Driving from Verona to Nice (and back)

Verona to Nice is about 5 hours' drive. Since you want to swing by Barolo it's a longer route, but not much longer. What you need to know: 1. Get an International Drivers' Permit at your local AAA office in Cincinnati. It's basically a translation of your drivers' license. It's not needed to rent a car, but it's needed if you get pulled over by police. 2. Become familiar with European road signs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Italy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_European_road_signs 3. Some basic rules: - You can't turn right on a red light like in the US. You must wait for a green sign (or green arrow) before you can move. - On a freeway, the left (fast) lane is for passing only, no cruising on the left lane is allowed. As soon as you are done passing a vehicle re-enter on the right lanes immediately so that faster vehicles can pass you. Even if there are no vehicles behind you, you cannot remain in the left lane and cruise there. Of course you can pass more than one vehicle at the time but you must re-enter to the right lane. Also you cannot pass cars using the right lanes (slow lanes). You must always pass vehicles from the left side of car ahead, no going around from the right side. If the vehicle ahead of you is in the fast lane, you must wait for him to move back to the right lane before you can pass. No going around their right side using the slower lanes is allowed. - Outside of freeways, highways tend to have narrower lanes (and no shoulder lanes). That makes the roads substantially narrower compared to the US. So be careful at curves, since sometimes big trucks and buses coming the other direction may partially occupy your lane.
- In a really narrow mountain road where 2 vehicles can hardly go in opposite directions, the vehicle going uphill has the right of way.

Adam, Roberto has provided lots of great information. The only point I can add is to be VERY careful not to enter the dreaded Zona Traffico Limitato areas, or you'll get a nasty surprise in the mail several months after you return home (possibly followed by call from a Collection Agency). Happy travels!

My memory of driving that route in the opposite direct is that the bit between Menton until you turn north around Genova is that there are so many short tunnels it is like driving in a Venetian Blind. Have plenty cash, especially coins are faster, or a C&P credit card ready for the various toll stations. Expect sticker shock on the toll prices between the Italian border and Nice. Be sure to have good insurance on the car, and if you are lucky underground parking at the hotel (or other accommodation?). When I visit Nice I notice the exotic parking procedures in Nice. Note the number of dents in the cars too. Think parking in Rome with a French accent.

You don't need coins on the freeway in Italy. Pick up the ticket at the booth entrance and pay the guy at the exit. Freeways in Italy work like parking lots. Get the ticket when you enter. hand the ticket and pay when you exit. The toll collector guy gives you change. Just make sure you enter and exit through the cash booths because some are reserved for those ho have the Telepass transponder which collects the toll electronically or the ViaCard.

Great replies, everyone. Thank you so much! And keep em coming! (In fact, another question: does the AA website have accurate toll information? And should I expect to pay a full toll for every highway entered or is it portioned out by amount of time spent on it. I'm figuring it's the latter.)

As I said when you think of Italian Toll freeways, think of a parking structure downtown or at the airport. Get your ticket at the machine when you enter. Keep the ticket with you (that will show the name of the freeway entrance). When you exit the freeway, hand the ticket to the toll collector at the booth. The toll collector will put the ticket in a computer which calculates the toll based on the distance traveled (from the freeway entrance to the freeway exit). The display will show how much you owe. Exactly like a parking lot (where parking fee is based on the time you have parked your car). Like with a parking lot, make sure you get the ticket at the entrance, and don't lose it (don't let it fly out of the open window). The ticket is the evidence of where you entered the freeway, if you fail to get it, or if you lose it, you pay the maximum distance possible (as if you had entered the freeway in Puglia instead of Verona) and that is stiff.
Since you are splitting your trip into two segments (Verona to Barolo, then from Barolo to Nice) you will pay the freeway twice. First you enter the freeway at Verona Sud entrance. You will exit at Castagnito, near Alba to proceed on regular road to Barolo. The Verona Sud-Castagnito freeway toll is Euro 28.60. After you're done drinking, you will travel toward Mondovi from Barolo. You enter the freeway at Mondovi and will pay toll at the Ventimiglia exit (at the border with France). Don't remember how the toll system works in France (if any) in that area. That segment will yield a toll of Euro 18.70. The fact that you will switch freeways along the way (for example from A-4 to A-21 from Verona to Castagnito doesn't mean you pay at each freeway change. You pay only when you exit the freeway system, not matter how many freeways you drive on.