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Travelling by car
The Italian highway net covers
in an effective way the Italian peninsula and the state roads
are generally in good conditions, therefore going through
Italy by car is a fast and comfortable solution.
Driving can become more exacting on smaller or mountainous
roads and it is better to avoid to go through the big cities
by car.
Driving in the big cities (Rome, Naples, Milan, Turin, Palermo)
can not be a pleasant experience: the city traffic is often
chaotic. In the historical centres there are limited traffic
zones and it is quite hard to find a parking area.
The parking areas in the big cities are marked by the P in
white capital letter on an identifying rectangular blue background
signal. Generally they are parking areas on payment whose
rate varies according to the city, the zone and the hour band.
It is necessary to pay in advance for the number of hours
that you reckon to remain through small automatic machines
placed near the parking areas delimited by blue lines.
Outside the historic centres, there are not guarded parking areas characterized by white
lines on the road paving, where no payment is requested.
Useful References:
- http://www.parcheggi.it
The portal helps to point out on the interactive map the
nearest parking areas in all the main cities and in the
vicinity of airports.
Taxi
In Italy the authorized taxis are generally of yellow or white
colour, they must have a taximeter and the word Taxi.
Apart from the cost indicated from the taximeter, it is necessary
to face additional expenses for the baggage, on public holidays,
on Sunday, during the night or to go to airport.
In order to contact a taxi, it is necessary to make a telephone
call (in this case the taximeter is activated in the moment
in which the taxi is contacted by telephone) or to go to the
taxi areas marked by yellow lines. It is forbidden to stop
a taxi on the road.
It is
advisable to note down the number of the licence in case of
problems, complaint or other things.
Driving
in Italy
Generally those who come from a country member of the European
Union have his own driver's licence recognized in Italy. On
the contrary, those who come from a country not member of the
European Union need to have the national licence and the international driving, that is the official translation of the national licence.
You need also to contact your car's insurance or assistance company which will cover you in case of accident in Italy.
If you drive a car that belongs to somebody else, you need
to have the delegation of the owner who authorizes the expatriation.
What is necessary is to show the driver's license if you want
to hire a car or a motorbike.
Useful References:
Road
norms
In Italy, as well as in most of the European countries, you
drive keeping the right side and you exceed on the left but
you have to give priority to the cars coming from right.
It is obligatory to fasten your seat belts and to pay a fine
in case you travel without having the seat belts fastened.
In case of incident due to alcohol abuse, the penalties are
quite high.
The alcool limit permitted in the blood is of 0.08%.
Running along the extra-urban roads and the freeways it is
obligatory to have the dipped headlights switched on.
Speed
Limits
In Italy the speed limits are imposed by law:
- 130 km/h in highway for 1100cc cars or more
- 110 km/h in highway for cars of small dimensions and motorbikes
with displacement inferior to 350cc
- 90 km/h on extra-urban roads
- 50 km/h in cities
Overcoming these limits can oblige
to pay fines and in serious cases to have the driving licence
withdrawn.
Petrol
The price of the petrol is higher in Italy.
Nearly all the service stations in Italy have petrol without
lead and diesel oil (diesel). The service stations are open
from 7.30 to 12.30 and from 15.00 to 19.00 from Monday to
Friday. Anyway there are many self-services
Highways
The presence of highways is indicated by a green background
identifying signal and by the letter A followed by the number
in.white. Generally it is obligatory to pay a toll in the
highway cases in cash or using automatic systems of payment:
Viacard or Telepass card.
Along the highways there are service areas offering various
services: service stations where to make fuel, restaurants,
bar,offices for the information and bank windows.
Here you find a list of some
highways:
Useful References:
- http://www.autostrade.it/
Site of the highways company with the interactive map of
the highway net, with possibility to trace a personal route
from the point of departure to the destination calculating
routes and tolls.
- http://www.aiscat.it/inautostrada/index.htm
The site offers a complete and exaustive list of the highway
net present on the Italian territory.
- http://www.viamichelin.com/
The site allows to create routes and to visualize maps and
plants of all the European countries.
Breakdowns and assistance
In case of car breakdown in any part of Italy you are, it
is possible to dial the telephone number 800 116 corresponding
to the service of road assistance managed by the AUTOMOBIL
CLUB ITALY (ACI).
- ACI - AUTOMOBILE CLUB ITALIA: http://www.aci.it/
via Marsala 8 - 00185 Rome
- tel. 803/116 for
road aid (all the year - 24 hours out of 24);
- tel. 800/116800 for the foreign car drivers, in
possession of a mobile telephone with foreign carrier;
- tel. 1518 for Onda Verde (Green
Wave) (active 24 hours
out of 24) for information regarding the road conditions
and the circulation with a view to the road safety.
E-mail: info@aci.it
The ACI, beyond guaranteeing the road car assistance that
is obtained dialling 803 116, offers 24 hours out of 24
an assistance telephone service to the car drivers who travel
in Italy.
On the highways it is sufficient to activate the S.O.S. columns,
installed along the emergency lanes, every two kilometers,
in order to make the Highway patrol and the staff on duty
intevene in any moment.
S.O.S columns are characterized by intervention request through
push-button and call confirmation. On the columns there are
two push-buttons: one for the call of mechanical aid and another
for the sanitary intervention.
After having pressed on what you are interested in it is necessary
to keep waiting for the ignition of the light of confirmation
so as to be sure that the call has arrived to the radio room
of territorial competence.
BLUE POINTS
The blue Points http://www.autostrade.it/autostrade/puntiblu.... are centres where it is possible to obtain information and
the bringing up to date on all the highway services.102 blue
Points have been created, most of them are situated in the
main stations of the highway net. The blue points are addressed
to the customers VIAcard and Telepass.
Wireless services
Every 30 minutes approximately on the frequencies of three
public radios (RAI) are broadcast - ONDA VERDE(GREEN WAVE)
- on the car traffic; in summer some editions are transmitted
in English, French and German.
Other information on the road conditions besides also the
every day forecasts of traffic and those for the weekend are
supplied by ISORADIO service at frequency FM 103,3 on all
the national territory and from the RTL private wireless network
at the frequency FM 102,5.
Telephone services
We point out some telephone numbers in order to obtain information
on the distance covered of roads and highways:
- Highways Company: http://www.autostrade.it/
Call center Viabilità 840-04.21.21 (24 ore su 24, 7 giorni su 7)
- Onda Verde (Green
Wave) 1518 (active 24 hours out
of 24) for information regarding the road conditions and the circulation
with a view to the road safety.
Useful References:
Car Rental Agencies
The conditions to rent cars, vans and camper are analogous
to the European ones. It is necessary to be at least 21 years
and to have a credit card.
The agencies situated on all the territory and at the airports
apply various rates according to the period and the type of
motor vehicle.
As follows you will find a list of the main car
rental companies
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