GPS or map/local help for driving rural Italy?

Do you have a GPS at home, like a Garmin or TomTom? You can purchase the SD Microcard with Maps of Europe online. I purchased my latest updated maps of Europe on Amazon last year for $30. Installing it is a breeze. Just insert the SDmicrocard in the GPS device, a few more steps and you are done. For $180 you could almost buy a GPS device, if you don't have one already, and you can use it at home when you return.
You shouldn't rent it from the rental car company for sure at $25/day, that's ridiculous.
Of course you can survive with just a map, road signs and locals' help (that's what we did before GPS came to the market), but a GPS is useful, so why not bring one with you? It's cheaper than renting one.
Regardless whether you have a GPS or not, you will also need a map. That's useful for planning your daily itinerary and also in case the GPS sends you the wrong way (which happens sometimes).

Speaking of GPSs, do the GPSs we use in the US attach and charge the same way in European cars or will we need a car adapter?

Roads are smaller but so are the cars. You can buy good foldout maps at most bookstores, we got ours in the first bookstore we saw in Florence. You should have the other person in the car as the navigator to let you concentrate on the driving. A gps is better especially at the change from the touring map to the detail map of the town. Often there are gaps,making getting lost a little easy. Use google maps and its street view before you go to check out where your staying and going.
On thing, be sure when parking to know what the rules are, we went into one un-gated parking area, couldn't see any ticket machines and assumed the parking was free. A tour bus had decided to park in the wrong place obscuring the m/c so a 57E ticket. These by the way can be paid at any Italian post office. regards

The car chargers are universal. So you can use your own in European cars.
Make sure you become familiar with International Road Signs System used in Europe.
In particular be familiar with the sign indicating that no motor vehicles are allowed in a restricted traffic area (or ZTL), such as inside historical centers (Divieto di Transito):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Italian_traffic_signs_-_divieto_di_transito.svg
And also the International sign for no parking (Divieto di Sosta):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Italian_traffic_signs_-_divieto_di_sosta.svg
And No Stopping (Divieto di Fermata):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Italian_traffic_signs_-_divieto_di_fermata.svg
All others are self explanatory symbols that are pretty straightforward.
Below is the full list:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_signs_in_Italy
On freeways the left lane is only passing lane. Therefore no cruising in it. Move to the right lanes as soon as your passing is completed.
There is no right turn on a red, unless there is a green right arrow on. Red means red (except for in Naples, where anything goes).
Most intersections have now replaced street lights with roundabouts. Hopefully you are familiar with those. Remember that cars already inside the roundabout have the right of way. Therefore before entering in a roundabout, you must yield to cars already inside the circle (there will be a triangular yield sign to remind you anyway)

great advice as always from this board- Roberto, you are a living Wikipedia on Italian travel! Ciao.

I always bring my Garmin from home. I hate learning how to use the ones in the rental cars. I know how my garmin works. Buy the chip on line they work great. Driving in Italy can be a challenge in the smaller towns but I find after a day I get use to it. When in cities don't drive, park the care and take subways or walk.

I bring my Garmin from home, but I also use paper maps to plot my trip. If the GPS tries to direct me of course (it happens) I know and keep going the way I have already figured out. I found having the GPS was a great aid in driving through Tuscany.

Grazie Roberto, especially for the links to traffic signs and symbols. I'll study those. I especially valued the signs for humps and uneven roadway. I always thought those meant "camels crossing", one hump and two humps.

(:->)))

Be prepared for the GPS to cut out right when you need it the most. For that reason, I strongly recommend having a good map and maybe even a compass with you. One thing that the GPS is invaluable for, though, is helping you figure out where you are if you get lost. So get both.

I'll echo Michael on having both gps and a good map. Gps's are not infallible. Sometimes they lead you onto roads you'd rather not follow or on very circuitous routes. We found that a good strategy was to plot out a general route, using main roads where possible. When we neared our destination, we let the gps take over. If you buy your own, you'll be able to get familiar with it before your trip. Take it from one who knows, trying to use an unfamiliar gps while driving in a foreign country is not amusing.

All good advice. I'll add: Make sure the GPS is running on the car power, not the battery, before you leave the rental pickup garage. I overlooked that in France last year, and until then (!) I didn't keep 15 and 20 amp fuses in my travel kit. But the manufacturers are constantly coming up with new fuse configurations, so the travel kit might not fit anyway. Naturally, when we detoured back to the Avis place, just like you and I, he had only a similar fuse, not the exact-right rating, to put in the slot for us.

Roberto, you are a genius and I LOVE YOU!

I had reserved a car with GPS for a week. After reading your recommendation, I found a GPS and the micro-SD card upgrade for European maps for a total of $108.00, and I get to give my wife a gift she has wanted! :)

The rental fee for the GPS (via Avis) for one week was $113.00 a savings of $5, and I get the GPS. In addition to this, I saved $78.00 in added (otherwise unexplained) surcharges and in taxes! Not to mention bank/credit card foreign transaction fees...

Thank you Rick Steves, for the great website, and thank you to the travel community for excellent tips like these!

Garmin GPS from home with Europe maps downloaded ($99) worked great when they had a satellite signal and the Michelin map I bought from Amazon (cheaper than RS) filled in the blanks. On either, however, I learned the hard way that it is helpful to have a notepad handy with the names of the towns/roads/exits written down in the sequence you intend to use them. Like the exits on out interstates you will find several for the same town, one well before the town you're going to, another very close and a third may be past where you should get off. You don't want to be driving along at 90 KM and have your GPS go out, or tell you to take an exit long before you want to get off and then start trying to use the map. All exits are numbered and the notepad makes it easier. Also, roads will change numbers but the towns never do. Make sure you do the above on the side roads as well to avoid going way out of your way trying to get somewhere.

An great advantage of taking your own GPS is that you will be familiar with it - no learning curve; and you can enter your waypoints and stops into the memory - Favourites on Garmin - dunno about Tom and Tom, so loads of time saved. And time is money as they say, especially when you are on holiday.