Driving in Italy advice

Kelly, This is my "usual" advice for driving in Italy..... One important point to note is that for driving in Italy, each driver must have the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. These are valid for one year, and easily obtained at any AAA office (two Passport-sized photos required, which in some case is offered at the issuing office). Failure to produce an IDP if requested can result in fines on the spot! Have a look at This Website for more detailed information. You may also want to have a look at some of the other posts here concerning the dreaded Zona Traffico Limitato areas that are becoming increasingly prevalent in many Italian towns & cities ( especially Florence!). EACH PASS through one of the automated Cameras will result in a €100+ ticket! A GPS along with a good Map would also be a good idea. Be sure to also give some thought to the question of CDW. If you accept the CDW offered by the rental firm, it will be expensive but will provide "peace of mind". Some "premium" credit cards provide rental vehicle insurance, however I've found this to be somewhat complicated so I just accept that offered by the rental firm. Check the Car Rental section in Europe Through The Back Door for further information. Happy travels!

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/driving/index.htm

Be aware of ZTL areas, if using a GPS try plugging in parking garages for Siena instead of the main old town area to help you there, Lucca as well you want to park outside the town walls. For Venice it may cheaper to park over in Mestre, the garages at P. Roma can fill up on weekends and are more expensive. Do not trust GPS alone, also take maps, even here at home hubby was amazed at one circuitous route Google maps tried to make him take for a very simple local trip. I personally like the viamichelin site for toll and fuel cost estimates, sometimes it has indicators of speeding cameras as well. Oh, and if you see traffic slowing and then going for no obvious reason, it may have been a known speeding camera. For Italy, keep your sense of humor, lane lines and lights are more of a suggestion than anything else.

You can't drive in Venice, unless your driving a boat. You need to know about ZTL, limited traffic zones. For example, you won't be driving inside the walls of Lucca unless you have a hotel there, in general. If the streets look really narrow and you're not sure if your car will fit, then you're probably going to get a 350 euro ticket in the mail 3 months after you get home. We're renting a car in Lucca for 3 days of our 21 day itinerary, and we bought a GPS for navigation. Roads in Tuscany are somewhat complicated.

We drove from Innsbruck down into Verona. Get a good GPS. It was my first driving experience in Italy (after driving in northern Europe, UK, Australia, Japan, Korea, and North America). I thought I'd be fine with a map but learned the hard way to bring a GPS. I gave my kids the choice of Dolomites to Venice or Verona to Venice. They voted for Verona first so didn't drive the Dolomites. The other way is better because Venice to Lucca is too long a trip if not broken up with a stop in between. Verona is great. We stayed at Villa Franchescotti hostel, which offers free parking (but sadly not great water pressure for the showers). We parked in Venice. If I did it again, I would park on the mainland and take a train in; the parking was expensive and took a lot of time to get in and out of. We stayed at an apartment we rented from Hotel d'Art. It was plain but perfect for us and the price was good. I wasn't at all excited by Lucca. In an area of great hill towns, Lucca is flat. It has a nice wall-turned-park, but otherwise lacks charm. I would choose another stop. Siena is great. It has a lot to offer. We found parking near a football stadium (as I recall we followed the P signs). The square, cathedral and overall charm of Siena are hard to beat.

Familiarize yourself with a few traffic signs that don't exist in US, use some Google like "European traffic signal" and you will find them. Fortunately, European signage (97% uniform across countries) relies much more in pictures than written signs like "Right Lane MUST Turn Right". Unless otherwise posted, speed limits in ITaly (in KM/H) are: Highway ("autosdrade", green signs): 130km/h Divided (2 lanes + 2 lanes) express roads: 110 km/h Rural Roads: 90km/h City Roads: 50km/h A city limit (from/to where 50km/h limit applies) is ALWAYS defined by the presence of a blue sign with the name of the city ( entering) and the sign with a crossed strip (exiting). As for parking, beware of any painted lanes: White: free parking Blue: paid parking (look for a centralized ticket meter at the corner or center or the parking lot)
Yellow: no parking/special (police, bus) parking Get 3 minutes to familiarize yourself with the dared "ZTL" (limited traffic zone) and NEVER enter them.

On the Autostrada: Stay out of the left lane unless passing and get right back over(but of course you will have been forced to learn this while driving on the Autobahn). Know the names of towns farther along the rural roads you want to travel as the sign posts may not list the town you are driving to. Accept that you will get lost and have to turn around, that's just part of the adventure. Remember to set your time of arrival on the parking disc when parking along town streets. Enjoy!

http://www.usag.vicenza.army.mil/sites/local/DT.asp Go to the blue highlighted Drivers Test Manual halfway down the page. Has signs and laws if you want to brush up on 'em.

One exception to the free parking marked by white lines is in Florence. From the link I mentioned previously, "Slow Travel-Driving in Italy": Parking in Florence "Another point to know in Florence, assuming you are not in a restricted area, is that you are to park in blue lined spots. Do not park in white lined spots as they are reserved for residents and those with special parking permissions. Note: In many places, white lines indicate free parking, but not in Florence."

Thanks so much for all the tips - the Slow Travel website especially was very helpful. Thanks, everyone!

You should know the signs but don't worry so much about parking colors. Any spot that can be parked in will be taken, just assume you need to find a public parking lot and pay (your GPS can direct you). To me driving in Verona, Florence, Siena, Rome, etc. was just like driving in South Mission Beach, CA in the summer. The roads are too small for the amount of traffic, all the parking is taken and people are driving crazy (especially the tourists). Another difference was turning left at a light. Normally, in the US, you wait for traffic to clear then proceed through. In Italy, when the light turns green, you start picking your way through the near-gridlock oncoming traffic to get through the intersection. It was pretty crazy but also fun - and we came through without a scratch on the car (or fines for violating any ZTL).

Very simple-Drive to the right, pass to the left. When you see high beam headlights flashing in your rear view mirror, get over AND FAST!

Get the smallest car you can fit into. Parking is extremely narrow. Use your signalsbelieve it or not, folks pay attention to them. I loved driving in Italy (except for Florencevery stressful) and really got into the swing of things with the sudden lane changes. As for Venice, we stayed in Padua at a hotel with free off-street parking and took the bus and train into Venice each day. Very convenient. My GPS kept us out of trouble regarding the ZTL's so no tickets turned up later on.

I also will be driving when we get to Naples to go to see the Trulli Houses.I recently got my International Driving Permit.This is also my first time. All I can say is look out Italy

We drove last Dec. from Munich to Venice to Milan back to Munich thru the Brenner Pass. Hope you get a zippy car for the pass. Tronchetto garage in Venice is more expensive, but you get on the vaporetto quickly so it seems like a good tradeoff rather than taking the train. The GPS in the car did not recognize the road to Venice but the TomTom did. Don't leave anything in the car!

Be prepared for traffic circles, especially if you're off the autostradas. Some are small and some are multi-lanes, just be aware of the cars around you. We've lived in Italy for almost 3 years and I can honestly say I've never driven with worse drivers in my life. As long as you're a good defensive driver you should be fine.