Comments on: Driving in Italy

By: Jessica

Jessica — Fri, 04 May 2012 01:47:23 +0000

Two things – first, I completely agree with you about the GPS. And second, I’m thrilled you did a Home Food dinner! I tell everyone I know to do it.

By: B Coutley

B Coutley — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:49:35 +0000

The best driving tip is to buy Italian maps for your portable GPS. It was a lifesafer, multiple times, as we drove through rural areas. We had signed up for a Home Food experience and had to travel 40 km to a tiny village, down a long winding street, past pastures and factories: the GPS delivered us to their door. Since the family didn’t really speak English we would have been without directions without the GPS.

By: Dirk Groen

Dirk Groen — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 21:04:55 +0000

I have rent a car in Italy now a few times and every time you get a whole bunch of tickets in every city. They always claim that you were driving in an area where you were not allowed to drive. You will receive an unreadable paper in Italian with lots of numbers and codes. The charges are automatically charged by the rental car agent (Budget rent a car) to your cc. The charges are significant!!! 35€ for just sending you an unreadable piece of paper by registered mail and then you still have to pay the tickets that easily amount to a few hundred Euros. This has happened to me now three times and I would recommend NOT renting a car in Italy! In my opinion it is the Italian way of making tourists pay for their budget deficit. Everytime it spoils a nice vacation…

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 05 May 2011 20:10:55 +0000

I’m afraid I don’t know anything about concessions for disabled drivers in Italy – especially if the disabled badge comes from outside Italy. I’d highly recommend contacting the hotel you’re going to be staying in to find out what they suggest.

By: Peter Murray

Peter Murray — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 12:48:28 +0000

Are there any concessions for Blue Badge Holders (disabled drivers) especially driving older cars in cities. What happens if your hotel happens to be in a city centre.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 22:25:49 +0000

Well, just because it’s technically a regulation doesn’t mean everyone follows it.

By: Norm

Norm — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 23:24:27 +0000

There was information saying that vehicles were required to have headlights ON day or night yet these videos showvehicles with NO lights during normal daylight conditions ????

By: Manola Padgett

Manola Padgett — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 11:29:50 +0000

Hi Jessica, Myself and three friends are going to be getting the train from Rome to florence. We then hope to hire a car to take out to the Chianti region as we have rented a villa for a week. Do you know if you can get hire cars from the train staion in Florence and if not where would be the closest to the station.
Thanking you in advance, Manola.

By: Jessica

Jessica — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:00:51 +0000

Hi, Daniel:

There are two links in the article above for mapping a route in Italy – I just added my favorite one, I didn’t know about it when I first wrote the article – and I’d suggest you play with the Via Michelin site a bit to see what your potential routes are. I’d also suggest that you look up where the various rental car offices in and around Florence are. If they’re in the outskirts of the city, then you wouldn’t really have to deal with driving in the city center anyway. That would be my recommendation, anyway.

Ciao,
Jessica

By: Daniel

Daniel — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 02:29:00 +0000

Hi Jessica,

My wife and I will be in Florence in mid September this year and we are planning to spend a couple of nights in the Chianti Region. I understand that the best way to get around the Chianti region is by car, however we (mainly I) are a little apprehensive about driving out of the centre of Florence and then back when we return? – with the traffic and ZTL cameras. Can you please provide any suggestions or tips on how best to get from Florence to Chianti Greve by car?
Thank-you,
Daniel