Holiday in Tuscany: 3. Driving in Tuscany – first impressions
So we got ourselves a BMW 3-series (a 320d to be exact) to move around in Tuscany.
The car proved to be really nice looking and much roomier than I expected. Our bags fitted comfortably in the trunk, with only our camera-backpacks sitting in the rear seats, and there was plenty of room in front.
Only downside is the interior design – a bit too ‘boxy’ to my taste, I like the round forms of the Audi A3 a lot more. But since my girlfriend drives an A3 I may be a bit prejudiced. 
And the outside design is really cool I must admit. Here it is on one of our sightseeing tours (with doors open because of the heat).
Our Tuscany BMW
Starting the car with the start/stop button instead of the key felt rather odd at first, but proved to be the least challenging aspect of the trip to our destination.
Far more difficult was trying to navigate the crowded parking lot in search of the exit (although I did know I had to look for a sign saying ‘uscita’). Adding to the challenge were the other car renters trying to do exactly the same thing, criss-crossing the narrow lanes of the parking lot in all directions, risking their damage excess attempting U-turns at dead-ends, and generally getting in each other’s way.
Finally, we found a narrow passage at one end of the parking lot, with a sign located behind a bend containing the liberating word. With renewed energy we set out towards Siena. That ride taught us two important rules about driving in Italy: road signs are not there for the convenience of drivers, and a traffic lane is a strictly theoretical concept.
Road Signs: (Not) Finding your way
How often did we miss a turn because we couldn’t locate the proper road sign in time, or because we didn’t understand exactly where it was pointing to, or because signs were giving inconsistent information!
It seems to be a general rule in Tuscany that signs are often not placed in the most convenient spot for drivers to easily locate them. At any crossroads, you have to be sure to scan all corners and even some distance along the road in all directions because the sign you are looking for might be anywhere. And when you spot it, make no assumptions about what it is trying to tell you.
Once we were driving in the third lane on a four-lane stretch, when between 2 crossroads only a few hundred meters apart there was a sign indicating that our destination was straight ahead (arrow pointing upwards). I interpreted that to mean “continue straight on at the next crossing”, so I kept up the speed and stayed in my lane. Bad idea, because at the next crossing there was a sign off to the side saying our destination was to the right. This had me perform a last-minute swerve from the third to the first lane in order to make the turn.
Another time we circled a roundabout twice because the sign to our destination was located to the left (so ‘behind’) one exit, pointing further in the direction of the roundabout. The next exit had no signs, so we continued. Turns out the particular sign meant ‘take the next exit please’. Wouldn’t it be simpler to locate the sign at its proper exit (the other signs were indeed located at the exits, only this particular one was not)?
Traffic Lanes: Meeting other drivers
Driving is a leisurely business in Tuscany, and traffic lanes only provide a general indication of where people may be driving.
Especially on country roads people drive pretty fast and have the habit of cutting corners. So if you’re driving and the road ahead turns to the right, you’d better keep well to the right in the turn, because cars going in the other direction are bound to cross over into your lane in order to take their turn faster. Can be pretty scary at first.
Even on straight stretches (although we didn’t encounter many of those in Tuscany as you’ll learn in an upcoming post) cars often swerve across the lane markings into the other lane for no apparent reason at all, and the drivers don’t even seem to notice they’e doing it. Not that they end up completely on the other lane, but they cross the lines and use up half a meter to a meter of the other lane before swerving ever so gently back to their own lane.
This habit had me hit the brakes a few times on the highway between Firenze and Siena, when traffic I was about to overtake gently swerved into the fast lane blocking my way. And in the city of Firenze it’s even worse: traffic lane markings are often all but invisible, and people generally seem to be driving wherever they feel like, even when there are clearly visible markings.
So again something to watch out for.
G
August 19, 2008 at 21:45
[...] in Tuscany – Chasing the limit Speed limits in Tuscany are a bit like their road signs (see another Holiday in Tuscany post): rather chaotic and not always there for the convenience of drivers. And they are also a bit [...]