Tuscan Roadside Poppies

“We’re off on the road to Toscana!” No, Crosby and Hope never did make a “Road Movie” for Italy but the region of Tuscany is a great place to embark upon your own Italian road trip.

I know many people that have traveled to at least one of the many tourist hot spots in that diverse region. Florence, Siena and Pisa to name a few Tuscan cities, are all worthy of the traveler’s attention. But I know of only one adventurous gal that has opted to see Tuscany by car. Many zoom along in tourist buses held hostage to schedules, pre-defined “attractions” and the company of fellow tourists all trying to “do” Tuscany in a day.

Classic Fiat 500

Truth be told, many American travelers are a bit scared of taking road trips in foreign countries and images of crazy people in Fiat 500’s zooming around a 6 lane round-a-bout in Rome come to mind. Absolute terror! The thought of even a minor fender bender requiring negotiation in a foreign language can give you a cold sweat. But the diversity of Italy and Tuscany in particular is lost without traveling through the countryside.

I won’t say that driving in Italy is a calming experience … it is not. But driving in the U.S. can be just as maddening and in some ways, much more disturbing. For one thing, Italian drivers are consistent. You typically know what they will do in most circumstances. If you hesitate, they will all be ahead of you. If you don’t see the light change in 5 milliseconds, they will promptly wake you up with their horn. Italian drivers always have someplace better to be and that is always someplace ahead of where they are. With that understanding, I find it rather easy to drive in most parts of Italy. The Naples area is an exception even though I “earned my wings” driving on the Amalffi Coast. They were almost angel’s wings. The Napoletani are close to suicidal where motors are concerned.

A Very Tight Curve

But Tuscany is not so daunting to drive through and the rewards of a Tuscan road trip are immeasurable. In this introduction to motoring in Toscana I’ll discuss some of the basics that might be different from hopping in the car for a trip in the U.S. and then move on to some specific suggestions in the next articles.

Perhaps the most important suggestion I can make is to rent a small car. Rent the smallest car you feel comfortable with. This is completely against the standard American driving mentality but there are several good reasons to turn down that “free larger car upgrade”. Regardless of the exchange rate (significant at the time of this writing), gas in all of Europe is a lot more expensive than in the U.S. so why be watching the gauge instead of the views. The roads are often narrow, parking is difficult, and turns can be tight. The image at left is maybe the tightest turn I’ve seen but hey, at least it’s one way! The wall by that car’s front bumper is covered in paint scaped off the bigger cars. I wouldn’t go bigger than a VW Golf, and then, only if I needed the room for passengers and/or baggage. For families with kids … you are not heading through 5 hours of endless wheat fields in Kansas so the kids do not need the back seat of a minivan with a DVD player to watch Little Mermaid again! Play some road games like “Cows” (including all barnyard animals is recommended for Italy). If you don’t know how to play “Cows” or any other road games, get the minivan and go to Disney World instead.

Florentine Roads with Walls

The other drivers are not really a big problem in Tuscany but the roads and road signs may be different from what you are accustomed to. Not counting highways (Autostrade), the country roads can be narrow. The variety of vehicles you will encounter are very interesting and when combined with the tremendous views, it is easy to become distracted … well, just don’t.

There are also many places where high stone walls border the road on both sides, especially in the hills around Florence. These are some of the most beautiful roads you’ll see but it helps to know the driving procedures. During the day, give a quick beep beep on the horn when approaching a blind curve and listen for anyone doing the same coming from the opposite direction. At night, flash your high-beams instead.

Don’t be too Stubborn

If you are on a two-way road that simply won’t fit two passing cars, you might have a standoff. Someone has to give! Who should be the one to back up to the closest wider spot to allow the other to sneak by? It will usually be a matter of what is most practical. If you are going uphill and/or a space exists closest to you … just back up and over and allow the other car to pass. If you are going downhill and/or there is an easier spot behind the other car … wait them out. Make some innocent gesture like “I can’t do anything about it” and hope for the best. Just make sure it looks innocent and don’t get into a pissing match or you’ll be at the standoff longer and more cars will come to make it more difficult to resolve.

The natural impatience of the normal Italian driver should work to your benefit if you feel stuck because they will want to get it over with as soon as possible and be on their way. You may get a gesture to indicate you are a stupid ass. Assume that you are … it’s their country, and they will quickly make passing possible. But are you really on a two-way road? If you passed a smallish circle sign with a horizontal line (see page 2), you are in big trouble. That’s the “do not enter” sign … eg. one way, and not yours! Don’t expect any signs besides those, but in most cases you will see signs facing you on the right side of the road when it is two way which is a comfort.

Can’t Beat a Good Autogrill

Of course the road traveler should immediately purchase a decent road map and put the one from the rental car agency in the glove box. Most of the really interesting roads in Tuscany evolved from ancient paths without the advance knowledge of the coming of the automobile and you are going to want some help locating the town names when you get misplaced. But there are highways of course. And one of the great benefits of the Italian Autostrade is the Autogrill. At this highway-only chain of rest stops you can get a decent panino, a caffè for a quick boost of caffeine and just about anything else you might need. Maybe a nice bottle of Scotch and a box of fancy Baci chocolates for the friends you are visiting or some toys to keep the kids from asking “are we there yet” again. If you just happen to need one, you can buy a whole prosciutto, swing it over your shoulder on the way back to the car and have your passenger cut you slices while you drive. The Autogrill is a hands down head to head winner with Roy Rogers and McDonalds!

Misplaced Somewhere in Tuscany

When discussing road signs and finding your way to a specific destination by car in Italy it is important to define the difference between being “lost” and being “misplaced”. It is possible to find yourself in either condition but the former condition is much less likely if you relax, enjoy the experience and look fondly upon the places you happen upon while in the more frequent “misplaced” condition. Speaking for myself, I am never lost, just temporarily misplaced!

A recent road trip into the marble hills above PietraSanta found us driving through the small town of Seravezza. A stream runs through the middle of Seravezza and the map shows a road on either side joining upstream into one road again. Pulling into one side of town over a small bridge piqued my curiosity and two older men were sitting at a bar in the small square as I zipped by. A few turns later I was going by the two men from a different direction. OK, let’s try this turn instead. Again I was met by the “no enter” signs on all but one option which brought us back to our seated pair, now visibly amused. A third try yielded the same result and the two men were now most entertained. I had the notion that they called a pal when we first went by and said “OK Mario, put up the tourist signs” whereby the “do not enter” signs were quickly placed and we were shuttled back to the square from every possible intersection. We had some fun exploring “One-Way Seravezza” but ultimately determined that the two routes were in fact simply one way streets to keep the traffic moving.

Classic Road Signs

A likely scenario is that you will be following road signs to someplace and will be confronted by one of several bewildering options. One is where two signs to the same place point in two different directions right next to each other. That’s easy. There are simply two ways to go to the same place and when they put up the signs they didn’t want to make that decision for you. Just take the more interesting of the two options.

The other is when you come to an intersection of some kind, especially a round-a-bout, and there are what appears to be 50 signs on top of one another pointing here and there. Hopefully you have another pair of eyes in the front seat to help and can find the right road without causing an accident. If not, just pick the way that seems right and hope it’s interesting. You can always backtrack. Remember, you are not “lost” you are simply “misplaced”. Of course there may be two signs to the same place in two different locations on a round-a-bout. If you happen to see them both, you know what to do by now.

Beautiful Tuscan Countryside

Highways in Italy are much the same mess of loops and exchanges that do their best to throw off a good sense of direction but familiar to all highway drivers. For most road trips there should be less highway driving in general but navigating into and through large cities can be a challenge and you may very well end up really lost. Your best bet is to ask someone that looks most like a local resident and hope to pick up the trail once headed in the right direction.

A road trip in Tuscany is a great deal of fun and remember that the best discoveries are made when you get a bit “misplaced”.

Next up … our first stop in The Opinionated Traveler’s Tuscan Road Trip, the mysterious ruins of the Cathedral of San Galgano!