Driving Tips in Tuscany

[Paul Anthony Rogers]

Normally I enjoy the lighter side of life, but this post is all business.

I'm serious. If you rent a car in the Tuscany region here are some 
super important tips and tricks you'll need to know.
1. Don't drive into most major cities. Lucca, Florence, and Siena are all
walking towns. Park on the outskirts of town and walk/taxi it in. You DO NOT
want to even attempt to finagle the narrow streets. Some spots won't even let you
drive in or you're arrested (so there's that too).
2. The Auto Strada is your main highway (and also a toll road). Also, when you have to pay
the toll, put your ticket in first otherwise they charge you triple (that was fun). The super
strada is your secondary highway and the majority of the roads. 
3. There are no exit numbers or exits. If looking for a direction, take the exit that says the a major city even though you make not end up going to that city. The major city provides the direction you need to go and along the way you will see small tiny signs for small towns.

4.When parking, there are 3 colors of the parking spots. WHITE: park for free. BLUE: Park but you want to pay the meter. YELLOW: they gonna tow yo ass.
5. They drive fast. Ride up your butt and don't use blinkers. Pay attention.
6. Drop off fees. If you pick up your car and drop off it off somewhere else they may crush you
heavily in drop of fees (like alot seriously).
7.You will get lost. Just don't freak out. Its a major adjustment. Please take plenty of maps, 
large and small. On a scale of 1-10 its like a 12 on the difficulty scale. But I have faith in you. You can do it. 

[Ed Wetschler]

Right, right, and right again. This goes for Spain, too, where I once got stuck turning a corner in Baeza. There just wasn't enough room for one mid-size car. No, I couldn't cheat by rolling over the sidewalk; there was none: just stone buildings on each corner that were about eight feet from each other and showed plenty of scratches from other dumb tourists' cars. Finally, I turned the wheel over to a sympathetic local who got me out of the jam. Thank you, sympathetic local.

Now you know why God created parking areas outside Siena et alia.