drive from Rome to Florence, anyone done that?

[rach]

hey all
planning to drive from Rome to Florence then Pisa then back to Rome, is this a good idea?>
i know traffic might suck, or parking is expensive, but i think exploring the hills of Tuscany will be exiciting.
let me know your thoughts

[Rarasaurus]

Driving around Italy was fun. We drove norther Italy to Southern. Along the way we stayed in Florence for 3 days and drove to Pisa for the day. 1 day was enough for Pisa to see the tower and grab lunch. From there we drove down to Rome for a few days. Enough to do in Florence and specially Rome for a more extended Period. Most crowded drive and stressful for some was Amalfi Coast. The rest seems much like driving anywhere else in Europe. Get a GPS, set it and enjoy!

[shakalaka]

We are doing pretty much the same thing as this at the end of April. Check my other thread with Italy as lots of people had suggestions and comments about driving.

I am renting a car from Rome and take the coast up to Florence via Pisa. Map shows it's 5.5 hours but of course we will be stopping along the way and what not and I wanted to explore the Italian coast (vs driving directly to Florence through the inner roads which is 2.5 hours). Then we will drive to Maranello and Bologna. From what I've read online, the only caveat's are city driving which they say is crazy due to local drivers. Other than that, highway's are not an issue. Familiarize yourself with the road signs as there are a lot of 'no entry' signs and if you go in you get the tickets later in mail. Also, you will need to get an International Driving Permit which only AMA can provide. Finally, majority of the rental cars there are stick shift and SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper than getting an Auto. Not all rental places carry auto vehicles.

[Neil4Speed]

I would generally recommend it with the caveat of the following.

1. Make sure you can drive stick. We reserved an Auto vehicle and paid three times the price to get it only to find out it wasn't available. Avis, no one cares.
2. Get the insurances in a foreign country
3. Get familiar with how toll highways work, we had some issues with this the first time around
4. Driving in the cities is a bit chaotic, we actually got the rental agency to drive us to the outskirts of one of the towns before we took over.
5. I would recomemnd against driving in areas like Cinque Terre etc, roads are really tight as is parking

That being said, I loved driving it italy and feel its one of the best ways to get a feel for the country. It was absolutely beautiful driving in Tuscany and having the independence to go anywhere and stay at agriturismos etc. One thing is the lack of drinking obviously, but I really didn't mind in the grand scheme of things. If your a big wine drinker you might want to balance that out.

[rach]

im deciding between driving thru the inner roads (2.5hrs) vs the coast highway (5 hrs.)
rented a stick car for like USD $30, for 3 days. which is dirt cheap.
and i only have 3 days from rome to Florence, so i wont have much time ..trying to shorten the time in driving as much as possible.

[shakalaka]

Wow that's a good deal on the car rental. I think mine is around the $150-$200CDN area for 3 days. Where did you book the rental from? Maybe I should take a double look.

If you're short on time then obviously the shorter drive makes sense but then you miss out on the coast drive which I am assuming should be nicer than the inner country drive. If you do take the inner country route you can make a stop at the super high end luxury outlet mall that is about 40 mins from Florence if you're into that kind of a thing.

[rach]

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Wow that's a good deal on the car rental. I think mine is around the $150-$200CDN area for 3 days. Where did you book the rental from? Maybe I should take a double look.

If you're short on time then obviously the shorter drive makes sense but then you miss out on the coast drive which I am assuming should be nicer than the inner country drive. If you do take the inner country route you can make a stop at the super high end luxury outlet mall that is about 40 mins from Florence if you're into that kind of a thing.

the mall...yes thats where my wife wants to go..is it really cheaper than canada?
the car rental was from Ryanair, i booked a ticket from them from London to Rome, and they offer this car rental deal as well, so i booked it.
I would like to go the coast route if i have enough time on the way back to Rome from Flourence..let see how it goes.

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just one question, if i get a traffic ticket there, do i need to pay ?

[shakalaka]

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the mall...yes thats where my wife wants to go..is it really cheaper than canada?
the car rental was from Ryanair, i booked a ticket from them from London to Rome, and they offer this car rental deal as well, so i booked it.
I would like to go the coast route if i have enough time on the way back to Rome from Flourence..let see how it goes.

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just one question, if i get a traffic ticket there, do i need to pay ?

My understanding is that the car rental company will automatically bill your credit card but I am not sure. Apparently there are a lot of cameras on their highways so I would just be careful and not overspeed.

As for the mall, I haven't been but someone in my other thread commented that it truly is worth it in terms of deals. The stores are super high end designers but apparently being outlets the prices are really good. I am not sure yet if we will be going though as we may not have enough time. We only have one full day in Florence and I don't want to waste several hours of it driving to and from the mall and my wife couldn't care less about shopping on holidays.The only way we could make it work is we take the inner highways to Florence from Rome instead of the coast but then I don't want to miss out the coast drive either. We don't return to Rome and instead drop off the rental in Bologna and take a train up to Venice and fly back from there eventually.

[rach]

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My understanding is that the car rental company will automatically bill your credit card but I am not sure. Apparently there are a lot of cameras on their highways so I would just be careful and not overspeed.

As for the mall, I haven't been but someone in my other thread commented that it truly is worth it in terms of deals. The stores are super high end designers but apparently being outlets the prices are really good. I am not sure yet if we will be going though as we may not have enough time. We only have one full day in Florence and I don't want to waste several hours of it driving to and from the mall and my wife couldn't care less about shopping on holidays.The only way we could make it work is we take the inner highways to Florence from Rome instead of the coast but then I don't want to miss out the coast drive either. We don't return to Rome and instead drop off the rental in Bologna and take a train up to Venice and fly back from there eventually.

my route is get the rental from Rome, then stay there for a day then drive up to Flourence, then next day Pisa, and then if time permits, i will visit the Pagani Factory, already bought the tour ticket, but not sure if i wil have enough time to go up andother 1.5 hrs from Florence, but i also got to return the car in Rome..so i have to go back down...it sounds like alot of driving in 3 days..

[shakalaka]

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my route is get the rental from Rome, then stay there for a day then drive up to Flourence, then next day Pisa, and then if time permits, i will visit the Pagani Factory, already bought the tour ticket, but not sure if i wil have enough time to go up andother 1.5 hrs from Florence, but i also got to return the car in Rome..so i have to go back down...it sounds like alot of driving in 3 days..

I think it is doable though and you cover a lot of ground. So we go up from Rome, along the coast and do a quick stop in Pisa before heading into Florence. Stay the night and next day and night there. Following day, leave early and drive up to Maranello to visit the Ferrari factory, spend an hour or two there and then drive to a little town near Bologna (45’ish minutes from Maranello) to visit the Lamborghini factory. Again hour or so there then drive to Bologna and we have a train booked to Venice at 5:30PM. So it’s a bit tight but workable based on the math of the timing of everything.

[rach]

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I think it is doable though and you cover a lot of ground. So we go up from Rome, along the coast and do a quick stop in Pisa before heading into Florence. Stay the night and next day and night there. Following day, leave early and drive up to Maranello to visit the Ferrari factory, spend an hour or two there and then drive to a little town near Bologna (45’ish minutes from Maranello) to visit the Lamborghini factory. Again hour or so there then drive to Bologna and we have a train booked to Venice at 5:30PM. So it’s a bit tight but workable based on the math of the timing of everything.

yes i think its doable...if traffic is not that jammed...just worry about traffic etc..but maybe i will do the coast line too , on the way to Pisa, then Flourence..then come back to rome on the inner highway..

[mr2mike]

Driving in Europe... Pff what are you American?