After touring Florence, we are renting a car at the Florence airport and driving to Sienna. We would like to take a scenic route that includes Castelina, Chianti and Greve on the way to Sienna. All recommendations, cautions and suggestions on the road names, routes, etc., would be greatly appreciated. Also, we will be traveling with a GPS system and are wondering if the ZTL zones will be displayed on the GPS? Also, are the GPS coordinates reliable in terms of mapping a route to our desired destinations? Thank you so much for you suggestions! Mary
Posted by
Singapore, Singapore
41 posts
I am pretty sure ZTL zones are not included in the GPS database. However, ZTL signs are highly visible and it shouldn't be a problem spotting them. If you're staying in a hotel within the ZTL zone, alert the hotel that you'll be driving in and you'll be fine. Or just do some research online (think Google Maps Street View) on the location of ZTL zones at each of the cities you're planning to visit/pass through. I used a Garmin Nuvi when I was travelling from Sienna to Volterra & San Gimignano and from Sienna to Montepulciano to Assisi without a problem.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10261 posts
Our Garmin did not display the ZTL's. Know what the signs look like and if you see one turn around. You can program your GPS to take you to Siena via the towns you would like to see.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Here's a link to an article with pictures that shows you what the ZTL signs and cameras look like. http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/driving/traffic_cameras_speeding.htm
Posted by
Siena, Tuscany, Italy
26 posts
Hi Mary, I am an American living in Siena. I have traveled with my Tom Tom GPS around Tuscany and it helped somewhat but one time it really added time to my trip, which can be stressful if you need to check in by a certain time or you just don't want to be driving any more than you have to. Another time it ran out of juice (the adapter connection was not working). I would recommend that you (1) always have a road map for where you are going, and (2) that you know the names of the towns along the way. This is because the roads are not always indicated by north, south etc. Instead it will list the towns that the road is leading to. This is easy for the locals but difficult for travelers. Beth Young
Siena