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Road Trip Venice to Montalcino

There are three of us and we are renting a car in Venice after our time there and will drive to Montalcino. I contemplated train to Florence and pick up the car there but it doesn’t save us much time, if any, and it’s just another transition to add into the equation. We definitely want the car for The Tuscan countryside when we stay in Montalcino. As an aside, yes I’ve driven in Italy several times and yes I have an IDP.

So, my question- where to stop for lunch in transit? I would LOVE to stop in Bologna but we will have the car and can’t drive into the center. Have you ever driven this route and found somewhere that is car accessible and memorable to stop for lunch? Of course we can always do the panino with mortadella at the auto grill- seriously nothing wrong with that! I just thought that I would check in here and see if there are any suggestions from this collective pool of amazing experience.

Thank you in advance.

Posted by
3812 posts

How long is the journey by car? At what time are you going to drive out of Venice from Piazzale Roma Sq.?

There are many restaurants out of Bologna's ZTL, but you must arrive between 12 and 14 / 14:30.

PS Do not leave anything in the trunk, at least do not open it after you have parked.

Posted by
1128 posts

The total car time between Venice and Montalcino is a little more than four hours. We are planning to leave Venice around 10 am.

Posted by
3812 posts

Hopefully they all survived Covid:

  • Osteria Dal Nonno via di Casaglia 62
  • Trattoria Bertozzi via Andrea Costa 82
  • Antica trattoria del Ragno via Augusto Murri 104
  • Trattoria Via Serra via Luigi Serra, 9/b

The first one is in the hills surrounding Bologna. I wouldn't dare to ask for Spaghetti Bolognese in any of these places.

Posted by
1128 posts

Thank you Dario. I will book mark these.

I usually cover my eyes and apologize to the restaurant when my husband asks for things like this…….especially when he asks for “Parmesan” for his spaghetti vongole.

Posted by
16167 posts

I would go for the autogrill at the Cantagallo Service Area, right after you get on the A1 in Bologna.

Posted by
1128 posts

Grazie Roberto! I wish we were going by the one in Modena that has Eataly paired with it! But I’ve been to some pretty spectacular Autogrills so we aren’t opposed to it. 😊