My wife and I have a full day to get from Civitavechhia to Venice This coming October. We initially thought we'd take a train, but felt it would be a great opportunity to tour the countryside and make stops along the way. GoogleMaps suggests a 5-hour drive through Siena, Florence, Bologna around Ferrara and Padua to Marco Polo Airport near Venice. Assuming a full day of driving, we would take another 5 to 6 hours of stops along the way. This route offers some coastline and Tuscany-area viewing. Any particular destinations we should plan for along or near this path? Any specific concerns to be alert to other than the well documented restricted driving zones in cities? Would appreciate any advice and recommendations anyone has to offer.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23661 posts
That would make for a long day. And remember that day light hours in Oct are getting shorter. You will not have 12 hrs of daylight. I think you would only be able to stop once or twice. Many of the more interesting towns have parking on the edge would could take time to get to and from. You cannot just drive through. I would focus on the country side and skip the major cities like Siena, Florence, etc. And don't let the mileage fool you. Once off the main roads, the driving is slow with many hills and curves.
Posted by
OP
Lubbock, Texas, USA
4 posts
All good points Frank. Thank you for the reply. I'm sure the roads are nothing like the flatlands of West Texas! I'm thinking we would take it slower along the coast and then through the Siena area before connecting to the main highway where we would high tail it the rest of the way. We would need to pick our stops wisely but plan to primarily enjoy the countryside. Simply wondering where our key stops would be?
Posted by
NY, USA
500 posts
Driving in Italy is nothing like driving in the U.S. let alone Texas. If Google Maps says 5-6 hours it will probably take a tourist way more time and not be at all relaxing. Even the train takes nearly 6 hours and that is Express from Rome.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16235 posts
In this case driving in Italy is just as fast or faster than Texas because the route is mostly freeway and the speed limit on the freeway is 130km/h (82 mph). However it's over 500 km (320 miles), therefore likely over 5 hours driving time one way (I.e. over 10 hours round trip). Too far to do in a day
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23661 posts
Someone is reading the wrong schedule. All the fast trains between Venice and Rome are less than four hours. The only train taking six hours is the Euronight train or a Regionale taking about 7 hours.
Posted by
OP
Lubbock, Texas, USA
4 posts
To be safe, I went ahead and booked an additional reservation in Bologna, taking 1.5 hours off the freeway portion of the drive (according to GoogleMaps). I believe that would allow us time to drive north along the coast from Civitavecchia, cutting through the Siena area and rejoining the freeway near Florence. We're driving one-way (not round trip) so hopefully this will protect us either way, overnighting in Bologna or should we decide to drive on in to the Venice airport. Thanks again for everyone's input.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon, United States
907 posts
Watch out for rush hour! It took me over an hour to get around Bologna on the Autostrada!
Posted by
Portland, Oregon, United States
907 posts
Watch out for rush hour! It took me over an hour to get around Bologna on the Autostrada!
Posted by
OP
Lubbock, Texas, USA
4 posts
Duly noted. As it stands now, we'll probably be driving through Bologna in the early afternoon, arriving Venice mid afternoon.
Posted by
NY, USA
500 posts
I wrote 6 hours by train as that is including the trip from Civitavecchia to Rome Termini (including transfer time) then on to Venice.