We will be traveling in Italy for 3 weeks in May and mostly plan to use train and buses, but we will be spending a week in Tropea in southern Italy and wonder about the roads from Naples south. We're somewhat timid to drive, but we wonder whether this drive would be especially scenic and we would appreciate the flexibility to stop and explore wherever we wanted. We had already planned to rent a car for some of the week in Tropea for side trips, so maybe we should rent it in Naples, drive to Tropea, have it at our disposal, and then drive back to Naples from where we will fly home. Does Italy have rental car drop charges, which we would thus avoid?
Gratzie
Posted by
11656 posts
Don’t be timid about driving. It will give you a full
experience.
Posted by
76 posts
I can't answer your question about rental drop charges, but we always drive in Calabria. If you want scenic, avoid the major thoroughfares like the A1, A2 and A3. Follow the E45 and the SS roads. Our car had GPS and we kept it on Italian. I carry a Marco Polo map book of Italy with me so I can make sure we aren't just on tollroads and missing some lovely sites.
Be sure to get a smaller sized car. We did not and there was the problem. They will think that because you are Americans, you want a big car. It is not helpful to have that. Hopefully, you know how to drive a shift?
If you are in Tropea, the lungomare in Reggio is very nice and the Riace Bronzes are fun to see. We also love Amantea, Scilla, Pizzo down south.
Scilla, its sister town of Bagnara Calabra and Gioia Tauro are all sites in the Italian TV show SOLO. We were so excited to see them in the series! Gioia Tauro is a little rough, but very authentic as the primary port for olive exports.
Posted by
Tennessee
19 posts
We are traveling in early May from Sorrento to Tropea. We thought about renting a car but decided to take the train to Lamezia and leave the driving to others. We are renting a car at the Lamezia Airport which is a short cab ride from the train station. The drive from Lamezia to Tropea is about an hour. Our hotel does not have parking but one of their sister hotels has parking which is about 5 minutes away.
Tropea and surrounding area look very interesting.... maybe a “best kept secret”.