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Road trip: Critique the Italian part !

Hi !
we (2 adults and 2 kids of 7 ans 11 years old) will do a road trip from july 6 to august 4. Our itinerary will be this one :

July 6: Fly from Montreal To Venice
July 7-9 (2 nights): Venice ( appartment in Cannaregio, trip to Burano) we rent a car when we leave Venice and will keep that car for the whole trip. Only 2 nights because My wife and I already been there last year, we just to show that place to the kids and get a bit over jet lag.
July 9-12 (3 nights) : Road to Osp (Slovenia), stop to lunch in Trieste, From OSp we will do a daytrip to Piran and another daytrip to Perdjama castle and Postojna caves
July 12-15 (3 nights): Leave Osp, stop to Motovun in route. appartment in Kanfanar. we will use that base to do trips to Riovinj, Porec and Pula
July 15-july 25: Croatia (Istria and Zagreb)+ Slovenia
july 25-27 ( 2 nights): Drive from Kobarid to Verona, Sleep in Verona
July 27 to august 3 (7 nights) Verona to Val gardena (stop to Malcessine on route). We have in appartement in Lajen/laion, Do daytrip to Bolzano, trente...
August 3-4 (1 nights) Val gardena to Trevisso (sleep in Trevisso).
August 4 : Trevisso to VCE catch our 13:30 flight back to Montreal

thanks in advance for all your inputs !

Posted by
32173 posts

I just had a brief look at your Itinerary and it looks reasonable. You may already be aware of these but a couple of other points to note.

For driving in Italy, each driver listed on the rental form 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 CAA/AAA office (two Passport-sized photos required, which may be provided by the issuing office). Failure to produce an IDP if requested can result in fines on the spot! Failure to pay the fines may result in the rental car being impounded, and further charges for towing and storage. Have a look at https://it.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/transportation-driving/ for more information on I.D.P's and driving in Italy.

You may also want to have a look at some of the other posts here concerning the dreaded Zona Traffico Limitato (limited traffic) areas that are becoming increasingly prevalent in many Italian towns & cities especially Florence, which is almost saturated with automated ZTL cameras. EACH PASS through one of the automated Cameras will result in a €100+ ticket, which you won't know about until several months after you return home! This website provides more information - https://www.italybeyondtheobvious.com/dont-mess-with-ztl-zones .

For driving on motorways in Slovenia, you'll need to purchase a Vignette - https://www.slovenia.info/en/plan-your-trip/getting-to-and-around-slovenia/to-slovenia-by-car . As with other places in Europe, there are hefty fines for failure to display one, and fines are usually collected on the spot!

I don't believe Vignettes are required in Croatia but you'll probably be dealing with tolls. It might be a good idea to have some local currency at hand.