Buses in Tuscany

Buses in Tuscany

Travelling by bus is as much good as by train although it is less popular due to not very accurate timetable. Main cities and resorts are annually connected with bus routes. Tickets are available at the stations. In large cities tickets may be sold by an agency and in small towns you can buy a ticket right in the bus. Tickets may be with seat number or without it. It is better to buy tickets in advance during the travelling season to take care of a more convenient place in the bus.

If you decide to take a tour on a car of your own then travelling will not be a problem at all. There are many roads which are maintained very well. The distance between the cities may be only few kilometers but you should remember that the landscape is hilly. Which makes the roads of Tuscany twisting and uncommon for citizens from flat countries.

You should take care of the gas for the car in advance. Many gas stations in Italy are closed after 19:00 and lunch break lasts for 2-3 hours. Sunday is a week end. The exception make gas stations situated on the main routes which work 24 hours a day.

In order to rent a car you may need a passport, credit card and international license with 1 year of driving experience. A driver should be older than 21 (some companies require 23). Maggiore, Kemwel Group, Auto Europe, Europe by Car are the largest car rental companies. Aside rental fee some companies require a deposit equal to the sum of the rent. The longer the rental period the fewer the fee per day. Once you have a car make sure it is in good order and has insurance. The insurance usually doesn’t cover stolen cars. To prevent this situation one should buy additional policy for 10-15 euros per day. Also make sure that VAT (18%) is included in the cost of the rent.

In many cities you can also rent a bicycle or motorcycle. To do that you will need a passport.

Road laws of Italy are developed in the frames of international standards. Speed limits are the following: 50 km/h for city, 90 km/h for state roads (strade regionale, strade provinciali), 100 km/h for strade statali and 130 km/h for freeway (autostrade). Freeways are facilitated with cameras taking pictures of the violators. The fine for speeding may be from 5 to 100 euros. Driving in the state of alcoholic intoxication may lead to serious fines and even to jail. Even the allusion of bribery of road inspector may be the cause of the arrest.

The amenities of Tuscany are definitely worth following speeding rules.

Photo: pixelio.de