Driving in Italy?

Pete_Coach wrote: ↑ I did business in Italy for nearly 10 years and have been there many times on vacation with my family. I drive only when I have to. My suggestion to you is to drive as little as possible.
The signage on the highways and roads is truncated because the names of villages are often every long and you can easily miss where you are going. Even with a GPS, it is not so easy because the roads and streets are often barely a block long and so many small streets,
Parking in towns and villages is hard to find, expensive and in many places not even allowed. In Florence for instance, you cannot park in the inner core and hotel parking is very often a long way form the hotel. Parking at hotels can easily be 30 euros and up per night. And in parking lots expect 20 euros and up.
Are you staying in Amalfi (the village) or going to the Amallfi coast? The road is very narrow, often you need to back up if there is no one behind you. Do not drive the road on a weekend or when there are cruise ships in Naples....buses have right of way and take up the whole road.
Naples (as opposed to Amalf, Salerno or Sorento) to Bari is a short drive but there is not much to see along the way. Other than the Amalfi coast, there is not much in that part of Italy. Plus, it is not very touristy so not everyone speaks or understands English.
While driving through Italy, you may think you get to see a lot but in fact, you will be spending much of your time looking at signage and figuring out where to go.
Chances are that your credit card insurance is not valid in Italy and, if you have it on you personal insurance it probably will not be valid in Italy either and insurance costs more than the rental car. Oh and automatics cost a lot more too. Oh and, drop off charges can be high too.
All drivers in Italy, even the old Nonas, are race car drivers. They do not care about the white lines and the road is theirs...all of it .
My suggestion to you is to take trains and if you do want to drive into the country side, rent the car there. In Florence, get a daily to drive into Tuscany.
Oh and someone mentioned flying....no. The smaller airports that service where you wan tto visit are way ou tof tow. Spend more time getting to and from airlports, waiting time and flying . On a train you would almost be at destination already compared to flying.

daivey wrote: ↑ wow didn't know the insurance coverage doesn't exist. thanks for that. just checked amex platinum and dont think its covered. shit.. that puts a dent in some plans.

Pete_Coach wrote: ↑ I don't mean it doesn't exist, just saying some credit card companies will not cover you in Italy....The accident rates are just too high plus Italy has been known to scam renters (happened to me and several of my colleagues).
It is not just Italy. Credit card companies have exceptions to their rental insurance for many different countries and even cities within countries. As does your additional insurances on your personal car insurance. It is best to check before you rent.

daivey wrote: ↑ how did u get scammed?

daivey wrote: ↑ ok so I think i've got some of my trip better planned.


Ive researched Florence quite a bit now. I'm confident in the drive to Florence, BUT I don't like the parking situation. I will be staying near the train station... and parking at or around the train station is about 20 EURO per day. that will end up costing me about 100 EURO IN PARKING.
Traing to florence, ONE WAY will be about $140 euro for both of us, and no driving.

So plan is to TAKE THE TRAIN to Florence. If we need a car for the day, just rent it for the day.

Then get a rental as a one way get it in Florence, and drop it off at Rome airport on our departure date.
The plan is to have the rental for about 2 weeks. We will drive to Amalfi from Florence, and then from Amamlfi to Galipoli and Frecce most likely.
our hotel in amalfi has parking reserved for us.

this seems to be the best of both worlds. I avoid driving through florence/dealing with ZTL and crazy bus lanes. still thinking about other options though. train from Florence to Salerno is about 100 euro for both of us...... that's a 4 hour train ride.... then probably another hour or so to amalfi if i rent a car in salerno.
its about a 6 hour car ride from florence to amalfi - right into amalfi where we are staying.

rubeus wrote: ↑ we stayed in florence for a few days rented a car and then spent 6 days in the tuscany countryside.

So you may want to schedule it like that. pick up the car in florence and spend a night or two in the countryside on the way to amalfi.

Great places would be Greve, Panzano, Castellina, san gimignano.

durrsak wrote: ↑ Just get a data plan and use Google Maps. It will avoid ZTL (restricted areas) and has good traffic info.
Florence's centre is all ZTL so make sure to give your hotel your car's plate number so that they can temporarily add you to the system and avoid tickets.
As for parking. Inside florence it's expensive. Outside the centre you can even find free parking.
I lived 5 years in Italy and never paid for parking anywhere. Most cities don't even have parking enforcement so it's not a big headache.