I plan to go on a trip in Italy sometime in the second half of the year. I have been to Italy once but that was with a tour group. Now with the availability of GPS I'm seriously considering renting a car and move around in Italy on our own, as some small beautiful towns in Tuscany are not accessible via public transport.
Basically I would like to drive from Rome to Milan. Has anyone had any experience driving around in Italy ? What are the things to look out for ?
i lived in italy for over a year, and yes, having a zippy car to go around was godsend. you have freedom of mobility, and you can pretty much get to your desired destination quickly and conveniently. almost all places of interest are accessible by car. parking though is a problem. in rome, you need to find street parking and/or garages that allow you to park overnight for a reasonable fee.
when on the autostrade, drive with courtesy like the locals do, i.e. slow vehicles on the right lane, faster vehicles on the middle lane, and only when you need to overtake, use the leftmost lane. italian drivers on the freeway are very disciplined and courteous, contrary to what morons claim. the overtaking lane is often open and empty. and there are very few road hogs. most hogs and idiotic drivers are from neighboring countries, such as switzerland, austria and germany. american (tourist) drivers are the worst. they almost always hog the overtaking lane.
the furthest road touring journey i've taken was from aosta in the northwest down to napoli. i also did the milan-rome-milan drive, and 1-way took 8 hours with a stop for refueling and delays getting into town due to traffic jams. if you're in no rush, spend some time in rome, then drive to sienna, stop for a day, pisa, stop for a couple of hours, firenze, stay for two nights, bologna, one day, parma, one day and then on to milano. the region of toscana is where firenze is (firenze is the capital). you may wish to stay longer if you want to explore the countryside. there are bed and breakfast stops all over the map; you just need to wing it as most of them are operated by families still living in their homes.
an alternate route is to go on the levante coast or the italian riviera. stop at genoa, santa margherita, portofino, cinque terre and skip parma and bologna.
if you have time after milano, try driving east to venezia and spend a couple of nights there. or, you can drive west and visit torino and then north to aosta and cross the mont blanc tunnel into france. if you happen to visit in february, aim for the carnavale festival in ivrea (week of lent). spend a week there, and you will witness the annual orange-throwing orgy in the townsquare. the "fight" between peasants/townsfolk and lords with blood oranges from sicily lasts 3 days.
good luck, and don't drive like a sinkie. they will give you the finger. :oIo:
