I will be in Austria later this year - in the southwest corner in the city of Lienz. I want to drive across the border to Cortina, Italy, and see some of the Dolomites. Has anybody done this? Is the road easy or tortuous? Is getting anti-theft insurance for an Austrian rental car goint to Italy a problem? How about the road west to Bolzano to see the Alpe de Siusse? How much time might the Lienz-Cortina section take to drive comfortably? Does anybody have any advice, please?
Posted by
San Diego, CA, United States
864 posts
The Dolomites are fantastic. Now these are not the Canadian mountains, or the Sierra's here in California. Think older and more rounded (for the most part...not the passes). VERY scenic. Lush valleys, rushing rivers etc. Driving is easy easy easy if sometimes a bit twisty turney slow. Now you might have to go slow behind a tour bus (two lane roads) but the roads are in tip top shape. Loved it. Be sure to let your rental car company know (IN ADVANCE) that you will be taking the car into Italy. Sometimes they will give you a less desirable car (from a thief's standpoint). This has actually only happened to us when taking a car into Poland. Do ALWAYS get CDW. Any good road map will give you approximate driving times. You're a fool not to get a good 1:100000 road atlas IN country (or on Amazon just making sure it spells towns etc. in the native language NOT English). GPS is great until the detour. Spend the $30 bucks and highlight your next days drive. No stress.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
These 2 websites will enable you to answer your last question about driving time. Many here recommend multiplying the driving times given on both sites by about 1.25 to get more accurate times. In addition to multiplying by 1.25, neither site includes stops of any type in their driving times. http://maps.google.com/http://www.viamichelin.co.uk/viamichelin/gbr/tpl/hme/MaHomePage.htm