The Michelin maps are wonderful! We had the spiral notebook if Italy and it was well used. Check and see if your credit card (AmEx or Capital One, etc.) has additional coverage, over the normal rental, for collision.

I took a look at several maps of Tuscany and went with Freytag and Berndt (Dark Green Cover) which is a large 1: 150,000 map with good backup info. I thought the predominant white background and large scale (most are 1:200-300,000) made it easier to read for my ageing eyes. As to GPS devices we too will be spending a lot of time in Tuscany next month. I have posted in a seperate thread about GPS devices. Best wishes.

I believe there is no additional insurance needed in Italy. It is all included, by law. I find it worth the price to get no deductable though. Are you renting through Auto Europe? You can call them to make sure you have everything covered.

http://www.autoeurope.com/

I think you will be fine with a paper map.

Capital One covers the deductible in most countries.

Well, I just checked with T-Mo and apparently it will cost an arm and a leg plus to use my Google Maps on the blackberry. I guess I'm going with good old Michelin unless they give me a great GPS rate when I get there! Will call Cap One and my insurance company today to double check on the insurance. I want to make sure I have a zero deductible.

For those interested, I called Auto Europe and they said that to reduce the deductible to zero, I should add the Super CDW and Theft package. Zero liability. Thanks for your help everyone. I'm on my way on Wednesday!