Road Trip Tips for Italy

Road tripping in Italy comes with its own set of quirks, issues and need for travel tips. In general, Italian drivers are confident, speedy and somewhat anarchic with their attitudes to driving. So, to help you navigate Italian roads with ease, these are my road trip tips for Italy.

Road Trip Tips Specifically For Italy

Driving in Italy

As I said, the chaos of Italian roads is somewhat true, but here are my tips for driving in Italy:

• Confidence – Italian drivers are fast, confident and not backward at coming forward (if you know what I mean). Expect them to cut in, drive formidably, and park in spaces you wouldn’t think would fit a car. So it’s vital that you are as confident as you can be, in your ability and manoeuvres.
  
• Speed – There is a tendency to drive faster than the speed limit on the highways, but do not feel pressured to do so.

Toll Roads & Amenities

• Toll roads – Italy’s toll roads are extensive and easy to drive. They are also very reasonably priced (when compared to toll roads in other European countries). You can pay tolls with card, cash or telepass; and the lanes are easily identifiable with symbols.
  

• Services and petrol – Petrol stations are found at regular intervals along highways, although as usual, the price at these service stations is sky high. If possible, fill up at suburban gas stations instead of highway ones, as it is much cheaper. We use Fuel Flash and Fuelo when travelling to find the best fuel prices nearby.
  

• Coffee – Across Italy, coffee is life. On road trips, great coffee can be found at rest stops . The idea of a quick coffee isn’t a fast food drive-thru, it’s a great espresso machine at a petrol station. The coffee culture of Italy does not get skipped, just because you are on a road trip – and you will find people leaning against an espresso bar getting their caffeine fix. For those wanting an extra coffee to take away, try the delicious Pocket Coffee chocolates.

Road Trip Particulars

Keep to the right

You drive on the right in Italy, with a left-hand drive car. So this should be easier for my US than UK readers.

Speed Limits

Speed limits on the multi-lane highways are 130km/h in good weather, and 110km/h in the rain. Single lane roads range between 80-90km/h depending on the terrain. Speed is limited to 50km/h in the cities, and sometimes down to 30km/h in traffic calmed areas.

Speed signs are sometimes not obvious, so using a GPS system with up-to-date limits is a good idea. When entering a new town, speeds usually drop at the point where the town sign is located, down to 50km/h (unless otherwise stated).

Road Quality

For the most part, Italian roads are well-maintained. There are plenty of narrow roads in older cities which are limited by their place amongst ancient landmarks. And there are some winding mountain roads where your heart is in your mouth sometimes. But overall, we found the roads to be of decent quality.

Emergencies

Emergency phones are available at regular intervals along all highways. On toll roads, they usually have their own towing and emergency recovery service.

For roadside recovery outwith toll roads, the Italian Automobile Club (A.C.I.) number is 116. For the police (Carabinieri) it’s 112. The fire department are reachable on 115.

Passing & Etiquette

Don’t be alarmed by the fast manoeuvres and speedy takeovers of the Italians. If you’ve ever driven in Los Angeles, you’ll have a point of reference for this. You will find that horns are used readily, but there are also lots of polite drivers, smiles and give-ways on offer in Italy too.

Keep right and let people pass you if they wish; we found plenty of places to pull off the road even on the motorways.

Parking

I have never seen creativity of parking like in Italy. Parking spaces are tight and tend to be only suggestions in the old cities where parking can be scarce. Basically, the motto seems to be, ‘if there’s a gap, it can be parked in’.

Recommended Road Trip Itineraries in Italy

We have done several road trips through Italy, across the North of Italy, down through the Cinque Terre and Tuscany, and also down to Rome and Naples.

I would recommend grouping visits to the following areas:

• The northern lakes, Venice and Verona
• Turin, Parma, Modena, Bologna, Rimini and San Marino
• The Mediterranean coast, from Monaco, Genoa, Portofino, the Cinque Terre, and down to Pisa and Livorno
• Florence, Siena, Volterra, Montepulciano, and Rome
• Naples and the Amalfi Coast
• Sicily
• Highlights of the west coast : Pescara, Termoli, Bari, and the Trulli houses of Puglia

If you have a month, I would weave your way down the boot and take in some of the lesser visited places too. Road trips are my favourite way to explore Italy because you can travel to remote and beautiful spots with ease!

Road Trip Tips for Italy

I’ll admit to having had a few white-knuckle moments while driving in Italy, but that’s where confidence is the key. The speed-racer chaos of 10 toll booths reducing to 3 lanes on a motorway is one of my most exhilarating memories of driving in Italy – although I think I remember it more fondly than my husband!

If you have any extra road trip tips for Italy, please drop them in the comments below.

My love affair with Italy is longstanding, read more about the power of travel…

All photos & content © Hannah Henderson and may not be used without permission (sharing this blog post is fine, though!). Images shot with a Canon DSLR T3i Rebel + Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM; and an iPhone.