We're also going later this year. Good to know about parking car. <BR> <BR>(hehe if you're so bored go out and do something active.) <BR> <BR>Irmarie, have a great trip' <BR> <BR>Fellow traveller <BR> <BR>Rhonda

In Florence i parked in the large car park at the main train station and left it there for 3 days. Trafffic in and out was a nightmare though, I would avoid 5 pm on a Thursday afternoon if I were you!