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By car in Italy. By car in Italy How to travel to Italy by car

Today, many tourists increasingly prefer travel around Italy in your own or rented car. In my opinion, this travel option provides an opportunity to get to know the country in more depth, to see ancient cities and mountain villages, which are usually very beautiful and have unique architecture, but which are very rarely included in tourist routes.

If you decide to go on a trip to Italy by car, I advise you to plan the route in advance.

For the trip you will need:

  • international passport with a valid visa;
  • vehicle registration certificate;
  • driving license of international standard;
  • travel insurance;
  • car insurance;
  • navigator;
  • knowledge of a foreign language (English or Italian).

Travel insurance for Italy

A mandatory item for obtaining a visa to Italy is the purchase of insurance. Nowadays, insurance can be obtained online without spending much time and money. .

Advice: use a navigator to travel around Italy tom tom, which contains detailed maps of Italy, with the help of this navigator you can easily find hotels, parking, gas stations and restaurants.

Car rental in Italy

If you decide to rent a car directly in Italy, then you will need to take into account that some agencies give cars only to drivers with a certain experience, if your experience is 5 years, then you should not worry about this. I also advise you to overpay and take full insurance, which covers even minor damage to the car (scratches, small dents). .

Traffic Laws

The rules of the road in Italy are practically no different from other countries, the main difference is the culture of driving and polite treatment of pedestrians. I would like to point out that in northern Italy, drivers are more disciplined although this is a subjective opinion.

And in the south, in particular in Naples, it is advisable not to leave the car unattended for a long time at all, because the city has the reputation of being the most criminal in Italy.

The maximum speed limit on motorways is 130 km/h, in populated areas - 50 km/h, outside the city - 90 km/h

When traveling around Italy by car, you also need to know that the police do not take bribes, probably because they already have good wages, and their uniforms Prado sews, so for giving a bribe you can be arrested.

Traffic violations are recorded by special radars with a camera, after which the fine is sent by mail. By the way, in large cities they are at almost every step, and on highways you can find speed measurement systems. Tutor or Autovelox. They are used for security, not to collect fines. Therefore, the location of these cameras can be found on the official website www.autostrade.it

Speed ​​control in Italy is carried out using automated cameras: to measure speed - autovelox and systems for measuring average speed - tutor

A very common occurrence on country roads is police officers with radar. Therefore, when traveling in Italy by car, follow the rules of the road. Another interesting fact that surprised me very much is that they also “blink” the headlights here in order to warn about the police standing in front. Of course this happens rarely, and I saw it only in the south of Italy.

Filling stations and a network of Autogrill complexes

Driving along expressways you will meet complexes - .

Autogrill S.p.A.- an Italian company that operates in the catering and retail industry

Here you can have lunch, top up your mobile account (only for Italian operators), wash windows and find a lot of useful and interesting things (road maps, chargers, souvenirs, books and much more). But the prices here are much higher than in regular stores. Therefore, knowledgeable Italian drivers, if possible, prefer to exit the motorway to cities where breakfast or lunch will cost much less. Also in complexes there are free toilets and gas stations.

If you often come to Italy in your car, then I recommend getting a card to receive bonuses for each gas station, which can then be spent on something useful.

When traveling by car in Italy, you need to know that the fuel is filled for a certain amount, that is, you say: “10 euros, 20 euros, 50 euros ...”, or a full tank (pieno). Having approached the column with the inscription “fai da te”, you will refuel the car yourself by selecting the amount on the panel, after refueling, do not forget to pay at the box office. And if you drive up to the column with the inscription "servito", then the gas station worker will do everything for you, you just have to pay and hit the road again.

Gas stations open 24/7, but at night there is no one at the gas station, so you will fill the car yourself. To do this, you need to select the amount on the control panel (for which you want to refuel), then insert a bill into the bill acceptor and press the number of the column from which you will refuel, and refuel your car.

Motorway

Motorways in Italy are tolled. But the section of the road from the city of Salerno to Sicily is still free, as construction work is still going on here. Motorway tolls are paid electronically Telepass.

Telepass is an electronic payment system that is used to collect tolls on motorways in Italy

At the entrance to the toll road you pass Telepass where do you get the ticket. Then, at the exit from the motorway, again on Telepass show your ticket and pay for the fare, depending on how far you traveled. Payment is by cash or credit card.

tow truck

Car tow truck services for cars will cost 95-125 € plus 3-4 € per kilometer, according to the official ANCSA tariff. For more information, please visit www.ancsa.it.

Parking in Italy

Places for paid and free parking in Italy, lined with certain colors. Blue is paid, white is free. Near the parking spaces there must be a sign that indicates the rate for 1 hour and time, and if it is paid parking, there is also a special parking machine where you can buy a ticket. The machine displays information about tariffs and parking conditions.

Usually the minimum parking time is 1 hour.

After the car is parked, the parking ticket is left under the windshield on the dashboard. The same applies to free parking, but instead of a ticket, you put a parking disc (disco orario) on which you indicate the start time of parking.

Also in big cities, and near airports, there are underground parking lots, but the payment method here is slightly different. At the entrance to such a parking lot, you need to take a ticket from the machine, which will show the time of your entry (the machine is usually located near the barrier at the entrance). Then at the exit, you will need to pay for parking on a ticket. The cost of parking will depend on the time.

Most tourists prefer the sea coast of Italy, ski resorts or big cities, with their museums and architectural masterpieces. For those who want to see mountain peaks and alpine meadows, lemon groves and vineyards of Tuscany, ancient towns and medieval castles, we advise you to rent a car and go along one of the following routes.

1. Road S163 along the Amalfi Coast: sea, quiet bays and mountain serpentine

Photo: @stepcar73 / @emianofficial / Instagram.com

The Amalfi Coast is located in southwestern Italy, near Naples, on the Sorrentino Peninsula. In 1997, all 40 kilometers of the coast were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Route S163, which has been called the most beautiful road in Italy more than once, runs along a mountain serpentine through lemon groves and ancient cities, next to beaches, bays and vineyards. The towns and fishing villages on the coast are special - they, like bird nests, are attached to almost sheer cliffs and hang over the sea.

The S163 passes through six (Pirano, Amalfi, Minori, Majori, Cetara and Vietri sul Mare) of the sixteen coastal towns. The remaining ten are located a few kilometers from the road. If possible, we advise you to visit them all, because each of them is unique: in Amalfi there is a cathedral of the rarest Norman-Byzantine style and an old arsenal, in Minori - excellent restaurants and pastry shops, as well as sandy beaches. Ravello lies above other cities, from its observation platforms you can see the entire coast, and in Conca dei Marini there is a huge grotto with stalactites, medieval towers, a monastery and churches.

2. Chianti road in Tuscany: vineyards, cathedrals, castles and hills

Photo: @allie.blaire / @walre037

Chianti is the most famous Italian wine and is made from the Sangiovese grapes in Tuscany. This region is famous for its excellent wine and cuisine, amazing nature and rich cultural heritage. You can visit natural reserves and medieval cities, taste the best wines and see ancient castles and monasteries by going along the Chianti road (Via Chiantigiana) S222, which connects Siena and Florence.

Italian guidebooks advise you to leave Florence and, passing wheat fields, vineyards and olive groves, slowly drive from one medieval town to another. Impruneta has ancient wineries and oil presses, a Renaissance cathedral and a Medici villa painted by Giovanni Manozzi. Greve in Chianti is famous for its wine cellars with the most valuable Chianti variety - Chianti Classico, ancient frescoes, castles and terracotta taverns. Panzano is surrounded by cypress and olive groves, and in the center of the city stands a medieval castle.

3. Path through the Dolomites in northeastern Italy: lakes, pink mountains and medieval castles

Photo: Shutterstock.com

The Dolomites are one of the most beautiful mountain ranges in Europe, included in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage List. These mountains have an amazing color - during the day they are almost white, and at sunset they are painted in hundreds of shades of red and pink. Le Corbusier, one of the most famous architects of the 20th century, called them the most beautiful architectural creation in the world. The 110-kilometer road from Bolzano to Cortina d'Ampezzo, which is called the Great Dolomite Way (Grande Strada delle Dolomiti), runs next to the highest peaks, lakes and waterfalls, through alpine meadows and ancient cities.

The road starts in South Tyrol, in the city of Bolzano, where there are medieval castles and a Romanesque-Gothic cathedral, and the archaeological museum houses the mummy of Ötzi, the Tyrolean Iceman, who lived in the mountains about 5300 years ago. Further, the path lies through Lake Carezza, whose waters shimmer in different colors, and the Catenaccio mountain range, which is called the “gateway to the Dolomites”. Further, the path lies along winding mountain roads, through ski resorts, coniferous forests and past the ancient Andraz castle. Shortly after the castle, the road descends into the Ampezzo Valley, to the resort town of Cortina d'Ampezzo, where the 1956 Winter Olympics were held.

4. Three roads of ancient Sicily: sea, volcano, ancient Greek ruins and magnificent baroque

Photo: @nikko1983 / @akselz / Instagram.com

Sicily is washed by three seas, here are the cleanest beaches, excellent cuisine and amazing architecture. Ancient Greek and early Christian monuments coexist with baroque churches, gloomy catacombs and a modern new building. And here is the only active volcano in Europe. Three roads run through the most beautiful places and the main attractions of the island: S114, S115, S113.

S114 runs along the east coast, connecting Messina and Syracuse. The road runs along the coast and plains, near Mount Etna, through medieval Taormina, lying on a hilltop, and the port of Catania with baroque cathedrals, marble fountains and houses made of black volcanic stone.

Route S115 runs from Syracuse to Trapani in the west of the island, through quiet villages and forests, along the coast and valleys with the ruins of ancient cities. In the Val di Noto valley, the road runs through the baroque cities of Ragusa and Noto to the coast, turns to the medieval town of Agrigento and then leads to the Valley of the Temples, the most famous ancient Greek ruins on the island.

S113 connects two seaports - Trapani in the northwest of Sicily and Messina - in the northeast, running through the mountains and the northern coast through Palermo, the capital of the island and Tindari, a quiet city with ancient Roman ruins and medieval monasteries, which is surrounded by beaches and caves.

5. Road around Lake Como in Lombardy: Alps, castles, parks and villas of kings

Photo: Shutterstock.com

Lake Como is one of the most beautiful lakes in Europe, located 40 kilometers from Milan, in northwestern Italy. For centuries, European aristocrats came here to relax, and today their villas with huge gardens, parks and luxurious interiors are popular attractions in the region. The lake is surrounded by the Alps, on its shores there are luxurious villas of the 18th-20th centuries, parks, medieval churches, museums, ancient castles and a rampart. Como has a rare elongated shape in which some see an inverted Y, while others see the silhouette of a running man. The length of the road running along the coast and the surrounding area is 140 kilometers.

You can start the route in any of the cities on the lake. If you wish, you can not go around the lake in a circle, but use the ferry, which connects 4 cities (Varenna, Bellagio, Menaggio, Cadenabbia) at different ends of the lake. We advise you to visit the following places: Castello di Vezio, from where you can see the entire lake from a bird's eye view, and the observation deck in Bellagio, which, according to locals, offers the best view of Como. One of the Star Wars episodes was filmed at Villa Balbianello in Lenno, English kings lived at Villa d'Este in Cernobbio, and Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo is famous for its park and masterpieces of painting. The most beautiful cities of the route are Como and Lecco, with medieval cathedrals, town halls, houses and beautiful promenades.

about the author

I live in Marseille, I'm studying to be an illustrator and travel all the time. I love discovering new places and talking about ways to make traveling cheaper and more enjoyable, about unusual routes that have changed my view of the world and that I hope will inspire someone to go on the road.

And we also have


After our first successful road trip to Prague during the New Year holidays 2012-2013, we, feeling a surge of optimism and self-confidence, swung at our old dream - to visit Venice without the help of travel agencies, according to our own scenario. And not only swung, but also visited. And not only in Italy, but in six other countries. This is perhaps our most memorable European two-week vacation on wheels.

To Italy by car from Moscow, is it real?

Travel agents ourselves, upon arrival from Prague, we began to carefully think over and develop the upcoming summer route Moscow to Italy by car . We shoveled a bunch of information on the Internet, experienced reviews and questions from newcomers like us. As a result, this route was born ...

Route: Moscow — Rimini

  1. Moscow - Brest (border crossing "Domachevo") - Krakow (Poland - overnight) - 1500 km;
  2. Krakow - Vienna (Austria - overnight) - 500 km;
  3. Vienna - Mödling - Graz - Bled (Slovenia - overnight) - 420 km;
  4. Bled - Postojna - Venice (Italy - overnight) - 300 km;
  5. Venice - Rimini (Italy - 5 nights) - 270 km.

Route: Rimini — Moscow

  1. Rimini (Italy) - Torbole (Italy - overnight) - 330 km;
  2. Torbole - Innsbruck (Austria - overnight) - 230 km;
  3. Innsbruck - St. Polten (Austria - overnight) - 420 km;
  4. St. Polten - Voskreznice (Poland - overnight) - 940 km.
  5. Voskreznitsa - Brest (border crossing "Brest Bridge") - Moscow - 1100 km.

We had: two weeks of legal vacation in July, a faithful four-wheeled friend of Korean production, a budget of about 120,000 rubles for two (the euro exchange rate in 2014 was about 50 rubles) and a desire to see Europe in all its glory along the entire route. At the same time, the main condition was to spend five days at sea and not deny yourself anything.

Looking ahead, I’ll say that we managed to do this: traveling around Austria, drop into a cute provincial town, the hometown of Arnold Schwarzenegger - Graz, in Slovenia we visited the city of Postojna, admired the medieval castle, where the famous Jackie Chan filmed his film Armor of God.

In Venice, they managed to ride on. And from Rimini we went to, to the republic.

The road home wasn't boring either. On the way to walked along. A stop in Innsbruck gave children's delight from visiting the unique. On the way, we unexpectedly dropped by the Mondsee lake and the town of Melk. In general, the trip was very eventful, but not very tiring.

If you really want something and show maximum ingenuity, diligence and patience ... Nothing is impossible. And at the appointed time, without breaking the schedule, we sat on the embankment in Venice, ate amazing Italian ice cream and admired the sunset over.

Route to Italy on the map

Where to start and what is most important when traveling by car in Europe

Our preparations for a long trip to Europe by car look something like this:

1. First of all, you need to travel to Europe. In Italy, in total, we spent the largest number of days, so the visa was issued at the Italian Visa Application Center. The Italians were generous with a one-year visa.

To obtain a Schengen visa (if you are traveling to Europe in your own car) you will need a whole bunch of documents. But everything is not so scary, some of them can be obtained without leaving home. The Internet rules… In particular,

  • detailed and hotel reservations along the route. The reservation must be for each night of stay in the EU zone.

Therefore, thoroughly and seriously approach route planning and. For example, we try to travel from country to country no more than 500 km. Otherwise, everything is cultural - historical features will remain only outside the car window. And the driver (and we only have one) will soon look like a "driven horse."

And so, there is enough time to stop by some interesting places on the way, see the main sights at the place of spending the night and fully relax and have dinner in the evening with a glass or two of local beer.

  • Medical insurance (Step-by-step instructions for buying insurance online).
  • An IDL is also one of the necessary documents for obtaining a Schengen visa.

Since we are traveling by car, you must have an IDP (). There are many opinions and discussions on various thematic forums on this subject, but it is better, as they say, to play it safe. This is not such a big financial investment, but in case of an emergency situation on the road, you will save much more nerves.

  • Also, when traveling by car, "" is required - international insurance. The OSAGO policy in the European Union, of course, does not work.

As for documents, you also need to take care of the necessary kit for crossing the border, a standard list.

If you already have an open Schengen visa, do not forget about travel medical insurance. In order to purchase it, it is not necessary to spend time going to the insurance company. You can compare prices for insurance and buy the most profitable without leaving your computer, using one of the services, for example Cherehapa.ru:

2. It is very important to plan the route correctly, distribute distances and rest time. This takes an enormous amount of time. I want to see a lot, walk around different cities, embrace the immensity. But here the main thing is without fanaticism, so that there is no feeling of "galloping through Europe."

Although it will still be ☺, there are so many interesting things on the way and there is always a catastrophic lack of time.
Along the way, as a rule, the route is adjusted for various reasons - unplanned traffic jams, bad weather, fatigue, mood ... yes, anything. Some of the sights we were not lucky enough to see. This is nothing, because more often, just as unplanned, you manage to visit completely unexpected places, and see something interesting that you didn’t even know about. This is what makes traveling by car so good.

3. Since the path from Moscow to Italy runs through the territories of different countries, we study information about traffic rules in different countries along the route and all sorts of different specific ones. As well as the rules on the roads, because even in neighboring states they may differ and you can easily get into a mess. And why do we need unnecessary problems and frustrations? Who is warned is armed.

Personally, we always find a lot of up-to-date information related to driving a car abroad on the website: autotraveler.ru (the cost of gasoline, innovations in traffic rules and fines for their violations, speed limits, what you must have in a car and what is prohibited to use, and many more different useful up-to-date information). Feel free to explore these questions. Something I even printed out and took with me on a trip. For example, in which countries you need to purchase a vignette and where to stick it correctly. Yes, yes, everything is written on the vignette, but it’s calmer and faster.

4. We update the maps in navigators in advance (usually there are two of them, for every fireman: the indispensable “i go” and the mobile “Google navigator with up-to-date traffic jams”).

5. We take care of the mobile Internet in advance, which functions when moving from country to country. It's always a lifesaver. We refused the Goodline Internet SIM card (there are a lot of jambs and support leaves much to be desired.

We tested the Drimsim international SIM card, we were satisfied, we recommend it. I will definitely write more about it.

Which makes life easier while traveling and saves precious time

From personal experience - useful for the proper organization of a road trip ...

  • If you have a Google account (if not, then registering is easy, the registration procedure is standard).

When the travel route and the cities of overnight stays are known, I study the main attractions nearby, as well as restaurants and cafes where you can have a tasty and inexpensive meal. Then I mark them with an asterisk on Google Maps. They are saved in my account and are always at hand with the Internet or wi-fi. It is very comfortable. Helped out more than once. After all, in addition to the address, in Google maps you can quickly find up-to-date information about the object (working hours, address of the official website, restaurant menu, etc.).

Thus, being in an unfamiliar city, I always know what I need to visit and where I will have lunch or dinner. Saves a huge amount of time. As for restaurants and cafes, I was convinced that it is much more convenient to choose them at home. You can look at the menu in advance in the translator, find out the average cost of dinner, choose an institution with traditional local cuisine, as well as read the reviews of visitors.

  • Also, before the trip, I make sure to enter the coordinates of all important objects into the navigator (border crossing points, hotel addresses, important sights) and on the road it remains only a few clicks to select the desired destination.

So, all the preparatory efforts to prepare for the trip "Moscow-Italy on your own car" are over. Tomorrow on the road. The first destination is the city of Krakow.

To be continued…

This year, for various reasons, we smoothly flew past the summer vacation, and since the children were raving about the sea, it was decided to go there in the fall. Yes, and the financial issue was not the last value. The cost of renting housing by mid-September falls by half compared to August. Since the spring, we have been processed by our good friend from Finland with stories about all the delights of a holiday in Italy, and it was decided to go there, fortunately, our friend helped us decide on a place and advised a wonderful villa in the city of Terracina, on the shores of the Terrenian Sea: just in the middle between Rome and Naples.

View of Terracina from a bird's eye view.

The cottage turned out to be extremely successful: 100 meters from the sea, almost in the center of the city, although a little dead. Rent for 2 weeks from the end of September to the beginning of October cost us 700 euros. 2 floors, 3 bedrooms, capacity 6-8 people. A few words about the weather: as the owner of the villa explained to us, the weather at this time is a lottery: it can be +30 and sunny, and +15 and rainy. We were quite lucky - it was 24-28, and the water was about 22.

The locals almost don’t swim anymore, only windsurfers and kiters climb into the water, and for Russians who miss the sea, in my opinion, it’s the very thing. Probably, many will be interested in this moment: we paid an advance for the villa in the amount of 150 euros by bank transfer to the owner's account, and agreed to give the rest in cash at the meeting.

As the gurus say, Italians are generally very fond of cash. He himself concocted a letter for the embassy, ​​in which he indicated all the visitors with passport data and the phrase that we paid 100%, the owner agreed to sign all this and send it to us by fax, which, in fact, he did. But! Because he is a private person, then he does not have any seal, and there is little signature, and we were turned away at the visa center ... however, to our reasonable question, what, in fact, should we do now, the money has been paid, we were offered to bring a copy of his passport, after which the documents were successfully accepted for processing. And one more thing about the visa center! Because we were going to go by car ... yes, yes, the damn toad choked to spend money on 5 air tickets and the car rental did not allow us - they demanded a route plan from us, on the basis of which they gave a visa for more days than the housing was paid for. The route plan is a paper in free form with approximate dates and times of travel across the European Union. And finally, I encountered this for the first time, as the sole owner of a credit card, I was asked to write a sponsorship letter that I undertake to pay the expenses of all travelers, including separately mentioning children ... I don’t know why, maybe they don’t pay in Italy expenses for children. So we're going! Me and my wife, mother-in-law, two children aged 3 and 10. Plus two of our friends are on a plane to Rome and we have to meet them.

Our experience travel by car enough, but this time everything went wrong from the very beginning. For simplicity and speed, the mother-in-law and the youngest were put on a train to Brest, and they themselves rushed there to meet them at the station (a ticket in a compartment is about 2,500 rubles, children under 5 years old can not take a seat, then they travel for free, but the ticket is all for them is also issued, no permission from parents to cross the Russia-Belarus border for a child is required).

Our route.

We started on Thursday evening, around 20-00, after a hard day's work. Yes, I forgot to say: our car Mercedes Vito for 8 people with an atmospheric diesel engine, about 79 horsepower and a total mileage of more than 300,000 km!

The very first disappointment and the feeling that we would be late visited us on the Moscow Ring Road, where we got stuck for 1.5 hours, and then it started ... We did not get to Minka and decided to move to Kievskoe, which, fortunately, was free. But horror: moving from one highway to another, we got stuck at the railway crossing for 30 minutes. In total, our delay is already 2 hours, but where ours did not disappear, we will go non-stop and catch up, we thought naively. The track, as always, was good, the traffic police did not spite, for the whole trip I paid one fine of 300 rubles for exceeding 25 km / h. Before Brest, we really made up almost everything. Of course, we didn’t manage to rest, but the unexpected happened in Brest ... The whole of Brest was one big traffic jam, well, who would have thought! And the station is located exactly on the opposite side of the city from the entrance, if you go from Moscow. In general, we were late for 2 hours.


Belarusian border ... kangaroo?

border crossing took a moderate amount of time - about 3 hours. And we rushed on to meet the sea. Poland, as always, pleased with the good quality of roads and upset with a huge number of settlements on the highway. Perhaps Poland is the most difficult and, most importantly, the slowest section of the journey. We had enough strength until about the middle of the country, where in the dead of night we found the Gorski Hotel on the third attempt, ready to receive us. There was no time to sort things out in the evening, but when we got into the rooms, we realized that this was not just a good, but a truly excellent hotel, I recommend it to everyone if fate suddenly throws you into those parts (the cost of a double room is 180 zł for a suite with an excellent breakfast) .

Great hotel for your money!

Waking up in the morning and having tasted excellent national dishes from the buffet included in the accommodation, we moved on. The minimum task is to get to Italy. By this point, I already realized that traveling with two children is not at all the same as without them. They constantly need to write, eat, walk, and each in his own time. Although we must pay tribute, even the small one withstood the journey with dignity.
Having finally reached the end of Poland, we entered the Czech Republic in the first half of the day. For some strange and inexplicable reason, I could not find a single place where Vignettes are sold, I had to go without it for good luck - it passed. In the Czech Republic, of course, we could not drive past a store and not buy a box of beer and a couple of bottles of Fernet, especially since we were immediately warned that beer in Italy was so-so.
After lunch at the roadside Motorest and ate a pork knee, we rushed to Austria.

What prompted me to buy Vineta in Austria, I do not know myself. Inspired by the fact that I managed to save 300 rubles in the Czech Republic, I thought of doing the same thing in Austria, but at the gas station where we stopped, there were Vinetki, and my conscience won, or maybe the holding helped. I was driving and arguing that during my 5 or 6 trips around Europe, my documents had never been checked, and that, in fact, it was possible, in general, to ride without a driver's license. Suddenly, we were overtaken by a police jeep, and we were asked to stop. They checked everything! From passports and green cards to faces of children for their similarity with photographs. Vineta, of course, was checked too. True, it took no more than 10 minutes, after which they wished us a happy journey and let us go in peace. Maybe it's just that a car with a Russian license plate is a rarity in those parts.

Austria managed to pass quite quickly and without incident.

To Italy entered already in the dark. First, we stopped at a toll highway - an excellent road, you can go very quickly, only there are not enough gas stations and shops, and there are only a few hotels at all. Because everyone was feeling sleepy, it was decided to leave the toll road and, continuing along the free highway, look for a parallel hotel for an overnight stay. I must say right away that even with navigation (as iGO 8 was usually used), this turned out to be not an easy task. After an hour of searching and unsuccessful attempts, we finally found a hotel in which there was only one free room, but the Italian, who spoke a little English, suggested that we drive another 5 km and spend the night in another hotel, which he kindly called and clarified the availability. This suited us quite well, although the price turned out to be a bit high, about 80 euros for an average comfort double room with a continental breakfast ( Hotel Willy), this, of course, is not Poland for you, I thought ...

We rushed to the place along the autobahn without much adventure, of course, we did not meet our friends, and they had to get to the place by train. But throughout the entire length of toll highways, in the same places where gas stations are located, you can almost always find fast food establishments from the network Autogrill- not cheap, but tasty.

Similar restaurants are found on Italian highways everywhere.
The fare on paid autobahns, and we ran about 800 km along them, was about 50 euros.
They arrived at the place in the evening and, having eaten, fell dead. In total, the total mileage one way is 3200 km, which took us about 70 hours.

Lemons, tangerines, grapefruits grew in the yard of our villa…

Private parking at the villa saves a lot of money.

Sea of ​​extraordinary purity and beauty.

Paradise for children. The entrance to the sea is like on Azov.

Pro sights of italy I will not tell, I think everyone will find for themselves what to see.

Naples. Vesuvius in the background.

Naples. Castel Nuovo.

In Naples, we were lucky enough to be part of a student demonstration in the very center of the city.

In such a strange way (a real barn castle), the Neapolitans are trying to protect their vehicles, apparently from theft ... Do fiats also steal?

I will only note that parking lots, even paid ones, in cities, and we went to Rome and Naples, are completely packed, and parking a car for a day can be a serious problem. I had to use parking lots in the basements of old houses in the center - it's expensive (about 15 euros per day), but there are almost always places. This is implemented in a rather strange way: in the basement of a residential building or hotel, as a rule, it is with columns and very cramped, a huge number of cars and motorcycles are rather chaotically set up. Parking employees must hand over the keys to the car. they have to constantly move cars - someone is leaving, someone is coming, but there is not enough space.

After Naples, on the way to Pompeii, we got into such a downpour, thinking that this was another last day ... Pompeii.

And evening traffic jams on the outskirts of the cities may well compete with those in Moscow, leaving the center of Rome to the district took us 2.5 hours.


If you're lucky, you can meet an almost real gladiator on the street ... ready to take a picture with you for a few euros.

We were disappointed with the restaurants and cafes in our town, I won’t speak for the whole of Italy, but it seemed to me that in most of them, and regardless of the level of the institution, you can basically order only pizza and pasta - this, of course, is delicious, but gets bored very quickly. But the stores pleased with a huge selection of wines, from the most inexpensive (less than 1 euro per bottle, while quite edible) in supermarkets, to collectibles in shops that are kept by local experts in this field. It is impossible not to mention the excellent selection of fish in the shops near the port, which surprised me, completely at Moscow prices, a decent fish starts from 15 euros per kilogram.

Near the port there are quite a few fish shops with quite Moscow prices.

The women hoped to make profitable shopping, however, the hopes were not destined to come true: we didn’t find any special sales, and without them we didn’t notice much point in shopping - both goods and prices are quite Moscow.

Going back, we took into account all the difficulties that we had to face. We left on Friday morning to be at home on Sunday afternoon. We took our friends to the nearest train station - they were in a hurry to get on a plane from Rome. And they themselves decided to break out on the toll highway in the shortest way, so as not to waste time. iGO 8 amazed us with the proposed route - it stubbornly dragged us to the mountains along country roads, apparently assuming that in this way we would save a lot of time, we might have saved it, but such a route spoiled our nerves a lot, from time to time I generally doubted that it is possible to drive along the roads that he proposed, I think it would be impossible in a passenger car. And yet, after an hour of torment, we jumped out onto a toll highway. We flew through Italy in one breath, then Austria, and by nightfall we drove into the Czech Republic.

Everywhere at gas stations you can wash the windows and pump up the wheels on the car ...

Not reaching a few kilometers to Brno, we decided to spend the night. As always, when you want to sleep, you can not find a hotel. As a result, we stopped at a completely soviet hotel Morava (http://www.hotel-morava.cz/), apparently from the 70s of the last century, however, quite clean and with humane prices (650 CZK for a double room). For the whole town, after 12, there was only one beer bar of dubious appearance and one restaurant, where we ate with pleasure.

Shopping was planned in Brno, which could not be carried out in Italy. There are a huge number of hypermarkets in the Czech Republic, as, indeed, in Russia. However, Czech prices are much more democratic. Having stocked up on clothes and, of course, beer, and citrus fernet, which we loved so much, we moved to Poland. In general, it is possible to export alcohol from the European Union in very limited quantities, however, according to our observations, no one at the border is involved in recounting, and if the bottles do not stick out of each bag, then problems will most likely not arise. Poland, as always, was given with great difficulty, and only in the evening we were at the border. We decided to cross the border back through Domachevo, because 3 hours in Brest seemed like an unjustified waste of time. We decided to spend the night from the Polish side, a few hundred meters from the border in the nearest village there are several quite decent hotels ready to receive guests around the clock.

We woke up early and already around 7 were at the border. The transition took exactly 25 minutes (so far this is our record) from the moment of entry from the Polish side to the moment of payment of the transit fee on the Belarusian side. I was struck by the fact that for these 25, not a single car appeared in any direction.

After the border, the first thing to do was to refuel, we barely made it, the damned “toad”, in anticipation of cheap gasoline, did not allow refueling in Poland. The road through Belarus, as always, passed without incident, there were few cars, the road was in good condition. Recently, many gas stations have appeared, incl. there are no problems with fuel, and there are shops at most gas stations. It’s just that these shops accept, it seems, only Belarusian money, and there are far from always exchangers at gas stations.

We flew to the border with Russia in one breath, before the border we got into a small traffic jam of trucks, it seems that this is already becoming the norm, and no one pays attention when cars go around traffic jams from trucks in the opposite direction. We were suddenly stopped at the border, how many times we went, no one cared about us. They clarified who was in the car and let them go without checking anything.

On the Russian side, we had a bite to eat and rushed home, according to our calculations, they should have arrived at 20-21 hours. It was on a Sunday. Everything went very well, but many times on this trip the plans were not destined to come true ... We got stuck in a traffic jam for 2.5 hours in front of Golitsino, which completely knocked us down. What a shame to rush 450 km from the border in 5 hours and spend 2.5 a few kilometers from home ...
But everything tends to end, including traffic jams. We were at home around midnight.

So, 7400 km have been covered, the average fuel consumption is 9.1 liters per hundred, 760 euros have been spent on diesel fuel. This time there were no breakdowns and serious adventures, which in itself is good. Vito has proven itself to be a great option for long trips, however, 79 forces from a 2.3-liter engine is ugly little. When driving in the mountains, we are not even talking about climbing uphill, but, simply, about driving at high elevations above sea level, the car refuses to drive categorically, at times it was necessary to drive even in 3rd gear ...
This is what happened to us car trip to italy.
Sincerely

Whatever itinerary for self-driving by car you have outlined for yourself, it will be useful to read this memo as general recommendations for road trips in Italy.

Car rental

My advice - take a car ONLY in a large network company. I had a case when the turbo motor of a car that my friend rented from AVIS went haywire. The car is moving, but - no acceleration, no more than 100 km / h, it does not work. We got to the nearest bus station, where they fixed what turned out to be a slight malfunction. But when I called AVIS, they told me the nearest two cities where I could change the car. Fortunately, it was not necessary, but the very possibility of changing a car in the nearest city warmed my soul. Buy a card now. At any airport there is a stall, the so-called "Edikola". Edikola is a tobacco shop + press trays + every little thing. They also sell cards.

credit cards

And you can take a car and book a hotel on your own on the Internet, not on any credit card. Ask your bank if your card allows you to book remotely, if there is a possibility of holding (this is a temporary deduction of funds until you fulfill your obligations - checking into a hotel, renting a car ...). Just in case, link this card to a separate account with a moderate amount: from 3 to 5 thousand EUR. This will save you from fraudulent withdrawal of large amounts, if you suddenly use this card not in the most reliable stores and restaurants.

Navigator

Today, the price-quality ratio of navigators is such that I would advise you to have it even with a week-long road trip. Take care only that the electronic map of Italy is loaded. These files can be searched and downloaded on the Internet.

Telepass=

This is a device that is attached to the windshield and automatically causes the freeway barriers to open. I don’t know if tourists have the opportunity to buy a telepass in Italy. At least my telepass is tied to my current account, and I ordered this service from the bank. But even if there is such an opportunity, the game is not worth the candle: you will use the toll highways a few times - rarely more than once a day. That is, do not bother, although for Italians who travel often, this thing is convenient. The main thing is not to enter the freeway and do not leave it at the exit, where the letter "T" is drawn on a wide yellow sign. There is nowhere to get a ticket or pay. You will have to “back up”, which will cause inconvenience to those who are behind you.

Toll highways - how to enter and how to pay

The website of the public-private company that manages the motorways is www.autostrade.it. There is a version in English. Green signs lead to the entrances to the freeways. When you approach a freeway, choose the right entrance. At small entrances (up to two gates), any barrier has machines for obtaining a coupon. Immediately choose a place in the car where you will always put the ticket, and do not lose it. In theory, when leaving without a ticket, the cashier will be obliged to charge you at the rate as if you had entered at the farthest point in Italy relative to the place where you left the motorway. This is often around 100 EUR. Sometimes even up to 180. But if you lost, say: "Sono tourist, o perso il billetto." They can easily forgive if you name the point of entry. So, drive up to the gate where the ticket is drawn, stop closer to the machine, pull out a cardboard ticket and enter. You need to quickly orient yourself - you go right or left.

It is not easy at first to choose the right path: at first it will not always be clear to you, in the direction, say, to Ancona or to Bologna to go. But more on that later. So, you have reached your exit from the freeway. You need to remember two things: the ticket and the correct gate. When there are a lot of barriers, one or several exits are often allocated only for the owners of a telepass or a special card. Your exits are where the hand or coins are shown: that is, where you can pay. If the hand, then give the ticket to the cashier, and the monitor in front of you will show how much you have. Paying. If you pulled up to a payment machine, then first put in a ticket, the machine will “swallow” it and show how much the trip on the freeway cost. Fill the tray with coins or insert banknotes. Change will pour into the lower tray, and the barrier will open. Take your change and leave.

Stop to think

When you enter the freeway, and do not know whether you are right or left, turn on the emergency gang and drive up close to the fork until it stops. Let cars pass you on both sides. Get a map and find out. Typically, directions are indicated by major cities in the area up to 300 km. There are exceptions: the most southern and northern points of the country begin to appear on signs more than 500 km away. Do not rush: there is nowhere to turn around on the freeway - you will have to move out and go through the procedure again. Have you chosen? Carefully drive in, changing the emergency signal to turn.

Gas stations on toll roads

These are comfortable zones for cars and people. First, drive up to the bar. Put the car on the markup. Not every gas station on the freeway has a full-fledged canteen, but every one has a toilet, a shop, a bar selling drinks and so-called panini (sandwiches). Freeway bar chain example: www.autogrill.com. The bar is always closer to the entrance to such a car zone, and the gas station is closer to the exit, so coffee comes first, then fuel. You need to punch the check at the box office, naming what you want, and therefore take a pen and a piece of paper and write down the names of your wishes from the window display. The leaflet can be shown to the cashier so as not to experience difficulties with the pronunciation of the names from your order. When you pay the check, first go to the seller of sandwiches, he will give you an order, then show the same check to the bartender who deals with drinks. Italians have a normal cafe - the most vigorous espresso. Poured a little, but very strong. Slightly more diluted is Lungo Cafe. Cappuccino, of course, is familiar to you. I recommend taking freshly squeezed orange juice in bars on the freeways. It's called "spremuta". Moreover, a set: coffee + spremuta + cake or a sandwich are always cheaper than ordering separately.

Refueling

There are two ways to fill up on toll roads: "Fai da te!" (in our "do it yourself") and "Servito" - you will be taken care of. I recommend Servito - the difference in the price of fuel is very small, and you don't have to get out of the car. The easiest way is to fill up to full, for this it is enough to say "pieno", which means "full" (tank). Just clearly name what to fill. Or “la benzina” (aka “la gasoline normale” or “la gasoline senza piembo”, which means “lead-free”). Or "diesel" - speak like "diesel" in Russia. It will turn out like this “la gasoline normale pieno” or “diesel pieno”. You can not think about the quality and brands of gasoline. Tipping is not obligatory, but the refueler will be happy with one EUR and wish you a happy journey.

When refueling, clean the windshield (at high speed, midges stain it). Usually, there are buckets with washing liquid and half-brushes - half-mops near each machine. If you are not too lazy to learn in Italian "potrebbe pulire la parabrezza?" (could you clean the windshield?), then the tanker will fulfill the request. If you want to warm up - wash with a solution yourself.

Speed ​​on a toll road

The rules provide for an upper limit of 130 km/h. But often, especially when repairing roads, more stringent restrictions apply. Radars are quite densely installed on the roads, and exceeding them is fraught with a fine, which, by the way, is technically difficult to pay from Russia. But if the car is rented, the fine will be deducted from your credit card. The locals know where the radars are, and often speed in areas they think are safe. However, many highways already have systems that analyze the entire flow of traffic. If the car could not, observing the prescribed speed limit, be at this point, there will be a speeding ticket, even if the radar did not detect an immediate violation. Judicial precedent has consolidated this practice, and, apparently, the widespread introduction of such control is a matter of the next few years.

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Features of traffic rules in Italy

Although theoretically the rules are almost the same, there are nuances in driving practice. But first, one major difference. In Russia, for some reason, a person entering a roundabout has a priority right. In Italy, the rotunda is almost always interpreted as a crossroads, and the one who is on the circle has priority. Thus, at the entrance to the rotunda, a “give way” sign is almost always installed. And rightly so: rotundas are common, and in many places they have replaced traffic lights for convenience. The rest - as in Russia, BUT! In Italy, in fact, you can’t overtake on the right - no one expects such overtaking, and when changing lanes, they don’t even look in the right mirror. You can’t drive along the side of the road behind a continuous lane: this is a serious violation - along this lane, the police or an ambulance really quickly arrive, say, at the scene of an accident. You can’t hold up the left lane: right there, someone from behind will press emergencyly tight, and will demand to go to the right. And, of course, be sure to give way to pedestrians.

Speed ​​measurements on a country road

The cops don't hide in the bushes, but sometimes they still catch you for speed. The backbone of speed enforcement is automatic radar. In recent years, in many villages, especially in front of schools, "radar-traffic light" systems are being installed. The speed limit in Italian cities is 50 km/h. If you pass the village with an excess, 100 meters after the radar you will be met by a red traffic light. No fines, no sanctions, just stand for half a minute, and the next time you go slower. I think in the coming years these systems will become ubiquitous: today it is inexpensive, and even powered by solar panels.

police bribe

God forbid you try to "resolve the issue on the spot." I heard that this still happens in the south of the country, but even there this kind of corruption is coming to naught. The policeman will simply be obliged to arrest you if you try to give him a bribe. Therefore, if you are caught, say, talking on the phone on the move or not wearing a seat belt, be prepared to show documents, spend 15 minutes filling out protocols, and pay an official fine. Plus 1 EUR for postal services for sending - that's exactly this 1 EUR the policeman takes without a receipt. By the way, not everywhere. Why dont know.

Refuel without a refueler

On almost all roads, except for toll freeways, there are many small gas stations without staff. And on Saturday and Sunday, even most of the major gas stations operate only in automatic mode. Then you drive up to the pump (pay attention to the type of fuel - gasoline / diesel), remember the pump number, go to the payment terminal, place a bill (I advise, especially for the first time no more than 20 EUR), see that the terminal has recognized (it will say "credito 20 euro ”, select the number of the dispenser from which you will refuel on the terminal, and only then remove the refueling nozzle and refuel.

parking

It is usually not easy to park in tourist areas during the season. You need to ask where the parking is like this: “Skuzi, dove il parquejo?”. Italians are friendly and helpful. If the parking is indoors, payment usually happens like this: at the entrance, in order for the barrier to open, you need to press the button and get a ticket. Save it, and when you pick up the car, give it to the cashier. The ticket will be “rolled”, after which you will have 15 minutes to leave. At the exit, place it in the machine, the barrier will open. Open-air car parks have blue markings. Parked and look for a parking meter. A trifle is very necessary here: throwing a coin after a coin, you see on the screen how the paid time increases. Then press the main button, and put the check that fell out inside the car so that the paid time can be easily seen through the windshield.

No entry

In addition to the “brick” we are used to, there is a restrictive sign with the inscription something like “Zona traffico limitato” (limited traffic zone). Often, the time when such entry is prohibited is indicated. It is especially expensive to violate this sign in popular tourist areas: such fines really come.

I wish you a pleasant road trip in Italy!

Prices on the page are for March 2019.