Driving in Tuscany - where to get best road map?

I like to get the maps here in the States so that I can familiarize myself with the region, towns and roads. I like the Michelin maps and can usually find them at Barnes & Noble.

I never use a map. I usually bring one with me, however, I've never had to open one. I have a Garmin with built-in European maps (kept up-to-date), and I have never had a problem negotiating Italy. You can get Michelin maps from Amazon.com (search Michelin map Italy). They have complete atlases of Italy as well as maps by region. However, I cannot stress the ease of using a GPS while driving and not having to pull over on the side of the road to read and interpret a map. Driving in the countryside is a breeze; not so much, city driving.

Michelin or Italian Auto Club - both available from amazon.com or other online sources. I think there's a Michelin map for Central Italy specifically.

Thank you so much - your answers were very helpful!

Touring Club Italiano has wonderfully detailed driving maps at the 1:200,000 scale. We bought ours at the Borri bookstore in Rome's Termini train station. The listed price is 7 euro. If you want to have a map before you go, order from Stanford (based in London) www.stanfords.co.uk We get quick mail service on our orders. Best wishes!

Emily, be sure to study the road signs for Italy. Rick Steves' mentions some in his Italy book. Also, be aware that they usually don't have signs with distances to the next town, just which direction you need to head. I loved the round-abouts -- we could circle and circle until we were sure we had the proper spoke to take!

I like Michelin maps too. and take a compass with you.

Hi I go over to Ron in Rome, second down on the home page is about Italy maps. It was an interesting read and there are lots of options. Have a look at the http://www.viamichelin.com/ site
before you go. regards

There is nothing I can think of on any road map you can buy that is not also on Google Maps. Except google maps can then zoom in to any level of detail you want. Plug in locations for "Get directions" and it gives great printed directions. You could probably cover the area you are interested in with 6-8 sheets of paper printed from your home computer. I do love maps. I poured over them as a kid and I still adore a good map. But folding maps are a pain in the a$$ and bound maps are a different kind of pain. As soon as I grew to fully appreciate how to use Google Maps, I stopped buying physical maps. I don't drive with GPS either. That just takes all the fun out of driving, IMO.

Thank you, again, everyone, this site - and each of you - are so helpful and generous. I look forward to helping others after we return and I've learned more!