Spending your holidays or honeymoon in Tuscany is a dream for many tourists that finally come to the beautiful Italian region. Depending on their wish list, some of them choose to stay in a single area and just explore the roundabouts while others have a somewhat more adventurous schedule that involves being behind the wheel for a few hours a day.  

In any case, you are bound for an exciting time as you go about the dashing birthplace of the Italian Renaissance with the significant artistic legacy and the incredibly enchanting landscape. However, if you decide to do your own driving in Tuscany, it would be nice to come prepared. 

Here are some tips to help you plan out the perfect Tuscany road trip and enjoy every bit of it!  

• Mind your driving – As we have already highlighted Italians are not exactly model drivers. Their relationship with cars is a bit “harsh”, which means that your car may get a bump or scratch somewhere along the road trip. To have peace of mind, we suggest you get insurance on your rental car – at least on its exterior. Also, Italians’ driving habits do not always follow the driving code by the book. This means that speed limits may not apply in all cases, and many Italian drivers surpass them despite the high fines. Just saying, so you know…

• Refuel the car on your own to save money – Using a self-service gas station will enable you to save some cash from having another person pump your gas for you. Yes, there is a small extra charge for this in Tuscany.  

• Unexpected traffic may occur at any given time – Take this into account when you move from one place to another. Closures and toll roads are quite common in Tuscany (and Italy as a whole), which can lead to delays. If you have to meet a deadline in your next destination, it’s advised to schedule your departure a bit earlier and give yourself a safe head start.  

• Know where you’ll park the car beforehand – Looking for a parking space in Tuscany can be tricky. As you approach the town or city, ensure you start looking for parking to avoid the challenging times lying ahead as you get into them (especially the smaller Tuscany towns). Note that in some regions, you are only allowed to park your car outside the city walls. As for the parking prices, these can be reasonable, low, or high, depending on which place you visit. Better do some research ahead of time to get an idea.  

• Plan strategically – Many tourists prefer to pass up the big cities to avoid the crowds. This leaves them with a large selection of villages and small towns that are equally charming with one another. Although this sounds fascinating, it may give you a sensation that you are on a loop of repetition. Mixing and matching metropoles like Pisa and Florence and scenic countryside drives is a much better option that will help you soak up the allures of the Tuscany region in their entirety. Balancing your time between large towns and small villages will also allow you to combine different experiences, such as wine tasting, museum hopping, a picnic in a stunning natural setting, and vistas filled with rolling hills, verdant valleys, cypress trees, and impressive fortresses dotting the idyllic landscape.  

• Make your reservations early – From wine-tasting to luxury house rentals, please try to book ahead for a totally relaxed and stress-free Tuscany road trip.  

Without a doubt, visiting Tuscany is always a mission in the works! There is always something new, something exciting, and something heart-filling to add to a road trip. Hope you enjoy this one!

Featured Photo by Teodorik Mensl on Unsplash