Car travel in Italy: where and when?

Question

Our family woul like to have 10 day car trip in Italy (will be flying and renting a car). We just want 3 things:

1) Avoid tourist crowds

2) Eat good food

3) Avoid the hottest season, as well as too cold temperatures

Can you you suggest where and when we should go?

Answer 1

the best periods are sept/oct and april/may (but avoid easter and 25th april-1st may cuz they're public holidays). also, if you want to see nice places and eat well i suggest you go from venice to naples, passing through florence and rome.. you would cover a good part of italy, see different places and visit four of the nicest cities in italy...the distance is about 750 km, which you can easily cover by car in 10 days...just be careful cuz in italy traffic's almost always a problem, especially in big cities like rome and naples...

of course you could spend the whole 10 days in each of these cities, especially rome,cuz there's soooo much to see, but since that's all the time you have i think a couple of days might be enough to see the most important things...

Answer 2

went in april/may, restaurant are all very good, i suggest some names:

giacomelli:

    *  Indirizzo:

      25 Via Emilio Faà di Bruno

    * Telefono: [phone] / [phone]

    * Stazione più vicina: Ottaviano-S.Pietro

    * Nei dintorni: Prati - Clodia - Trionfale - Foro Italico

lo zodiaco:

# Indirizzo:

88/92 Viale del Parco Mellini

# Telefono: [phone]

# Fax: [phone]

# Web: http://www.zodiacoroma.it

# Nei dintorni: Monte Mari

LA PAROLACCIA:

Indirizzo: Vicolo Del Cinque, 3

food is not so good,but is a very particular restaurant,because  

The waiters speak in dialect and take "abuse" customers,That usually laugh!

the centre is lot of restaurant,cheape too.

Answer 3

ciao.. i'm italian, from turin...

well... in every seasons here, you can find a lot of tourist crowds, that's because  every city-region here change the number of tourist depending on the seasons... sorry, i hope you can understand what i've wrote...

for example, if you go to florence during this month you'll find really a lot of tourist.. i was there last weekend and believe me i saw more tourist than italian... but for example if you go there in summer you wont' find so much tourist because they'll be all in naples, sardinia, sicily, ligury exc exc.. or even in winter, if you go to the mountains will be the same for florence now..so, avoid tourist crowds is a bit difficult... but i can advice you that in 10 days you can be able to see cities as florence, rome, milan exc exc...

eat good food.. that's the country of the good food!! =p you'll find good food everywhere, dont worry.. but for example, in venice is really, really expensive.. a friend of mine payied about 15 euros for a coffee and two sandwich.. 15 euros is about 11-12 dollars...

and about too cold temperatures.. i can advice you to dont go on jenuary-february, because is pretty cold, almost freezing... but is the season with the less number of tourist... argh.. =s

vabbe'... have fun, ciao!

Answer 4

You really are a person after my own heart. I have lived in Italy for ten years and the way you are planning to see Italy is Exactly the way I tell people to visit.

I would chose one region and explore it well. My three favourite regions are Piedmont, Marche and Sardinia.

The best though would be Piedmont for a number of reasons that tie in perfectly with what you are looking for:

1) The best food in Italy comes from Piedmont - check out my blog for a little more on this http://www.my-italy-piedmont-marche-and-...

2) The best restaurants at reasonable prices are in Piedmont - my picks are these http://www.my-italy-piedmont-marche-and-...

3) Piedmont despite offering the most beautiful scenery is never overrun with tourists. You will often have the vineyard covered hills and ancient medival villages and towns all to yourself - except for the locals of course.

4) When to go - I love the autumn/fall when the vineyards are russet coloured , the market stalls are weighed down with mushrooms and truffles and festivals abound. If not autumn then May or June are good times.

For some great book on Piedmont check out my pick of the best books on this region http://www.my-italy-piedmont-marche-and-...

Answer 5

I think that you should fly into Rome-it will be the easiest (and cheapest) if you're coming in from outside of Europe.  Rent a car and drive north-go to Florence, Bologna, Padua, Ferrara, and Venice-then, you might want to head west to Torino (an amazing and incredibly underrated city).

There are some beautiful spots south of Rome, but it would take more than just 10 days to see everything if you try to hit them.  If you can stay longer, it is definitely worth it to go to Naples and the Amalfi Coast.  Don't go past Salerno, though-the highway from Salerno to Reggio Calabria is the worst in Europe.

I just did a two week road trip from Rome to Sicily (and all around Sicily) and had a great time, but the highways south of Salerno and in Sicily are terrible.  I have also driven up to Venice (along the route that I suggested) and it was so much fun.  Beautiful scenery, nice highways (except around Florence b/c of the ongoing construction), and GREAT eating.

I do NOT recommend coming during the spring-the weather is too unpredictable.  The fall is the best season in Italy, and the crowds of tourists start to diminish.  September or October are the best months.

Answer 6

Sicily in mid-Spring.... never big crowds unless it's a holiday / holy day, the food is great all over the island and the temps should be great.

Fly to Palermo and discover that magic city, drive to Erice. Go to Marsala - there is a Punic ship to be seen there, the wine is great and the food excellent. Go to Mazara del Vallo for fish. Drive to Agrigento to visit the Valley of the Temples.

Noto - a day or two in this fantastic city with a dip in the sea is a must.

Syracuse - culture & food like in few other Italians cities. If you are lucky you may even get to see a preformance in the  Greek Theatre (the largest ever built by the Greeks!).

Then up to Catania... food and night life. Maybe a drive up the volcano!

Taormina - you don't have to go to Greece to see their monuments. the best are to be found in Sicily.

Drive back to Palermo to catch your flight home.

I've done this tour many times and will do it over and over again with great joy.

Answer 7

Across Italy in an automobile is a comfortable and rapid solution, the highways cover almost all the peninsula and the state roads are generally in good conditions as well

Traffic

It is very difficult to avoid traffic in Italy. The only way to avoid being struck hours and hours on the highway is to inform yourself well in advance before you leave.

You can inform yourself by calling operative centers of local police and highway organizations(which are active 24hrs\day), or you can consult with the highway website, www.autostrade.it.

Another option is to listen to the radio: Radio RAI has 3 channels that transmit (about every 30min) the news "Onda Verde". Moreover, in certain areas, it's possible to synchronize to 103.3FM of Isoradio, it not only transmits the news about traffic but it also plays good music