Advice for North Italy by Car

Kent,

After reading over your Itinerary, the first point to mention is that renting a car in one country and dropping in another usually comes with a hefty "drop fee". When entering Switzerland by car, you'd also have to ensure that you buy the Swiss Highway Tax Vignette (which probably won't be provided on a car rented in Italy). Hefty fines payable on the spot if you're caught without one!

For driving in Italy, each driver listed on the rental form will require the compulsory International Driver's License, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. These are easily obtainable at any AAA / CAA office for a small fee and are valid for one year. It Italy you'll also have to be extremely vigilant to avoid the ZTL (limited traffic) areas which exist in most Italian towns and cities. Florence is heavily covered by automated ZTL cameras so don't drive there! Hefty fines for each pass through these! There are also highway speed cameras, tolls on the motorways, fines for driving in bus lanes and of course expensive fuel. You'll also need to be aware that parking your rental car with all your luggage inside while you're touring or whatever, comes with some risks! You may find your luggage missing when you return to the car!

You may find this website interesting - https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/the-italian-autostrada-tips-for-foreigners .

Using a combination of high speed trains and car rental for out-of-the-way locations would be a better strategy (IMO). The high speed trains travel at 300 km/h, so much faster than any car!

Regarding your last question, my personal opinion on the places you mentioned....

• Dolomites - definitely worth a visit - Ortisei is a big favourite with many here, but I quite enjoyed Castelrotto and the Alpi di Siusi area.
• Verona - worth a stop if you can fit it in - if you're only going to see the fictitious Romeo & Juliet balcony, I wouldn't bother.
• Lake Garda - not my favourite - I'd suggest either Lago di Como or Lago Maggiore instead.
• Bergamo - I'd probably skip that.
• Milano - unless there's something in particular you want to see, I'd skip that.
• Lake Como - yes, absolutely! The small town of Varenna in the mid-lake area is a big favourite here.
• Lugano - perhaps..... if there's something you want to see there - you could also look at Locarno, which is nicer (IMO).
• Something you've overlooked? I'm surprised that the Cinque Terre is not on the list - while it can be dreadfully overcrowded at times, many people want to see it at least once.

Where are you visiting in Switzerland?

Thanks, Ken. We'll be picking the car up in Nice, France and returning it in Geneva, France to avoid the extra expense. :) But I appreciate the tip on the Swiss Highway Tax Vignette!

Kent,

I've added to my original post. Note that an I.D.P. is also required in France, or in lieu a certified translation of the terms of your D.L. in French.

Geneva is not exactly in France. Next to the border, but not in France. It’s in Switzerland.
So you may want to check about possible international drop off fees.

I’m confused about your post. You say you are driving starting from Venice, but picking up the car in Nice. How does that work?

Roberto, I'm picking up our car in Nice and spending a few weeks in the south of France, Cinque Terre, Tuscany, etc. before arriving in Venice. It's the segment from Venice to Switzerland I'm trying to figure out.

Thanks for the detailed reply, Ken! I'm planning to rent a car for the flexibility with my two kids. This way we can stop when and where to want, go where we want, or just stay local.

As to Switzerland, we're heading to the Lauterbrunnen/Grindelwald/Murren/Wengen area. Haven't made any specific reservations yet.

Hi Kent. Dolomites are different feel (rockier, little or no snow, larger high green plateaus, less expensive) from Lauterbrunnen area (more snow, spectacular scenery, great hiking, more expensive), but similar in nature - I would pick one or the other. Enjoy your trip!

As Roberto mentioned, Geneva is in Switzerland (albeit the French speaking area). If dropping the car in Geneva, you may still have to deal with a drop off charge.

It might be worthwhile to do a cost / time comparison between rental car and rail travel. Save the rental car for areas not well served by public transit.

If you could post more details on your Itinerary, it would be easier for the group here to make more specific suggestions.

My plan was to drop off the car across the border in France, perhaps in Annemasse, then pop back over to Geneva to fly home.

The rough itinerary is currently:

1. Arrive Nice
2. Nice, Èze, Monaco, Monte Carlo
3. Marseille area
4. Aix-en-Provence
5. Nîmes, Arles
6. Montpellier area
7. Avignon
8. Menton/Sanremo
9. Cinque Terre
10. Pisa, Florence
11. Tuscany area
12. Venice
13. ?????
14. Lauterbrunnen/Grindelwald/Murren/Wengen
15. Geneva/Annemasse (Fly home)

I have a friend who grew up in the south of France near Montpellier who still returns every summer to visit friends. She's been helping me out with the first half of our trip (#1-8).

Currently, it's the piece between Venice and Switzerland I'm trying to figure out.

Thanks!

Consider flying into Marsaille instead of Nice.
Make either Nimes or Arles your base for this area. 4 -5 nites. Visit Aix-en-Provence on your way to Nice. 3 nites Nice. Visit Sanremo on the way to CT. 3 nites. Monterosso is your best bet for a beach for the kids and it has parking available.
Do Pisa on the way to Tuscany. 3 nites. Park in Florence here. Take the tram to the city center.
3-4 nites.

https://www.visitflorence.com/blog/villa-costanza-new-parking-lot-visit-florence/

Drive Florence-Venice park at Pizzale Roma.
While it's not cheap, it's fairly easy to reach the Vaporetto docks. 3 nites Venice will enable you to hit the highlights.

Visit Bergamo on your way to Varenna on Largo Como. 3nites.

Take the car ferry to Menaggio and head to Lauterbrunnen. 3-4 nites for this area.

Add the extra nite to Aix if you wish.

The obvious point re: car rental is that you should look into leasing, which becomes economically beneficial with longer trips. Autoeurope is one place to start.

Europcar has an office in Annemasse, so you might consider Europcar with your plan.

I like all lakes but I understand Ken’s point. Lake Garda is not ideal without a car. But you have one, so you will probably have a better time than Ken did. But no matter who you ask, first impressions and first loves count. People generally fall in love with the first Italian lake they visited. Since for many Americans that is lake Como (the most famous Italian lake for North Americans) that means that most North Americans will,tell you that lake Como is the most beautiful of the Italian lakes. The Germans will probably tell you lake Garda. My favorite is Lake Maggiore (not surprisingly the first one I visited decades ago), my wife’s favorite is lake Garda (the first one she visited also). That’s the way it is my friend. We never forget our first boyfriend/girlfriend.

In your itinerary I would skip the cities. Milan with a car would be a hassle. If you plan to see Lugano, Od consider staying in Menaggio, on lake Como. You can visit Lugano from Menaggio in 45 min, less than it takes you to commute to work across the SF Bay.

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

I already booked my inbound flight to Nice because I was able to get four business award tickets there but not to Marseille. Great tips on parking and driving!

Thanks also for the tip on leasing! I didn’t realize that was a thing. I will definitely research that more.

Great advice on the Italian lakes region, too.

I have a good idea now of what we’d like to do.

Kent, Geneva airport is split between Switzerland and France. There are car hire places on both sides, so you can drop of your French car on the French side of the airport, walk across the border and get train or bus into the city centre. Should be simpler than Annemasse.

The Swiss Vignette is a toll, not a tax, for driving on Swiss Autostrada/Autoroutes/Autobahnen. It costs CHF 40. It is possible to drive through Switzerland avoiding such roads, but not easy. French Autoroutes and Italian Autostrada have conventional tolls where you pay per Km. I hope you have included tolls (and fuel) in your budget.

As you probably know, you cannot drive in Venice, you have to park the car and pay. The same applies to Mürren and Wengen, park in Lauterbrunnen.
Never assume a hotel has parking, and never assume parking is free, without checking first.

Neither Nice nor Geneva are major hub airports for transatlantic flights, but if you have found flights that should be OK.