Driving in Italy

faceman

Anyone ever hired a car or gone driving in Italy? What were your experiences?

gyppo

Yes, done two fly drive holidays there.

The italians drive aggressively, tailgating is widespread, yet all-in-all, they are good drivers. Its actually fairly ok driving on the autostrada after the first half hour.

Driving in city centres is far more nervewracking, as those f**king mopeds come out from nowhere.
Parking in some cities (Florence springs to mind) is almost impossible, and can be very expensive. Parking on streets means lots of 'touch parking' and lots of cars are battle scarred this way.
Finally, if you have never driven on the other side of the road, its actually a lot easier to do this when there is a lot of traffic flowing, eg. when approaching a quiet roundabout, you have to make a very conscious decision to keep to the right - its a lot easier when traffic is flowing, and you just follow it.

whippet

its a little manic but not as daunting as others may lead you to belive !!

I did a good bit of driving in and around rome a few years back with the invaluable aid of a good sat-nav system.

The italians don't really have patience for hirecars that hesitate at roundabouts and staggered junctions. Be clinical and assured with your driving and you will be fine.

On motorways .. make sure to observe the drive right over take left rule (as you should everywhere) but be careful as you will find anything from 30kph tractors to 200kph massers on the motorway. If you are cruising along and see slow a slow moving car in your lane, prepare to over take earlier than usual as you will can have difficulty getting in to the overtaking lane if you are not going at the limit or slightly over it.

Idleater

faceman wrote:

Anyone ever hired a car or gone driving in Italy? What were your experiences?

My biggest hint for you is NOT to accept the offer of a "free" upgrade in car class.

Book an corsa/fiesta/punto because the one time that you end up in a small mountain top village with a 1984 panda tearing at you from the other direction at 100kmph, you will have room to manoeuvre.

zuutroy

I agree with most comments...they're largely bats when driving. I got overtaken by a man doin 100mph+ in a Ford Ka whilst texting on his phone, driving the racing line on the motorway!!

R.O.R

Drove from Florence to Lake Garda then on to Venice Airport. Wouldn't even attempt to drive in a city, it was bad enough getting from the rental car depot in Florence to the Motorway.

Once on the Motorway it's very similar to driving Motorways in the UK so I had no trouble - you'll probably even notice that once people have overtaken, they pull back in. A very rare sight indeed on Irelands motorways.

Fozzie Bear

I will be driving around the Lake Garda/Bergamo region toward the end of July with the missus for a few days before we move onto France by train. Hiring a Focus/Astra size car. I'm fairly nervous about it to be honest and reading some of above is not helping! 100 in a Ka! :eek: We were toying with the idea of driving over to Turin and getting the train there but i did not fancy driving in the city of Turin so its the train from Bergamo. Looking forward to it in a masochistic sort of way. It will be an experience!

unkel

You'll be fine

One tip: get the hell out of the overtaking lane the second you can safely do so or be prepared to be (very very nearly) rear ended at full speed

Anan1

Anyone who has ever driven an Alfa will just know how the Italians drive.:)

RobAMerc

I drive there quite regularly and find it very refreshing compared to here.

Keep your speed up, stay alert and dont dawdle about. Your less lightly to have an accident if you just miss your turn and find an alternate route than fart about in the middle of the road wondering what to do indecisively.

Also note the cities are not what they are called in English - I had a mate spend hours looking for Florence - its Firenze in Italy.

Use your lights on the Motorway - mandatory - know what lane you should be in (forget your Irish) and dont worry about the speed limit too much on the motor way unless there is a cop car in the far right with lights flashing. They come out to slow the traffic down if theres some reason needed ahead.

The one thing you really may find hard to get used to being Irish is that there are cars behind you so USE YOUR MIRRORS - I dont mean to offend but it seems to be true. Italians appear to be driving like nuts but the awareness as to what else is on the road is uncanny - it probably comes from years of moped riding about the city.

PS at weekend - rich Italians like to bring out the Ferraris and Lambos (Swiss regs all the time) and give them socks (they tend to get away with it too as thats what fast cars are for)- be extra vigilant with the mirrors and the automatic response to flashing of the lights there is not the fingure as it is here.

Otherwise your good to go.

faceman

now im gettin scared! :eek:

Lex Luthor

Anan1 wrote:

Anyone who has ever driven an Alfa will just know how the Italians drive.:)

Hire an Alfa an you'll be fine

faceman

actually another question. i want to hire a car with GPS over there as i will be doin a fair bit of drivin and it looks like Hertz (via ryanair's website) are the only ones who do it.

anyone know of anyone else?

Interceptor

I've done a lot of driving in Northern Italy - I'm just back from Milan/Bergamo and as usual I spent a period of time lost (due to crap direction signs). I thought most hire companies would be able to supply sat-nav - the Megane I got from Marco Polo airport last year had it and it wasn't a Hertz car, the company car I had last week didn't have it...

If you've driven a LHD car before you'll be fine. Take your time for the first while - most airports throw you straight onto an Autostrada and they can be a bit manic if you are keeping up with the fast stuff. I was driving a Punto in the fast lane in fog a few years ago on the way into Milan and a maniac in a 166 actually nudged me to get me out of his way.

I suggest you actually do upgrade to a mid-size saloon, but that may be a budget decision. You will need decent air-con in Italy any time between now and October as it will be very hot.

'cptr

zuutroy

Interceptor wrote:

(due to crap direction signs).

You can whistle that tune again....incredibly bad.

unkel

Interceptor wrote:

I was driving a Punto in the fast lane

Classic Irish mistake while driving on the continent

In France, you'll get a lot of flashes of full beams and indicators. In Italy, you'll get the horn, flashes and perhaps a wee nudge (almost). In Germany, the driver behind you is very safe and skilled so he might just be able cut his speed from 250km/h to whatever silly wee speed you're doing and brake in time. If not, he'll drive straight through your small family hatch with his big panzer

tuxy

Interceptor wrote:

I was driving a Punto in the fast lane in fog a few years ago on the way into Milan and a maniac in a 166 actually nudged me to get me out of his way.


'cptr

Stupid mistake, there is no such thing as the fast lane. Perhaps you were in the overtaking lane while not overtaking? That's asking for trouble in a country where people know what that lane is for.

faceman

sorry to have to resurrect this again but was just trying to book a car there now. Is it a legal requirement to hold your driver's license for a minimum of a year in italy before renting? mine will be 6 months old

Roddy23

Need to know the answer to Faceman's question too, as will hopefully be rental driving from Bilbao to Bordeaux come September, on the back of an 8mth full driver's licence.

Idleater

faceman wrote:

Is it a legal requirement to hold your driver's license for a minimum of a year in italy before renting?

It is one of the conditions on many of the Hire companies list.

The online booking form probably won't allow it, but if you ring them up they might do something.

Perhaps a larger deposit and a lower class of vehicle or something.

L.

murphaph

Drove in Northern Italy a couple times for work and was told by local colleagues that one should watch out for more southern italian drivers, Roma plates == get out of way, Napoli plates == get out of the way faster! We used both puntos and merc hire car, definitely feels safer in a bigger car but we were mostly on the autostrada and city streets.

Mr. Presentable

http://driving.drive-alive.co.uk/driving-in-italy.htm

I read somewhere the minimum for a rental is two years full licence in Italy

R.O.R

faceman wrote:

sorry to have to resurrect this again but was just trying to book a car there now. Is it a legal requirement to hold your driver's license for a minimum of a year in italy before renting? mine will be 6 months old

Why would a rental company want to take the risk of renting something worth €000's to someone with practically no driving experience? It's a question of risk and most rental companies are not prepared to take that risk.

As far as I can remember back it's a minimum of 25 years old and held a full driver's licence for at least one year with Hertz for Italy, but they may have changed the age restriction as they have done in other countries since I worked there.

RobAMerc

murphaph wrote:

Drove in Northern Italy a couple times for work and was told by local colleagues that one should watch out for more southern italian drivers, Roma plates == get out of way, Napoli plates == get out of the way faster!

Thats a pretty normal attitude of northerners to southerners in italy I found - the Romans say if you see a Palermo ( Sicily ) reg car dive for cover

faceman

R.O.R wrote:

Why would a rental company want to take the risk of renting something worth €000's to someone with practically no driving experience? It's a question of risk and most rental companies are not prepared to take that risk.

tbh i dont really care why thats the case, i just need to hire a car! (I will be 30 btw) puts our plans to view venues for our wedding in jepardy if i cant get one.

Biro

faceman wrote:

sorry to have to resurrect this again but was just trying to book a car there now. Is it a legal requirement to hold your driver's license for a minimum of a year in italy before renting? mine will be 6 months old

Ireland and most places need you to have the license a year at least.
In Italy, 4 things to remember ...
1. Obey lane dicipline on motorway
2. When trucks indicate, that means they are going to move in about 3 seconds. Get in their way at your peril...!
3. Signposts are crap, have a good map!
4. Take out the extra collision damage wavier. You probably won't need it, but knowing that you have it will make you much more confident and carefree at junctions! (Which you need to be!)

JohnBoy

confidence is key.

see a gap, go for it. merging lanes are short, just floor it, pull out and you'll fit in. at first they seem like awful drivers, but you will hopefully quickly realise they're actually great drivers and very willing to let you cut in and change lanes and the like, as long as you act decisivly. dont dawdle, indicate, check and just go.

most fun driving i've ever had. (in a 1.1 too)

daedalus2097

unkel wrote:

Classic Irish mistake while driving on the continent

In France, you'll get a lot of flashes of full beams and indicators. In Italy, you'll get the horn, flashes and perhaps a wee nudge (almost). In Germany, the driver behind you is very safe and skilled so he might just be able cut his speed from 250km/h to whatever silly wee speed you're doing and brake in time. If not, he'll drive straight through your small family hatch with his big panzer

Hahaha! Very true! In Germany at the moment driving a Punto (Yuck!) and you have to get out of the overtaking lane as quickly as possible cos they just don't hold back. Overtaking with the Punto maxed out at 160km/h and you get the huge BMWs, Mercs and Passat estates tearing past you in the 3rd lane as if you were stopped...

It's refreshing to drive amongst people who know how to use overtaking lanes and motorways properly though, even if it is ridiculously fast!

Biro

JohnBoy wrote:

confidence is key.

see a gap, go for it. merging lanes are short, just floor it, pull out and you'll fit in. at first they seem like awful drivers, but you will hopefully quickly realise they're actually great drivers and very willing to let you cut in and change lanes and the like, as long as you act decisivly. dont dawdle, indicate, check and just go.

most fun driving i've ever had. (in a 1.1 too)

Very true... see my point 4 above! Confidence can be bought!

testicle

Lex Luthor wrote:

Hire an Alfa an you'll be fine

If you really want to do this, Hertz in Italy have 2.2 Breras!

Hertz in Heathrow have a 3.2 Brera. I have it booked for my trip over there next month!