Chapter 2

28 July (Novara / Milano to Itri / Formia, Latina province)

ROAD
Milano – Bologna – Florence – Rome – Cassino – Formia – Itri

DISTANCE
788 Kms (490 Miles) 

FREEWAY COSTS
Milano to Cassino 39 Euros 

The most fun part of the trip was now beginning. I knew that driving in Italy would have been a challenging experience, especially down to the south.

The first part of the freeway from Milano to Bologna is amazing, 4 lanes, very new.

The part from Bologna to Florence instead goes through mountains and  therefore lots of tunnels and bridges. The road was 2 lanes with lots of trucks in the slow lane pushing us to stay permanently in the fast lane.

After Florence to Rome the road was quite straight, 2 lanes and sometimes 3 lanes.

Finally after about 10 hours of driving we reached our destination in Itri, a city in the province of Latina. We visited family in the area before going on to the most southern point of Italy.

What amazed me was that since we left Milan there have been many differences between areas/regions. Every time we stop at a petrol station (probably every 250/300kms) the people were different, they almost seem to speak a different language due to the dialects, and there are different way to do things etc.  One thing was constantly increasing… the HEAT! Each time we stopped it was hotter and hotter!!

29 July (Formia to Cosenza)

ROAD
Formia – Cassino – Napoli – Salerno - Cosenza

DISTANCE
430 Kms (270 Miles)

FREE WAY COSTS
Cassino to Naple/Salerno 7 Euros
Salerno – Cosenza free

We are now going to go from the central Italy to the deep south, The Calabria Region and The Sicilian Region. I have never driven down there, therefore we were quite excited to discover these new places.

We were told that the first section of road, from Cassino to Salerno was going to be quite easy, a nice road with 3 lanes, but after that we were warned that the road called Salerno – Reggio Calabria is the worst in Italy, very small, all under construction, lots of traffic, and in general bad roads etc.

Basically the road from Milano to Salerno (via Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples) is managed by the company called Societa Autostrade and it is a very good road and drivers pay a toll for using it, while the Salerno Reggio Calabria is free and managed by the State. The road is constantly under repair and often there is only one lane, in some place you can not drive more the 20/30 kmh per hour.

This is the main road linking the central Italy to Sicily, therefore lots of traffic all the time; in addition to that the road runs through mountain via high and long bridges (which appear to be in very poor condtion ) and lots of tunnels (mostly with broken lights). Obviously in most of the roads there are no an emergency lanes.

Anyway we were now down to Cosenza to spend the night before to reach the bottom of Italy.

As expected the first part of the road, down to Salerno was good. We spent another 7 euro for the toll. Amazing was to see at the Napoli toll, all the people selling pirate CD’s from the latest artist. They basically throw them inside your car and ask for 30 then 20 then 10 euro for few cds. These CD’s probably work but there is a good chance they don’t.  The advicee is not to be rude with these people as this is their way to make a living as in the Naples there is a very high  unemployment rate, and to be honest you don’t really want to get into an argument of what is right or wrong whilst visiting another country and in an unfamiliar place. Just talk to them, and persistently  say in Italian “no grazie” (no thanks) and they will leave you alone….. eventually.

The same things happen at petrol stations. We came across a man in his 50’s (Italian) making a living was cleaning the windows of the cars stopping there and a woman was taking money outside the toilet. She was responsible for letting  people in and ensuring that they were kept clean. Once again don’t be rude and help if you can with some coins, this is their way to make a living.

Anyway back on the road, we were shocked by the condition, holes, dangerous interruptions, permanent construction sites (even though it seems nobody was working…), high bridge that looked in very bad condition, unfinished bridges, a speed sometimes around 20/30 kms per hours because the road conditions do not allow you to do more. Remember this is a freeway not a mountain road!

Once we were passed what probably was the worst part, the road got little bit better and we finally arrived in Cosenza at the Holiday Inn where we spent the night. We were now in main city of the south of Italy, immediately we could see that the way people drive had changed. It was very erratic and without any respect of the basic rules (stop, right to go, etc). Be aware of this  if drive to the south.

When we arrived at the hotel I tried to park the car in the hotel parking for safety reason but unfortunately due to the height of the car plus the roof box, I could not fit in! The man at the reception was kind enough to let me park the car exactly in front of the entrance door of the hotel as long as I waited for the last client to check in,  and that I moved it early in the morning. It is normal in Italy to offer a tip for favours done like this.

Home
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Gallery 1 (91 photos)
Gallery 2 (151 photos)
Gallery 3 (128 photos)
Gallery 4 (95 photos)

Motorway Milano Bologna

Motorway Florence Rome

On the way to Rome

Peope selling pirates cds on the motorway, in Naples

Motorway Salerno Reggio-Calabria

Motorway Salerno Reggio-Calabria

Motorway Salerno Reggio-Calabria