What should I know about driving in Italy?

stay to the right except to pass. Learn to Zipper. I wish they taught this better in American driving schools. It works great in Italy and makes the apparent chaos make since. If everyone just lets one car in (like a zipper) the traffic keeps moving.
No road rage is necessary. We almost drove out onto the galleria in Milan and no one even gave us a second look.
Have a European GPS if possible, along with an atlas so you can be sure you have the right city. I don’t know what we would have done without the GPS.
A lot of Hotels don’t have big signs so even if you have your GPS be prepared to get out and walk to figure out exactly where you are trying to be.
Keep your car documentation WITH YOU!! (Not in the car.) Possession of the paperwork is possession of the car.
We loved driving in Italy. We found the drivers much better than in the states. (I haven’t driven much in Canada, so I can’t compare there.)

This is all great advice. We will actually be bringing an European GPS so I think that will be helpful. I plan to stay almost exclusively on the right side of the road just to be safe, and I’m a pretty calm driver so I don’t suspect road rage will be a problem – especially in a foreign country!

Will definitely keep the car documentation on me!

The highways are in really good shape. Almost as good as the Autobahn and nearly as fast as well. If you like driving fast you will love it!

In large city use the horn frequently. Expect cities to be full of jaywalkers.

from my experience in Rome, Ostia and Syracusa: Italian drivers in the cities are CRAZY, stay away from cabs, they’ll run you off the road, vespa drivers are nearly as crazy… people yell at eachother alot
(the highways are very nice…and the ‘gas stations’ have GREAT FOOD

I would reccomend watching out for people on scooters when you are in the cities. I lived in Rome for a year and I don’t kow how many accidents I saw with scooters involved. I traveled mostly on the bus and metro system though, so I can’t give you much aid in the way of actually driving in italy.

Awareness and reacting to the situation are more important and more used than the rules, in Italy. Traffic signals and lanes are often ignored entirely in favor of the situation. With people driving in reaction to the other cars moment by moment, and many drivers seizing imaginative opportunities to zoom past or between others, it’s vital to give full attention to the other cars and expect them to do anything, rather than giving attention let alone authority to lights and lines.

While this would not work in the USA and Canada, it does work (usually) there, because almost all of the drivers are used to driving that way and so are hyper-alert and focused on getting somewhere and not crashing, rather than on obeying rules.

If it’s anything like this drive through Paris, well, you might want to consider just taking a cab.

If this has been stated already I apologyze for any redundancy. They drive fast and crazy. I hear Napoli is really nuts, but I have not been to that particular city. Make sure you have car insurance. And, make sure your license is valid to drive in Italy, I understand some requirements have changed in some European countries since I was there (a long tme ago).

In the US you can get an international drivers license at AAA, but I am not sure about Canada

@Judi you always have such useful info :).

Thanks. It’s just that we did this a couple of years ago. :-)

1. A hanging hand outside the window means nothing more than that the driver is relaxed. It is not a turn signal.
2. Stop at a panini stand at least once a day.. they are vastly delicious.
3. Consider a Vespa or motorcycle. There are a million places to get one there and you can zip through traffic instead of waiting. Just don’t get hit by a crazed Sicilian in a beat up lemon.
4. Consider renting a beat up lemon.
5. Follow all the rules !
6. Consider online tips !
7. Get a mobile phone and load up Ajax Trans to translate phrases for you to read. (or some other translation software)
8. Most importantly… Have fun!! Italy is one of my favorite places in the world.

Be prepared to drive into streets that turn into alleys that become too narrow for your car, and then having to make a 15-point turn to get out parents’ story, not mine

Sounds about as fun as us driving out on the Galleria! No one even looked twice as we made a u-turn. People make creative moves like that all the time in Italy.

@wildpotato hahaha

@wildpotato, that exact scenario happened to us in Siracusa… Ha ha ha!

Not sure if someone already mentioned study up on the international road symbols for Europe, pretty sure Italy uses them.