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Tips for Driving in Italy, part II: Navigating

It helps to read up what you can about driving in Italy, and about the parking/driving conditions of your destinations. While you can certainly “figure it out when you get there,” it can be very helpful when you find yourself in the Twilight Zone (see my other blog post) to remember that your confusion should be expected (i.e. it’s generally accepted that when trying to get from Florence to the Chianti region, you should give up hope of finding the correct highway SS222, and just take the Autostrada toward Sienna and exit after a few kilometers). Reading up may also turn up a good tip (hey — free parking next to the piazza, sweet!).

Streets are very often not parallel, especially in old town centers. It’s Europe, and it’s called charming. Get used to it. “It looks like we could just go this way instead…” is wrong thinking. Follow your breadcrumb trail if you must, but don’t take liberties going down different streets because they look parallel. They’re probably not, or they are but they don’t connect by car, or they are but you have to find the little pedestrian path to get between them, etc.

In many local maps, and the Michelin atlas (which you can get in the States), back roads will be listed in white (black outlines with white in the middle, as opposed to major highways/roads usually in red/yellow). There is, however, no special demarcation for a dirt road, called in Italian strada bianca (white road). You might even find that a road is paved, then becomes dirt, then becomes paved again, for no obvious reason. Many well-visited tourist-friendly towns are to be found by traveling such dirt roads, so white knuckle the white roads and get used to it. The roads are generally in good condition, and while they may cut through some rugged or remote terrain, they are actually more traveled and less isolated than you may think.

Parking? White is good. Blue is pay. Yellow is tow.

This has been part II of my 4-part series. Here’s my Tips for Driving in Italy part I.

I’m writing this while halfway through a driving trip through North and Central Italy. We’re cruising around in an Alfa Romeo, suffering the switchback stradas and the vineyardy vistas along the way. Here are some things I’ve learned thus far about driving in Italy.

Don’t rely on Google directions to get you anywhere. Directions are only as good as the on-the-ground signage is — and it isn’t. Don’t expect turn-offs or even major roads to be posted with their name; they very often are not and you’ll drive yourself crazy if you have to keep asking your way around. The other folly of written directions is that once you fall off of them, you’re done for. The other folly is that, on the ground, it doesn’t matter whether the road changes name as it continues; all that matters is which city you should be following signs for. Google directions would be super sweet if they included that bit of information, i.e., “follow signs for Asti.” Until then, maps are better, and the more the merrier. You’ll figure out which ones are best for different situations when you’re using them.

The number names of the highways and the Autostrada do not include the direction (‘Ovest’ or ‘West’) so you should know your general Italian city geography well, and look ahead in an atlas for principal cities/towns further along beyond the road you wish to travel on.

On the Autostrada, upcoming exits are not posted so well; when they do exist, they are small green signs on the left-hand side of the road, along the median. They’ll give the name of the exit (the principal city, or an abbreviation of it), and the kilometer distance. If you don’t see any such signs, don’t worry; not all areas seem to have them.

Have an atlas and maps in the car. Make someone the appointed navigator. If you’re driving alone, you’re crazy, and should get rid of your car and get on a train.

Be aware of abbreviations. Chinciamo T. isn’t the same as Chinciamo, though they are quite near to each other; Badia a Passignano is the same as Passignano; the former is what the road sign says, and the latter is what the atlas says. I wish I could provide more assistance here, but I can’t. Just ‘beware,’ or rather, ‘be aware.’

More tips forthcoming, straight from the road!