Rick's Heart of Tuscany Drive - Map?

There's good signage along this route. 10 years ago when I first did this drive, I used
https://www.viamichelin.com And enetered town to town directions, then printed each map. Tip, you do need a good navigator who doesn't get sidetracked with the views. 😂
Have had at least 4 subsequent trips and had no problem navigating on my own.

The navigator may be an issue! :)

My wife is not know for navigation skills, and she will most definitely be distracted by the views!

We did the Heart of Tuscany drive a few years ago.
I am the navigator ( and a good one), husband drives. We found it quite easy, the signage is very good in that area.
We always bring our own GPS (we have a Garmin Nuvi—using smartphone for a map app will likely suck up all your data) and I am a “paper map” person so I bring a good detailed Michelin map along as well.

I spent a lot of time looking at the route, figuring drive times, etc before we left so I had some familiarity with where we were driving. I used Google maps and Via Michelin. You can “drive" the route by using street view.

I think I also tried to map it out and save ahead of time but it just would not work!
I found plugging in the next town on the route as we drove to work quite well. That’s pretty much what the signage will help you do- just look for signs pointing to your “next” town or village.

We may have gotten lost a little bit probably because I was not paying attention but when that happens- just pull over- reset your GPS and go. We did try to stop a lot so my husband could take his eye off the road and enjoy the views but I don’t really recall the roads being heavily travelled at all.

Anyway- that's what we have done driving in Italy, Germany and France and we’ve always had good driving experiences/good luck. Believe me if Italy had not gone so well I never would have been able to get husband to drive in Germany or France- now it’s not an issue at all.

Thanks for the encouragement!

I'm usually very good with directions and I normally wouldn't be that concerned. However, a couple of times before, I was very frustrated trying to follow Rick's instructions in Rome. They just didn't work well for his Heart of Rome walk (from Campo de' Fiori to the next step, after that they were fine) and on his instructions to find the Testaccio Market.

Both of these took quite a bit of wondering around and some guess work, and I don't want to waste a portion of my one day with a car trying to get back on track.

The directions are the one aspect of Rick's books that I think need work.

I was very frustrated trying to follow Rick's instructions<<

I know exactly what you mean. We have found his walking tour instructions are kooky at times.

That's why I gave you the tip, 😬 But, by reviewing the printed maps, I was able to get back on course.

I know exactly what you mean. We have found his walking tour instructions are kooky at times.

He (or his employees) should really recruit a tourist that has never been to the area before and have them follow the instructions to see if they can find their way without any additional help. (The Heart of Tuscany directions may be fine, I don't know yet, but I'm speaking of the ones that I mentioned above in Rome).

I'm normally very good with figuring out where to go, but looking at the maps in his book and reading the directions leads you to somewhere else entirely sometimes. My first experience with the HOR walk was with an impatient member of our party that got very cranky after we had to turn around about 3 times and try again.

I'm all for "getting lost" and just wondering around soaking it all in, but only when that's my goal, not when my goal is to follow a specific walk or get to a specific spot! :)

We wasted a good bit of time at the top of Assisi just trying to find his “starting point”
We never did find it and should have just started on our own