Driving in Italy

[BeerCan]

I'm sure some of you have done it. Wow what an experience. I rented a car in Genoa drove around the Piedmont area for a few days and that was interesting and fun.

Then we went to Florence OMG it's crazy. You need to take your spots and go for it without hesitation or you are stuck in one spot for ever. It's mass confusion but there is a strange kind of courtesy. If it was like this in America it would be road rage central.

We dropped the car in Florence thankfully and took the train to Naples. Ending in Positano, the situation here is like nothing I've seen. Cafe tables 2 feet from the street and cars and motorbikes whizzing by. Pedestrians, busses, cars etc all sharing a small bit of road. Some drivers going so fast around blind corners and people unaware walking in the street.

Mass confusion, hard to explain unless you have seen it.
I sit for hours and watch the coreography of it all with delight.

I have been in a lot of counties but the area's I've been in in Italy are the craziest I have seen for driving

 

[Lolvoguy]

After you've driven in Germany, it's amazing how careless, yet choreographed the Italians do things.
The Germans are VERY strict on EXACTLY when you need to turn off your rear fog light, or obeying road signs to a "t", or flashing your turn signal EXACTLY 3 times before attempting to pass.

In Italy it's total madness, but somehow just seems to work. And it works extremely efficiently.

Did you notice the LOOONNNGG lines of scooters parked in the bigger cities?
No wonder they need all those stickers all over them, it'd be hard to tell them apart!

What kind of rental did you get?
I was looking forward to a diesel with manual, but sadly the only diesel was automatic.
As a result, considering I insisted I wanted stick, I got a 1.2 liter Fiat Panda.
Boy that thing was a slug! Especially on the highway where it'd take forever to get up to speed!

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Ahh the memories.

 

[BeerCan]

I got an Alfa Romeo guilia (sp?). It was a diesel slug, I was wishing for a better car.

I have driven in Germany as well and the difference is amazing.
I don't totally understand how it works here but it does. The scooter drivers are crazy, the chances I see them take is remarkable. I don't understand how I have not seen any accidents.

I'm serious my favorite thing about Positano is watching the driving

 

[02SE]

Organized chaos, but drivers ARE paying attention. Tame compared to some places in India. Not to mention the smells...

My advice from when we lived in Switzerland is to head for the Alps.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted by BeerCan
I got an Alfa Romeo guilia (sp?). It was a diesel slug, I was wishing for a better car.

I have driven in Germany as well and the difference is amazing.
I don't totally understand how it works here but it does. The scooter drivers are crazy, the chances I see them take is remarkable. I don't understand how I have not seen any accidents.

I'm serious my favorite thing about Positano is watching the driving

Was it manual at least?
When we were there, we mostly got the rental car for the trips inland towards Tuscany.
It was VERY authentic and old-world. But honestly I didn't care for it much. Sure the scenery was amazing, but I didn't care for the ppl.

My fave destination in all of Italy was Rome. Just too much to pass up. The history, the food, the culture...everything!
Everyone seemed more laid-back and chill. It's like the further south you get, the more hectic and crazier everything gets (oddly enough it's closer to Pompeii etc).
Even the food changes. In the north it's very bland food (high quality mind you, but spice is practically non-existant).
Go south and everything gets crazy

Yeah, we stayed along the Amalfi coast as well.
I think our last destination was Sorrento, then worked our way back north to Cinque Terre, then eventually Genoa to fly out for Oktoberfest in Munich.
We we going on a Friday and the local B&B warned us of the additional law enforcement as that's the day when most of the Italians come to visit.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by Lolvoguy
After you've driven in Germany, it's amazing how careless, yet choreographed the Italians do things.
The Germans are VERY strict on EXACTLY when you need to turn off your rear fog light, or obeying road signs to a "t", or flashing your turn signal EXACTLY 3 times before attempting to pass.

In Italy it's total madness, but somehow just seems to work. And it works extremely efficiently.

That's why I tend not to get worked up in threads here about speeding, passing on the right, etc. Regionally speaking, as long as everyone gets to their destination, does it matter? Drive like everyone else does and then you know how to fit in and not have problems. Useful to discuss but not worth getting into some sort of moral argument over, not when examples abound ranging from chaos to robotic show that it doesn't matter.

Hrm. Serious question: were all the drivers paying attention? Cell phone usage etc? I'm wondering if the melee keeps everyone focused.

 

[NormanBuntz]

If you're driving in the Tuscan countryside on a Sunday, make sure you've got lots of fuel. My wife almost had a stroke as we ran dangerously low on diesel fuel before finding an open Total station. I loved the winding roads away from the cities.

 

[Alfred_B]

It looks like chaos to an untrained eye but it's very organized with unwritten rules. If you follow the written rules, you will be the one introducing the chaos and lawlessness.

 

[Andrew1972]

I did it 12 years ago and found it to be no worst than Boston drivers. I was excited to get a upgrade to MB C220 diesel until I realized it was large for narrow streets where we stayed and hard to move about.

A comical thing from rental agent, do you know how to drive an automatic because the majority of cars are manual and this one was upgraded from the wagon we wanted and not available.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by madRiver
A comical thing from rental agent, do you know how to drive an automatic because the majority of cars are manual and this one was upgraded from the wagon we wanted and not available.

I've actually run into this issue with my wife. She'll complain about how an automatic is in the wrong gear, and I'll tell her to just shift it into a lower gear so it won't be able to upshift. "But why should I? isn't that it's job?" This is what I get for teaching her how to drive a manual...

 

[ecotourist]

Originally Posted by Lolvoguy
What kind of rental did you get?
I was looking forward to a diesel with manual, but sadly the only diesel was automatic.
As a result, considering I insisted I wanted stick, I got a 1.2 liter Fiat Panda.
Boy that thing was a slug! Especially on the highway where it'd take forever to get up to speed!

When we went to France I specified a diesel manual Renault Migane for my rental. When we got to the rental place, they said Megane yes, but diesel manual no. So we reluctantly accepted a gasoline auto Megane.

But then the door opener wouldn't work. That was just unacceptable. So I went back into the shop and said I wouldn't take it.

"Would you take a diesel?" the clerk shrugged. He had had one all along but (I believe) was saving it for a knowledgeable customer (someone who cared about mileage and fuel prices) and had tried to palm off the gasoline automatic on a North American (who he assumed didn't care).

And was there ever a difference in the cost of fuel! And the diesel manual was a joy to drive.

 

[javacontour]

Let's try again.

I had several videos already uploaded, so I'll list them here:

Southbound on Autostrada A1 towards Napoli (Naples)



Through Seiano Italy



The Drive to Positano Italy (part 1)



The Drive to Positano Italy (part 2)



Leaving Positano


Originally Posted by BeerCan
I got an Alfa Romeo guilia (sp?). It was a diesel slug, I was wishing for a better car.

I have driven in Germany as well and the difference is amazing.
I don't totally understand how it works here but it does. The scooter drivers are crazy, the chances I see them take is remarkable. I don't understand how I have not seen any accidents.

I'm serious my favorite thing about Positano is watching the driving

 

[GSCJR]

The first time I ever drove a car was in Italy; A Fiat 127. I was 9 years old.

 

[tcp71]

Got a 1.4l manual diesel golf in Milan last year. Car was great. Driving was fun. Tolls were a pain.

 

[Shannow]

Our former environment manager was Italian.

He stted that blinkers (indicators) were a notice of intent, rather than a request for permission.

Approach it that way, and it works...

 

[JHZR2]

I loved driving our Renault twingo diesel MT through France/Italy/etc.

 

[cb450sc]

Just got back from 10 days in the Arezzo region. I now see why Italian race drivers are so good. Lots of practice in the mountain roads!

 

[Ddub]

Several years ago, I spent a week driving a rented Renault Clio in the Pisa/Florence/Siena areas. It was a lot of fun, but now I see why everyone there enjoys F1 racing so much! The large traffic circles have a definite pecking order. Large trucks and buses first, scooters last, and everyone else somewhere in between ranked by assertiveness and confidence.

100% by accident my wife and I were at a sidewalk cafe in Florence as the Mille Miglia rolled through town. As a car guy, it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. Of course you had all the cool Italian exotica, but seeing and hearing a few American V8s roll though town (vintage Corvettes, Mustangs, and at least one Cobra) was seriously awesome.

 

[Andrew1972]

Italy was neat seeing the cars especially Italian exotica.

What also was really cool was seeing American muscle cars from the 60's thru the 2000's here and there. They did not drive much of our modern standard stuff except Caravan and Jeep models(diesel!).