Tour of Italy

[davery]

My daughter is graduating HS next spring and my wife and I are taking her on a trip to Italy. We will be doing a self-drive tour of Rome, Naples, Florence, Milan and Venice. They have their wish lists of sights they want to see, but I really don't have anything on the list. Is there anything car related that I must see? Any other suggestions/ideas?

[aj81spider]

Northern Italy is the center of the Italian auto industry. Depending how far you want to go from Milan there are a number of auto museums in the area. I believe the closest to Milan is the Alfa Museum. Turin is an hour train ride and has the Fiat and National Auto Museums (and is a city well worth seeing in its own right). I've been to the National Auto Museum and it is well worth a visit. In the general area are also the Ferrari and Lamborghini museums.

For a non-car suggestion I would see Da Vinci's "The Last Supper" in Milan. However, it is very limited access so make reservations way ahead of time. We spent extra for a tour company to take us and insure we got tickets.

If you do go to Turin the Egyptian Museum there is one of the best in the world.

[bobplyler]

I've been to both the Ferrari museum in Maraneello and the Alfa museum in Milan. Both are worth seeing. Personally, I liked the Alfa museum better. A much broader range of cars. These are a couple of examples:
https://www.museoalfaromeo.com/en-us/co ... arabo.aspx
https://www.museoalfaromeo.com/en-us/co ... otype.aspx
https://www.museoalfaromeo.com/en-us/co ... Lungo.aspx

And they have a cafe on site where you can park your wife

[Jimb]

Don't drive in Rome!
Get tickets ahead of time if you can to see the statue of David in Florence to avoid long lines, and be sure to climb up to the top of the Duomo.
In Venice try to stay right in town if you can rather than off the island and you have to public transport in and out every day. Verona, just an hour out of Venice is fun too.
Also be very aware of pickpockets. A friend was about to board a train in Rome when someone pushed him from behind into another guy. When he recovered he discovered his cell phone had been taken from his cargo shorts pocket. Also my wife and I were backpacking a couple of years ago there when someone came up to her while we were about a couple of hundred feet apart and told her there was something spilled on her backpack. As I approached he took off running. There was some liquid, and apparently when you take your pack off they grab it and run.
All that being said we loved Italy, spent a month there, and plan to go back.
Jim

[scrapironchef]

Don't drive in Rome!
Get tickets ahead of time if you can to see the statue of David in Florence to avoid long lines, and be sure to climb up to the top of the Duomo.

Same for tickets to the Uffizi gallery, you can get time specific entry tix for a few euros more and avoid the line.

The old Fiat factory is now a hotel, you know what to do.

We stayed here outside of Florence, convenient to both there and Pisa. Grandma made a fabulous breakfast and offered us cooking lessons. Walking distance to a great steak Florentine resto. If you drive into Florence park at the train station garage.https://www.expedia.com/Lastra-A-Signa- ... wtU2VhcmNo

Larry

[davery]

I thought of the Pininfarina museum in Turin, but apparently it is by appointment only to group of 5 or more. I was thinking if I had to pick, it would be the Alfa museum.

[KWL82]

Not self driving tour but was there 3 years ago. One of best days was Pisa in the morning before it gets crowded. The baptistry and church are absolutely stunning. Took short drive to Lucca, medieval walled city. Rent bikes and ride the 3 mile trail on top the wall that surrounds the city. They used to race cars around it in the 50s I think. Still a very cool spot thats a bit off regular path and totally worth it. In Naples Pompeii is great and in Rome Trevi fountain , the Colloseum, Pantheon and St. Peters are the best imo. Have great trip

[baltobernie]

Everyone has their own limits on windshield vs. sightseeing time, but I found that two weeks was just enough time to see Rome and the major cities to the North. I'd hesitate to recommend Naples, the Amalfi Coast, etc. in the same trip, unless you're spending a month or more.

We took the excellent train service from Rome to Florence and Venice, renting a car only for the journey to the lakes and Milan. Driving in many Italian cities is highly restrictive, and parking is expensive and tricky.

I liked using my Garmin GPS in Italy and Greece. The map set is only $50, and it freed me from learning a rental car's procedure and conventions, allowing me to concentrate on driving. I also recommend Cellular Abroad for a SIM card to be used in an unlocked GSM phone. Your teenager will want data access, and roaming on your US phone contract is exorbitant. (Plus, you'll have your Italian phone number before you leave, to give to those that need it.)

[Jimb]

If you want assistance getting around I'd highly recommend downoading the app maps.me which is free.
Once you have it you then download the appropriate map for a region and interact with it without relying on data. It's excellent.
Jim