13 Essential Tips for Driving in Tuscany (Seriously Read this Before you Rent a Car!)

Thinkings of driving in Tuscany – maybe enjoying the perfect little summer road trip? You’ll want to read through this post!

I’ve actually been on two road trips in Italy now. The first time I was a passenger princess and road in the backseat while my friend’s boyfriend did all the driving between Verona, Lucca, San Gimignano, and Cinque Terre. However, the second time I went, I drove myself from Sienna to all sorts of cute towns. Let me tell you, there’s nothing quite as freeing as driving in Tuscany with your windows down, pasta in your belly, and the Mamma Mia 2 soundtrack on blast!

Anyway, if you’re thinking of adding a little Tuscan road trip into your Italy itinerary, I thought I’d share some pointers below. Just know if I, someone who is doing no favors to women and Asians when it comes to driving stereotypes, can manage with only one ticket and a handful of close calls – you can too! (More on that below heh).

Tips for Driving in Tuscany

Ponte Vecchio, Florence, Italy

1. Only rent a car if you intend on getting into the countryside and harder-to-reach villages.

There are a lot of places to visit in Tuscany and many of those places require a car. However, if you really only want to visit spots like Florence or Siena, a car will be more of a hindrance than anything else. If everywhere you want to visit is accessible via train – save your money and cortisol levels and use public transport!

I’d also list where exactly you want to go that might require a car. If it’s only one or two places, there’s likely a day tour or driver you can book and will cost the same or less as renting a car.

This post is really for those of you that want to stay in remote agriculturismos and just meander through the Tuscan countryside!

2. Always try to get the smallest car possible – it’ll make your life so much easier.

So for whatever reason my rental car company gave me a BMW instead of the small car I rented, and it seemed so long. Like even longer than Toyota Camry at home. Never once in the three days I had it was I comfortable with the length – especially with how much smaller Italian parking spots are.

One moment that really sticks out is when I took a wrong turn in [look up town??] and had to do a like a million point turn in a terrace to get back down. I had maybe an inch to work with and some people had to come out and help me. When I tell you I was sweating

Just try really, really hard to emphasize your need for a tiny, compact car and make sure you pack light enough to fit everything in it!

3. Make sure you don’t need an international driver’s permit (IDP) to drive in Italy.

It depends on the country and your home country but many places may require you to show an IDP in addition to your driver’s license to be able to rent a car. I can’t remember if my company looked at my permit, but I always get one just in case. It’s only $20ish from AAA and you can go in, get it, and be out in less than an hour.

4. Also get an e-SIM or SIM card to make sure you can navigate.

I tend to prefer using Google Maps on my phone for navigation versus whatever a car’s built-in navigation is. And while you can just pre-download a map of Tuscany offline, do you really want to risk being stranded somewhere random with no way of getting directions? Just get the e-SIM or SIM card to always be connected! It always makes it easier to look up things nearby and maybe discover an unexpected viewpoint or restaurant stop.

5. If anyone in your group can drive stick, rent manual. It’s SO much cheaper.

As someone with no real way to learn how to drive stick, I can never just rent manual when in Europe. Which is a shame because automatic is always at least a 100€ more. (And in my case it was way more, I’m still not sure why I wound up paying so much for 5 days!)

This goes for nearly every European country and Morocco in my experience. Being able to drive manual is such a secret weapon!

6. Do not, I repeat, do NOT even think of going over the speed limit.

Or you’ll get a ticket almost a year later :)

No, seriously they’re sticklers and they use cameras instead of pulling you over. Somewhere near Pitigliano I was going 10kmph over the speed limit, and that was what got me a ticket almost a year later. In the US, 10mph over is standard unless you’re in a 25mph or lower zone, so I didn’t even think about Italy. Jokes on me! Came back from my April trip to Korea to a speeding ticket and then I had to pay another fine on top of that because it was out of the initial payment window.

Anyway, learn from me and don’t speed!

7. Get a pin code for your credit card and/or make sure you have cash on hand to fill up.

Okay, here’s something you’ll want to know for Italy (and Spain from memory). Their credit cards have pin codes just like our debit cards do, and if you want to pay for gas, your credit card is going to have to have a pin code to work. I believe you can set this up with your bank ahead of time.

You do NOT want to use your debit card abroad – it’ll charge you foreign transaction fees! I luckily had enough euros on me to fill up my tank or else I’d have been shit out of luck because of my following point.

8. Be mindful of holidays!

When you’re renting a car and planning the pick-up or drop off, be mindful of national holidays. I wound up dropping my car off on a national holiday and it was a little chaotic. Filling up gas was a struggle because of the pin code mistake and also because the store was closed and there was no human being there to actually help me figure things out. And then once I dropped my car off in Siena, I couldn’t get a bus back because I couldn’t buy a ticket from one of the tobacco stores since they were also all closed for the holiday. Luckily I’d gotten the number for a taxi beforehand and managed.

But… yeah, it’s just a lot easier if you remember to plan driving in Tuscany around its holidays not on them.

9. Make sure you can handle narrow roads.

For the most part, Tuscan roads won’t feel too different from any old road you’re used to driving on. However, there are some narrow bits here and there that come up unexpectedly. I think the worst was driving to (Mont?) which the most hairpin turn or all turns. It’s something that you won’t notice 90% of the time but just something to be aware of!

10. Get ready for Italian drivers to be up your ass.

Listen, a lot of drivers in Italy owe me a drink because I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone so far up my ass in my life. And I’ve driven multiple times in Manhattan during rush hour!! Like why do you need to be so close to me when we’re out in the countryside?

Remember my warning above about speeding tickets – don’t let their proximity make you think you have to speed up. It’s just how they are.

11. Plan parking in advance.

I’d recommend this for any road trip ever, but it’s always good to pre-plan your parking for wherever you go in Tuscany. It’s a point you can navigate to on Google Maps, and often if you just spend some time preplanning, you’ll save a ton of money finding free parking lots.

Any town I went to, I just looked up free parking as well as parking and look up recent forums or tips. You’re not the first to drive to most of these places, so someone will always have an up to date tip.

12. Also have a plan for how to get back to your hotel or train station from the car rental place.

As I mentioned above, I made the dumb mistake of dropping my car off on an Italian holiday when no one would be in the office or answering their phone. The car rental spot in Siena is actually a decent way out of town so you can’t just walk back in easily. Make sure you pre-plan how you’re getting back to town whether it’s buying a bus ticket ahead of time or asking about taxis and who to call. Thank me later!

13. Take advantage of driving and stay in agriturismos.

Back on my first road trip in Italy, we spent our last night in the cutest agriturismo and I knew coming back I’d want to do the same. They’re basically farms (or maybe former farms?) that double as bed and breakfasts. You’ll typically get breakfast and dinner, and it has to be one of the most charming things to do in Italy especially in the summer. Like imagine lounging by a pool with rolling hills in the background and a homemade dinner to look forward to?

They’ll be listed all over any accommodation app whether it’s Airbnb, Booking, or Hotels.com, so just figure out your driving route and look for places that seem a little remote.

I think that’s about it for all my tips on driving in Tuscany. I really did have the best time even though writing this post made me realize how many random mess-ups I had in only five days. Let me know if you have any questions or further tips to add below!

For more Italy travel, read these posts next:

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