Have to go for work and renting a car to get around the country....

so, besides driving on the opposite side, driving a manual while sitting on the opposite side of the car, and crazy traffic in Rome....

any personal experiences...thoughts....advice?

9/13/2011 10:24:20 AM

paging bhehehe

9/13/2011 10:24:52 AM

finally bhehehe's turn to show them all!

9/13/2011 10:27:19 AM

constantly constantly constantly be on the lookout for mopeds

they are all over the place and whip in and out of traffic like it's nothing

9/13/2011 10:29:20 AM

#humblebrag

9/13/2011 10:35:26 AM

don't bump into cops

9/13/2011 10:35:46 AM

umm i hope you dont try to drive on the left side of the road in Italy.. the driver sits on the left side of the car just like in the US so i dont see any peroblems with shifting. Yeah look out for the moped and remember there is likely no right turn allowed on red.

9/13/2011 10:35:49 AM

paging bbhehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehehe

^^just realized those are Snookie's glasses. This knowledge hadn't reached the east coast yet

[Edited on September 13, 2011 at 10:37 AM. Reason : lkj]

9/13/2011 10:36:11 AM

just dont borka yourself and you will fine

9/13/2011 10:45:30 AM

Thank Igor...missinformation given to me...that helps


yes...I heard mopeds are HORRIBLE....

9/13/2011 11:12:17 AM

I've stolen and driven a car in Italy. Does that count?

9/13/2011 11:17:36 AM

What idiot told you they drive on the left in Italy?

9/13/2011 11:23:07 AM

^^

did you star in italian job?

9/13/2011 11:23:37 AM

Quote :

"so, besides driving on the opposite side, driving a manual while sitting on the opposite side of the car, and crazy traffic in Rome...."

Well aren't you the world traveler.

9/13/2011 11:24:47 AM

i drove a car from milan to cinque terre and then to venice when i was on my honeymoon

you drive on the right and aside from some traffic signs that are a little different, it's pretty similar to driving in the states

9/13/2011 11:48:17 AM

better get to work on that mph to km/h conversion!

9/13/2011 11:51:41 AM

Guys, calm down... He's assuming the inevitable UK takeover of Italy is coming before his trip..

9/13/2011 11:57:02 AM

i really enjoyed driving in switzerland...there were so many places to pull off the road and get great pictures that despite their amazing train system, i'm glad we drove

italy, on the other hand, i will never drive in again unless i have to (or it's small roads)...their toll system makes it ridiculously expensive, cost of gas notwithstanding

9/13/2011 12:34:46 PM

It's like this thread was made for me!

Where will you be driving?

As everyone already said, driving in Italy is expensive and you do drive on the right. Tolls are a bitch, gas is about $6/gallon. If you hit a moped, it is your fault regardless of how the accident happened. If you get rearended by a moped while you are parked, it is your fault.

The one good thing is on the autostrada (highway) there are no cops and they have to let you know when you're approaching a speed camera.

[Edited on September 13, 2011 at 12:43 PM. Reason : a]

9/13/2011 12:38:01 PM

i watched a documentary on driving in Italy and according to the narrator, everyone just rides mopeds and says ciao

9/13/2011 12:44:27 PM

yeah, i don't think i ever saw a cop except when we were in milan and they were directing traffic through the flooded streets (now THAT was sucky)

9/13/2011 12:48:46 PM

Sounds like a moped is the way to go, imo

9/13/2011 12:48:57 PM

if it's just around a city, renting and driving a car is outright stupid

if you have to drive from city to city, you should take a train anyway because parking sucks

9/13/2011 12:55:03 PM

It depends on the city, but yeah that's generally true.

9/13/2011 12:56:11 PM

occamsrezr can tell you about the (not) fun times he had with a rental car in Italy

9/13/2011 12:56:17 PM

bbehe.....Flying into Rome, then down and around to Naples and Gaeta.....

9/13/2011 1:34:34 PM

I have rented a car and driven quiet a few times in Italy, but only in the smaller towns. It is not bad, but you got to be careful especially when you want to merge onto a highway. They don't have long merge lanes like here. You drive upto the highway, stop and wait until you find a gap in the traffic and then join. But Rome, might be a whole different story.

What do you mean by driving on the opposite side?

9/13/2011 3:13:25 PM

...on weed?

9/13/2011 4:17:17 PM

Quote :

"i watched a documentary on driving in Italy and according to the narrator, everyone just rides mopeds and says ciao"

Was it narrated by Eddie Izzard?

I was about to advise you not to drive on the left unless you want to experience the Italian medical system, but that's already been taken care of. I think the only major countries that drive on the left are the UK, Australia (and New Zealand), and Japan?

9/13/2011 4:39:21 PM

is this an....Italian Job?

[Edited on September 13, 2011 at 4:57 PM. Reason : Tarun kinda beat me to it didnt see that]

9/13/2011 4:55:55 PM

http://www.sixt.com/

These guys were great. Our car broke down about 30 km outside of Rome. The next morning we had a new rental car waiting for us plus an extra day's credit, plus a handwritten note in Italian to give to the mechanic who had the stranded car.

I highly recommend them.

To piggyback on this:

Quote :

" The one good thing is on the autostrada (highway) there are no cops and they have to let you know when you're approaching a speed camera"

There are very few bathroom stops on the autostrada so people pull over into the disabled vehicle lanes, shit behind their car and wipe their ass with napkins.

I found this out when I thought I was picking up scrap paper to wipe the diesel off my hand when we broke down. Worst night of my life.

[Edited on September 13, 2011 at 5:04 PM. Reason : asdf]

9/13/2011 5:02:41 PM

holy crap...why wouldn't they stop at the autogrill (or whatever the other rest area/gas station/restaurants were)

my favorite gas station in italy: agip

9/13/2011 6:05:14 PM

^ Because Italy sucks.

There are stretches of road where there are no autogrill/reststops...those are fun.

Also, god forbid you drive on the autostrada during a gas workers strike

9/13/2011 6:07:19 PM

All of our rental cars were left hand drive, and we drove on the left.

Definitely watch out for mopeds.

9/13/2011 6:34:57 PM

You mean drove on the right

9/13/2011 6:36:45 PM

^^ your car may have been left drive, but the road was right drive...if you were in italy

9/13/2011 6:38:29 PM

Italia Bizarro

9/13/2011 7:57:20 PM

I rented a Peugeot and drove all around Italy for 2 weeks. I did not find anything to be unusual or difficult apart from finding and reading street signs in the city. Street names are often plastered on a little plaque on the side of a building which can be hard to see while driving. I had no issues with moped drivers.

9/13/2011 8:02:23 PM

^^^ I'm sorry, I meant left-hand drive and drove on the right...

and I was in Sicily, not the mainland, but yeah.

9/13/2011 11:37:13 PM

i came here to post

Quote :

"#humblebrag"

classic borka

9/13/2011 11:38:52 PM

unless you're driving a Ferrari don't bother driving a car at all

/snob

[Edited on September 14, 2011 at 8:54 AM. Reason : seriously though, maybe try to get an Alfa? And I'd recommend diesel b/c it's cheaper]

9/14/2011 8:52:46 AM

thanks to all...not worried about price of gas b/c work is paying that.

not sure what I will be driving as I will have 2 others with me so a compact is out of the question.

I'm used to driving in Japan (which is opposite side)....it's fun there

9/14/2011 11:06:25 PM

Why do so many people think Italy drives on the left

9/15/2011 6:24:46 AM

Holy crap batman...they drive like nuts here....

I did ok for the last 2 days, but can't tell the number of times I saw people on mopeds about killed. I have only seen a handful of cars that haven't been scaped up. Oh and its attack of the smart cars down here in Napoli.

9/22/2011 4:46:03 PM

Quote :

"#humblebrag"

Bitch, I'm in Austria now.

Fuck you.

#humblebrag

9/22/2011 5:13:55 PM

Quote :

"I'm used to driving in Japan"

#humblebrag



[Edited on September 22, 2011 at 5:24 PM. Reason : .]

9/22/2011 5:23:32 PM

Quote :

"Holy crap batman...they drive like nuts here...."

yeah, they're pretty bad. Qatar is still the worst I've seen, though.

Of course, driving in America is annoying as hell sometimes, too, due to our puritanical approach to it...everybody drives (relatively) like little old ladies here, and they get pissy if anyone else doesn't.

9/22/2011 6:45:04 PM

Well, done driving in Italy. On the plane to come home. Hit about 170 kph on the A1 between the speed cameras, and still got passed!

Was fun, but now to get back to US driving.

9/23/2011 5:15:17 AM