Most of us have, but would you dare?

[miltiadou]

[] Most of us have driven to France and have enjoyed the open roads and little or no agression from the French drivers. But what about driving to Italy, through Milan, on to Florence, Venice and then on to Rome? Internet reading suggests that the Italian drivers rank amongst the worst in the World, depending on how you view their driving. Something about the four inch rule.....if they had an extra four inches of room there would be less scrapes..I'm not so sure about this.. Their temprement is a mixture of calm and volcanic nature, clearly seen in their hand and arm movements.Rear view mirrors may as well be thrown away, as they never think of using them. Leave a ten feet car gap in front of you and the next car, and they will fill it, nudging you as they go. So dare you take the 993 to Italy? Have you, would you, or is it a load of hype?

 

[bruceb]

I''m driving my new 993 to its home in Athens in the next couple of weeks. The journey will start in Slough and will go down through Italy to Ancona for the ferry to Patras.

I've been driving my company car in Athens for quite a while now and once you start driving like the locals its no problem.

The rule here is ifs its black and looks like tarmac then drive on it! so in principle leave very little space just like the italians, However I have noticed that although it all looks like chaos the drivers have a much better sence of what going on around them, where as in UK we all expect to be told to start, stop change lanes etc etc so the brain can be in neutral.

My advice is to go for it and enjoy the drive

 

[miltiadou]

Thanks for the positive response. Helps towards countering the negatives of driving in Italy.

 

[juliany27]

Try driving in Central Paris - cars seem always to drive too close to each other. Or Portugal - drivers seem to have forgotten where the brake pedal is. Or Greece - where friends assure me that they drive on both sides of the road.

Makes Italy seem almost tranquil.

 

[Robertb]

Driving in Italy is a riot- there is little margin for error, so you have to keep making your own space and expect the unexpected. Expect to be honked at a lot- get used to honking at others- its part of the fun. The best thing is that they love great cars- even German ones...

 

[ajc]

I retraced the Mille Miglia on honeymoon a few years ago which follows a similar route to you - not in the 993 put a German registered rental Passat [:'(] - the driving was brilliant, keep your foot hard down and you'll be fine!

 

[miltiadou]

So I am to put my gladiator skills to test on the Italian Autostrada and city roads. Perhaps, I should fit air horns from a juggernaut, so should they fail to see me, a quick blast of the horn we surely make them immediately aware of my presence and their natural physical reaction will be spontaneous, as they steer away from what will sound like a 50 ton juggernaut.
Amm, sounds fun!
Look forward to any more experiences

 

[Mark_Bennett]

We took our New Boxster S to Italy 3 days after collecting it from Stuttgart.

You'll be fine!

 

[Mark_Bennett]

ORIGINAL: ajc

I retraced the Mille Miglia ...

We keep meaning to do this as well - any hints you can pass on? Good places to stay etc?

 

[ravi911]

Having done some driving in Italy, Spain & France over the years, I have to say that my personal opinion is that, although the driving can be quite "lively", most drivers seem to be more aware and focussed on the job of driving that your average Brit on the M25 or any other UK road.

Seems to me that the key is to keep up with the traffic flow, keep up a decent speed and keep out of the way of drivers in a hurry !

If you want a real adventure try the cities and interstate highways in India. Only 1 rule there - Might is Right [] ! Oh, and a fatalistic approach to life and, er, death helps []

Ravi

 

[ajc]

We keep meaning to do this as well - any hints you can pass on? Good places to stay etc?

It's been 5 years now & cannot remember the details of the hotels - we didn't book in advance - we stuck to much of the route as poss but made slight deviations to find accomodation & cut out Rome due to time - our highlights inc. Lake Garda, Venice, San Marino, Siena, San Gimignano, Florence, Futa & Raticosa Passes [], Maranello & Parma.

The locals that we spoke to were also genuinely impressed about the trip & one night got out maps (& bottles of Sambuca!) to look at the old route.

We had a great time & would certainly recommend.

Stan

 

[oceancarrera]

Hey Mike, are you taking the horse or pig?

 

[Guest]

Last summer I drove from Newcastle through France, Germany via Munich , Austria and into Venice. Venice was fantastic but obviously 993 not much use. I would only say I didn't find Italy too much of a problem, but you can expect a lot of traffic /jams depending on where you are.
Mind you I spent several years in Syria /Lebanon and spent many weekends driving around central Beirut and the lunatic Beirut/Damascus mountain highway [in a Ford Taurus] so...
If you go to Venice then you just park up. Officially you are supposed to leave your car unlocked[] , but a quiet word plus a reasonable fiscal consideration ensures you can lock your car and ensure it has close attention.

 

[miltiadou]

Oceancarrera
You were asking....the pig or the horse..I've just checked the rear end and its more like a 'lion'.

tigger64
Seems you have experienced the busiest traffic battles and survived. So, there is a chance. You say you have to leave the car unlocked? Can't quite make this out, 'cause if anything I would be adept to chaining the car to the nearest lampost, and clamping my own car for security, let alone leaving it open for 'spares'! What about parking it in the Tronchetto? Supposed to be secure parking. Know about this?

Regards

Mike

 

[Guest]

Mike

My car was locked and I had the keys- this is not what is officially suppose to happen. As I said a negotiation with parking attendant with informal fiscal consideration + italians love great cars solved that one. Was certainly not going to leave it open.

 

[Sundeep]

damn. it's an adventure on most days on the roads here !

 

[Guest]

Italian driving looks like complete chaos, but the reality is that it is fairly organised chaos, and with a bit of practice, you'll soon understand that it's not really dangerous. There is far less road rage, people are quite calm when you elbow your way in front of others, and you get quite used to being cut-up. This can happen quite frequently, but the speeds in town are quite sedate. Just get used to cars being slightly closer to you than in the UK, and people don't tend to stick between the white lines - if you can make a queue of four abrest rather than three, then people will. Drivers are very aware.

Motorways are probably the more dangerous. Many will flash you in order to let you know they are faster so you can get out of their way. Again, in the UK this would lead to considerable stress and road rage - in Southern Europe it's just the way it is, so pull over to let them pass. Also, if in general people flash you, then it means I'm coming through, so **** off out of my way as opposed to the UK you go ahead old chap.

Don't expect to be let in either (even if joining a motorway), just nose your car out quite agressively, and people just give way in slow moving city traffic.

 

[miltiadou]

Thanks for that.

Yeah, I am now beginning to understand the temperament required for driving in Italy. Similar to that when the wife p-ss-is me off. Become very inconsiderate to other road users! The road is mine....Quite experienced at that, so it should be a doddle.

Regards
Mike

 

[C V Read]

Done a few 993 trips to Italy over the last few years and its been great - agreed you need your wits about you especially in terms of breaking distances but overall there were less hairy moments than a typical bank holiday trip to the westcountry.

The only slight embarrassment is getting overtaken by puntos in the interests of remaining married at teh end of the trip....

 

[Bertroex]

I'm perhaps a bit biased as I learnt to drive in Brussels.

Not much, inclusive of traffic in Roma, is different then what you will find at the worse times in London.


1.You need to know where you are going (so no gently trodding along looking for theeeee hoooooteeeellllllll no, its "yes, this is the hotel. Slow down, drive in."

2. Keep up with the flow. Traffic is generally smooth so if you're quick of the mark then you typically have no traffic in front of you. Bear in mind panda's and punto's are often driven at 9/10ths so if you drive your car at 5/10 and know where you are going its no problem whatsoever

3.On motorways you will have all kinds of fodder trying to overtake you. Its is done in a quite elegant manner- some italian sports car drivers will wave to thank you if you move over in a Porsche; a German registered Mercedes or Audi driver is however on a mission so is best left alone []. If you're relaxed about it is no problem.

4. If you have a Polizia Stradale car (motorway police) car in front of you, take distance. These guys usually drive at 160 km/h and then put their blue flashlights on and make a U turn on the motorway to join the traffic in the opposite direction. (this is obviously where there is no separation between the different directions, such as Firenze, Piacenza, Milano)

5. If you drive a classic Porsche, be prepared that grown men want to strike up a passionate conversation. A few polite sentences are best prepared.

6.Beware of playboy looking characters. I was beeped and flashed out of the way by a Maserati biturbo on the motorway. Okay, so moved out of the way and I received a polite thank you. Decided to follow him, it went quickly over 200 km/h. We came at the toll booth, so I thought "lets just follow this guy and it'll be quick". Wrong.
After frantic antics in the car, the guy got out -barechested!-, did his shirt on, waved his long hair at me and said in French ( I had a Belgian registration) "monsieurrrrrrr , dje soues dezole, but djia perdou mon carte (loads of arm waving)."

Imagine backing up at the Dartfort tunnel toll booth with a german campervan, a lorry etc behind you. .....but 3 times worse.


Best regards,


Bert