We drove in Tuscany to visit a variety of towns.
Primarily drove when a train was not available or convenient for the trip.
In Florence, many of the car rentals are located close to the train station.
Careful with the drivers - found that especially in Florence, many local drivers treated stop signs and stop lights as optional - had to pay close attention, even if you had a green light or the right of way.
We did get caught in one of the parking scams in Sienna.
When driving to the city, there was a public parking lot located outside the city. I drove possibly 100 yards past this to see if there was anything closer (there were a variety of cars farther up the road driving). (Didnât park, just drove a little closer and then turned around)
I donât believe it was posted, but only special permits are allowed past a certain point. As soon as I went past the parking lot, the car must have been picked up by a camera - the parking violation showed up as soon as we returned to the U.S.
It quickly escalated, with follow up fines doubling every week or so and then sent to a US collection attorney after only 1 month. (had been paid, but was amazed at how quickly they escalated)
So be careful with any parking.
Have fun - great trip with beautiful towns, wineries and great restaurants to visit.
Here you go. We really loved the area. Camolgi is an easy train from SML and we used the ferry to go to Portofino. I should have looked into renting a boat for a day with a captain. It should be great to explore the area that way and hit some good swimming spots.
Agree in looking up the ZTL and theyâre likely to be shown in map form which helps a lot.
Re:parking, I tend to pre-plan which car park(s) weâll head towards if heading into a city, especially one we donât know. It helps avoid the situation of accidentally ending up in a ZTL zone. Iâll usually plan for two en-route towards the centre, so if we miss the first one, weâre ready for the 2nd one.
FWIW they arenât âscamsâ, rather official schemes to limit traffic in the cities / historic centres. Now there may be some who disagree with the principle or the level of fines (and indeed the double charging if you enter the ZTL, drive out of it and then re-enter). They are legal.
Re: trains in Tuscany. The train network isnât great in the region, and the station so often a way away from the city (Montepulciano exemplifies this). To make up for it the bus / coach (amusingly referred to as âpullmanâ locally to distinguish these longer coach rides from the urban/suburban services) services are good and regular. Typically youâll buy the bus / coach ticket from a nearby tabaccheria, but I think most allow you to pay the driver (at a higher cost). The buses, like the trains typically REQUIRE you to validate your ticket in the (often) yellow stamping machine. For buses this is often opposite the driver and in the centre of the bus, whilst for trains they are typically lining the walkway between ticket office and the platforms. If you forget to do this on buses and the inspectors turn up, expect to be pulled off the bus and given a sizeable fine. The trains similarly, though assuming you realise before the inspector checks, do one of two things A) Recommended - Write the date and time clearly on the ticket (this is essentially what the stamper does) B) Has worked for me but no guarantee - head down the train to find the guard and explain your mistake. On the couple of occasions Iâve done this theyâve but very much believed me and recognised Iâd sought them out.
One little autostrada tip - when leaving the autostrada, youâll see signs saying slow down to a speed that feels stupidly slow (is it 30 or 50kph? Itâs been a while). Those limits are not stupid, as having come off on the right, the road then often sharply bends to the left to take you under the autostrada. It is often much sharper than youâd expect and can catch you by surprise. So whatever the speed limit showing on the exit, trust it as it might save an accident or horribly stressful moment.
Just did a quick search - renting a car just for the day to drive from Florence to Genoa (closest drop off point to SML) is ~$300 for a car large enough for the luggage I suspect weâll have. Add gas and at least one ZTL violation, and letâs call it $400 +/-
Alternatively, I found a chauffer service (MB luxury sedan) that will pick us up in Florence and drive us to our hotel in SML for ~$425 (not sure if drivers expect gratuity in Italy like in the US???). And for an extra $75, I can add a 120min stop in Lucca along the way to allow for us to get out and explore the city for a bit.
Seems like a no-brainer vs. renting a car and dealing with the added stress. The website I found (granted, there are probably others but stopped at the first search result) was mydaytrip.com
While I donât find it stressful as wife and I actually enjoy the tag team driving of 6-speed European cars in European roads whenever we have the opportunity, itâs also hard to argue against sitting in the backseat of a chauffeur-driven a luxury car.
Hi David
No, tips are less common (and when given, much less sizeable that the US). That said, in certain tourist focused professions, there is a slowly growing acceptance that this will happen and in *mass tourism areas, even a growing expectation of them.
Some may refuse a tip, other will accept it with graciousness.
Regards
Ian
mass tourism generally imposing its culture on the locals, rather than enjoying learning about and adopting the local culture when there.
Re: transfer vs. own car, that really depends on whether youâd love the use of a car where youâll be staying.
Generally out in the countryside, a car can get you places you might not otherwise be able to get to / get to easily (wineries, restaurants out in the countryside, rural drives and scenic spots etc). Cars can still be useful for daytripping to a city, but I find when doing this Iâm these days likely to plan the route in, check the ZTL and ensure there are at least 2 car parks en-route into to city. That advance planning is done pre-holiday, even though we may decide against that day trip once in the country. De-stressing by planning works really well for us, and I rather enjoy doing it, it getting me psyched up for the holiday and makes me feel more relaxed knowing âthe lay of the landâ in advance. The car (whether hired or chauffeured) also means that you donât have to lug heavy luggage around, and often in Italian stations this means down one set of steps, along a corridor and then up another onto the platform.
Conversely if staying in a city and most day trips being served well by public transport, then thereâs less justification for a car, especially as buses and trains (and ferries) are so good and indeed an experience in their own right. We adore the fast trains in Italy, that are comfortable, spacious and can be remarkably cheap when booked in advance - and for transfers we tourists do know the dates and times well in advance. Itâs usually only 50% more to trade up from 2nd to 1st class and we generally do. On more than one occasion itâs still been so cheap weâve felt guilty about paying so little.
but very much believed me and recognised Iâd sought them out.