Driving a Car in Italy: What to Know Before You Rent

A Smaller Car Is Often Better

Often in Italy a small car is a better car. This is simply because roads are narrow and parking can be tight (but more on parking woes next). Turns can be tight and parked cars tend to take up precious space on the road. Having a large car or SUV will make your life significantly more difficult than a small car will.

There are of course exceptions to this rule but if you plan on being in a city center or even in the center of towns, a small car is likely the easier option. If you plan to get a little off grid in the mountains, you'll prefer something with more horsepower or 4-wheel drive. In Central and Southern Italy, most roads will be flat enough so I wouldn't be too worried about renting something with much horsepower.

Do note that if you're visiting Italy in winter, you'll either need to rent a car with snow tires or understand how to put chains on. From our experience, rental cars tend to offer chains. It's a legality in the north to have chains or winter tires on from around November to March (the exact date changes each year based on the weather).

If you're worried about driving along places like the Amalfi Coast or visiting small towns, know that most city centers are pedestrian zones and don't allow cars. Keep this in mind when looking for your hotel - if you're unable to carry your bag from your car to the hotel, be sure you're not booking in a pedestrian only zone.

Sometimes it's easier to arrive by public transportation or taxi from the train station than having to walk with your belongings from wherever you ended up parking your car.

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Parking Spots Aren't Always Available

Speaking of that, parking can be a bit of a nightmare in Italy. Think about it this way: most of Italy was developed before cars existed so parking wasn't really a concern when laying out the foundation of a town.

It's not super common to find giant parking lots around. Parking garages do exist but they might not be all over the city.

For example, Trieste's city center has 1 big parking lot near the train station. We live about a 30 minute walk from there so, for us, we have street parking or nothing. If we arrive home on a Sunday night it takes a lot of driving around and squeezing into tight parallel parking spots.

Selling parking spaces here is a very lucrative business and usually is treated the same as buying/selling an apartment.

In other Italian cities, you'll find underground parking lots. These can be expensive to leave your car in but are often the only option in cities like Naples. I have seen the emergence of automated underground parking lots where you drop your car off and watch it slowly fade underground without a worker in sight. I'll be honest, the first time we saw this in Cesena we were hesitant but it turned out to be a very cool and affordable option.

In most of the country though, it's street parking or nothing. EasyPark is a good app that works almost everywhere. It allows you to pay for parking on your phone, adding time as needed without having to go to the meter.

But, do know all parking spots aren't the same. You'll see 3 types of painted parking spaces in the street: blue, yellow, and white. Pay special attention to this because:

• White Lines: These are free parking spaces. You can leave your car here without fear, as long as you'd like (so long as there's no sign stating any additional rules, like time restrictions).
• Blue Lines: These are paid parking spaces. You'll find a meter nearby or can use the app EasyPark.
• Yellow Lines: These are spaces only for public transportation and public service vehicles. Think buses, taxis, and emergency vehicles.

No parking signs are blue, outlined in red with either a slash or X through them. The slash means no parking and the X means you can't even stop.

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Recognize a Few Important Road Signs

Driving right in the center of both cities and towns can be a little bit precarious. I'll touch a little bit more on using digital maps for directions below but here I just want to point out that there are specific road signs you'll want to understand.

Many of the signs, like stop, yield, do not enter, or speed limit are the same you can expect from the US. The signs here are also the same as other parts of the EU. If you don't have experience driving in other European countries though, you'll want to know these.

Pedestrian Zones

Pedestrian-only zones are depicted as a blue circular sign with a white stick-man. These are restricted traffic zones and don't allow any cars to enter.

If you see a white circular sign outlined in red, that's a no traffic zone.

A "limited traffic zone," or ZTL Zone, has a similar sign but says ZTL or Zona Traffico Limitato. This is common to see in city centers. This zone allows cars but only those with special permission - think residents or delivery people. Likely not you, unless your hotel provided you with a special pass.

Right of Way

There are times you'll get to an intersection with any stop signs or yield signs. It can be confusing to know what to do. In those cases, look for the right of way sign. This is a yellow diamond outlined in white.

If you have the right of way sign, continue on, knowing other cars have to yield to you.

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Most Roads Have Tolls

For those that are traveling Italy on budget, it's important to note that most highways here are toll roads. Different regions price these tolls differently so there's not a specific rule here but the tolls can add up.

You'll first go through a toll booth to collect your ticket and, usually when exiting the highway, will go through another to pay your ticket.

Most tolls take card payment but I'd have some cash on you, just in case. Sometimes, there are different lanes for cash or card payments. The blue carte lanes are for card payments, the white ones are for cash. Sometimes the other lanes also accept card.

Some toll booths have people working at them and others are automated.

Just note that unless you bought the Telepass for this trip, you can't use the lanes depicted with a yellow sign. These are the fast lanes for cars that have the Telepass, meaning they don't need to stop and pay for the toll.

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Speed Cameras Are Everywhere

In Italy, I've never seen a speed trap like we have in the US - where the police sit somewhere hidden and wait for unsuspecting speeders to wiz by.

Instead, here they have speed cameras set up. A good thing about these speed cameras is that they're announced both with road signs and if you're using a map like Google Maps or Waze. From our experience, speed limits are super reliable on Google Maps.

A good thing about this is there is always a warning that a camera is coming up but there is a catch.

While a police officer sitting in their car could decide you're not worth the hassle or simply miss seeing you drive by, speed cameras are not prone to mistakes. If you're going even 5km over the speed limit, it's likely you'll receive a letter in the mail with your ticket.

It might be tempting not to pay it but if you want to rent another car in Italy on your next trip, I would.

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Take Pictures of Your Rental Before You Drive

This is a good idea in any country but the moment you're given the keys from the rental car company, take a few minutes to really take a look at the car. If you see any damages (scratches, dents, etc.), go ahead and point it out to the person working at the rental company and take a picture of it. Don't be afraid to take a look under the car or on the roof.

This is simply to ensure you won't get charged for any damages that happened before you.

If you want to be extra careful, especially if you're not able to talk to a person directly upon dropping off the car (sometimes on Sundays offices don't open and you simply drop the keys and go), take a video or more pictures of the car showcasing that nothing happened while you were behind the wheel.

This will give you an extra layer of security if later you do get charged for something.

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Take Google Maps & Waze with a Grain of Salt

Google Maps and Waze are really good tools to help you navigate the country but I wouldn't trust them fully. While they're pretty consistent when it comes to long trips or how to navigate the highways, they aren't always aware of one-way streets or pedestrian-only zones.

This is really important to note if you're navigating to your hotel or a restaurant in a city or town center. I'd recommend reaching out to the hotel in advance and asking them the best place to park. For arriving in a town to simply spend the day, I'd navigate to a parking garage instead of your final destination, just to be sure.

When dealing with road or exit names, oftentimes Google Maps struggles. The little robot lady does her best at pronunciation but it might confuse you more than anything. It's also not unlikely that the road or exit will use a highway number, while Maps says the official road name. Have someone else in the car keep an eye on the map to confirm any directions. If you're driving by yourself, fear not, but do know you might miss an exit or two, especially at big junctions that are confusing in any language.

I don't have any experience with Apple Maps but since Apple isn't nearly as big of a company here as it is in the US, I'd recommend one of these other apps instead.

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Driving Etiquette Varies

Now that we live in Italy, we're more accustomed to the driving etiquette here. That said, driving in the north of the country is far different than driving in the south. Things only get more chaotic when you enter into busy city centers in the south, like Naples.

In some countries, using a horn is pretty normal. In Italy that's not the case. Using your horn here is like using it in the US, it's a sign of aggression and equivalent to sticking your head out of the window and yelling. Just note that we have the most experience driving in the north, with the exception of one trip to Naples and another to Sardinia. I've heard honking is mandatory in Sicily.

Do your best to keep your wits about you and understand that road rules are often mere suggestions. This might be a good place to remind you to get damage protection when renting your car because unfortunately, small scratches and dents can be commonplace when driving in such close quarters to others.

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You'll Need a Few Things Before You Can Drive

Depending on where you're from, just a driving license might not be enough. If you're from Italy, the EU, or EEA, you're able to drive without the need of an international license. But for all other licenses, you'll need an international driving permit.

In the US, you can quickly and easily get an international driving permit at any AAA office.

Just know that if you move to Italy like we did, you can only drive on your foreign driver's license for 1 year before you have to switch to an Italian license, even if you have an international one. If your country has an agreement with Italy, this process is pretty simple.

If you're like Raf and me, you have to start from scratch and go through the entire process of getting a license, just as if you've never driven a car before. For reference, I'm from the US and Raf is from Colombia.

In addition, if you plan on renting a car, you'll need a valid credit card. A debit card or cash won't be enough as the company will want to order a hold on some money to protect themselves.

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The Language Barrier Is Real

I don't expect everyone visiting Italy to spend months or years practicing Italian before their trip (although I highly recommend learning some basic vocab beforehand) so do know that if you don't speak the language, you might face some hurdles.

From our experience here, English isn't super common. Yes, people who work in touristic areas will do just fine but it's not something I would necessarily expect.

The person working at the car rental office might not be able to answer your questions, if you run into the police you might have to deal with Google Translate, and I've never seen road signs in English.

Speaking of, the word for exit in Italian is "uscita," something you'll need to know for the highways.

This isn't to deter you, it's just for you to set your expectations correctly on what driving in Italy can be like.

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There's a Drinking Limit to Drive

Given that driving in Italy is likely going to be different than driving in your home country, I suggest you don't drink and drive. That said, the legal limit is 0.5 grams per liter (g/L) of blood. For a rough guess, this is about 2 glasses of wine.

From what I understand, blood alcohol levels are only tested if alcohol is believed to be the main factor in a serious accident. You're tested via a breathalyzer or through a blood test. This article from the European Transport Safety Council goes into more details on this.

If you're under 21 or have had your license less than 3 years, you cannot drink at all if you plan to drive.

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Treat Public Transportation as Plan A

There are some moments we always rented a car, mainly to go to the Dolomites and for our trip to Sardinia. But there are other times, like going from city to city or visiting Venice (where cars aren't allowed), that we always choose public transportation, even now that we own a car.

If we're visiting a city or just direct to one direction, we opt for public transport. Trains and buses are good enough in Italy that I do think that should be your first option.

Google Maps is a good first source to plan out your trip and see the times between driving and taking public transportation. Just know that results change based on the date/time Google Maps is using. To see all train options, I recommend using Trainline instead.

I would treat public transportation as your first option when traveling Italy. More often than not, it'll make your life easier.

If you're in a region that isn't well connected or have a unique trip planned where you're focused on scenic roads and small towns, renting a car is easy and more than possible.

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Ready to Drive in Italy?

Italian drivers might not be quite what you're used to but if you come in with a dose of patience and don't immediately rush to the fast lane, you'll be good to go. Keep an eye on Italian road signs, mainly in the city centers, and the speed limit when passing a speed camera and you'll set yourself up for a smooth trip.

If possible, I'd skip the hassle and go with public transportation instead but do know that having a car will give you more flexibility and allow you to get off the beaten path a lot easier.

In some cases, it might be smart to rent a car for parts of your trip, rather than keep one for the entire time.