Che storia! I found driving the narrow, stone walled, winding and hilly roads of the Trentino challenging in the 1990’s. I don’t know whether I needed an Italian license then; didn’t matter as things weren’t computerized and there was no way to check (also, our car still had American license plates).
Now that we’re much older, we use the train or a taxi. No way we are running that gauntlet!
This is such a treat to read ( and slightly terrifying! ) I should have my residenza soon . Yikes! Its been 34 days and the polizia haven’t checked on me but now i understand the residenza is back dated to the date of the application! So I’ve just lost 34 days of study! And I don’t speak Italian well yet! Okay, time to take this driving seriously. 😳 thank you!!!!
Glad you semi-liked it! ;-) Don’t worry, the police may not come by, or they may decide your name on the citofono is enough. My unsolicited advice: unless you live somewhere where a car is necessary, I’d say focus on learning the language in general, get used to life in Italy, deal with all the other stuff you need to after an international move, and then worry about getting a drivers license later when you’re not in the transitional phase of your move. In any case, I wish you well!
I can still remember the first time I drove in Cyprus. Getting into a right-side driving car was weird enough, but the first time I turned left, I turned into the right lane as I always do...in the US. I encountered a terrified Cypriot driver heading straight at me at perhaps 60MPH. It took me a split-second to realize my mistake, and I veered into the left lane. For a moment, though, I think both of thought this was how we were going to go out. It was the one and only time I made that mistake. :-)
I can imagine your terror! I don't think I'll ever have the courage to drive such a car! But who knows, I'm hoping to get to the UK next year, and maybe I'll give it a whirl. Out in the country, though, where I'd be less likely to kill or be killed. Then again, I like trains . . .
Bummer about needing a license for the scooter. Oh well, if I move to Italy it will be in an area with lots of public transportation! And thanks for the tip on Google maps and the cameras!
Great recount of your driving experience! I had the pleasure (or, DIS-pleasure) of driving in Italy back in 2017 using my "international" drivers license. We drove from Milano to Nocera Umbra, then to Roma. My wife, son and I in one rented Fiat Panda (I've always had manual transmission cars, so this was a breeze to drive), and my cousin, her daughter and son-in-law in the other. Driving on the highways was fine. The big cities, however... scary. So scary that we decided to ditch the cars in Roma and take a train back to Milano (and we saved a couple Euros in doing so)! Two things I was constantly warned about was inadvertently driving in ZTL zones and speeding (I guess Italy is known for hidden cameras all over the place?)! As a matter of fact, my good friend (who lives in the USA, but has a home in Italy) got a €300 speeding ticket EIGHT MONTHS after he had been in the area where a camera supposedly saw him speeding (he didn't deny it, though)! Anyway, I don't plan on ever driving a car in Italy. I *would* like to drive a scooter, though. But if I still would have to go through everything you described, then fugeddaboudit! I'll do taxis, trains, buses or feet!
Oh, driving here isn't really that bad (not that I want to encourage you to drive if getting where you need to go is doable by public transit). I have zero desire to drive in Roma or Napoli, and there's no reason to, really. I don't drive unless it makes sense to do so (no public transit, transporting something, timing of trains is poor, etc.). As for speed cameras, they show up if you navigate with Google Maps, and yes, long delays are the norm for tickets if you don't live in Italy. Sometimes they track you down; sometimes they don't. And that scooter? If you're resident in Italy, you would indeed need a license for it.
What a funny and informative post this was!!! I had no idea that getting a license was such a nightmare. Interesting because we found driving in Rome a nightmare...! You’d think they’re grooming talented drivers? This also explains the aggression. Passing all these tests, the waiting and the simmering that is part of the experience makes for a different kind of driver on Italy’s roads.
Happy to hear you liked it! Yeah, the hurdle of an Italian license is pretty infamous. It's interesting—I don't see the same kind of aggression here as in the U.S., where road rage is real and you worry someone might pull a gun on you. Here, at least some of the time, it's more like sport or theater. Not to say there aren't plenty of bad drivers. And let's not talk about parking, which is inventive to say the least (but often very problematic).
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Fantastic! I’ve read a bit about preparing for and taking the driving tests and your account is, by far, the best and most fun (well, at least fun to read). Mamma Mia! This is not something I look forward to. But oh, the sense of accomplishment!
Your posts are always so funny! 😄 And they are always enlightening about how foreigners see Italy and Italians, and how things I consider obvious are definitely not. For example, studying hard for a license allowing you to launch a potentially fatal vehicle along a road with other vehicles and people (and walls). Is really much easier to get one in the US?
About Piedmont: no, it is not possible to have the test in French, and despite this region being on the border with France, no one speaks French, actually. I think the only exception to the rule about the language is in Trentino, where the official second language is German and ao perhaps they also have tests and books in this language.
I am sorry you had to repeat the exam! You surely didn't deserve it!
Thanks, Elena! And yes, it really is that much easier to get one in the U.S. People hardly study at all and the test is very simple. Una stupidaggine, no? Thanks for the info on Piedmont and taking the test in French—quite a few sites say you can take the test in French, so I assumed that would be in Piedmont. Strange! And no, I didn't deserve to flunk! ;-)
Hi! I did the license last year. It cost a little more than €1,000, and the eye test was €50. I studied five or six hours a day for eight weeks and passed the written test. (A2 level Italian) The instructors do like to yell. It was stressful, yes.
Che storia! I found driving the narrow, stone walled, winding and hilly roads of the Trentino challenging in the 1990’s. I don’t know whether I needed an Italian license then; didn’t matter as things weren’t computerized and there was no way to check (also, our car still had American license plates).
Now that we’re much older, we use the train or a taxi. No way we are running that gauntlet!
I love the train! The roads can be insane, that’s for sure!
Congratulations! I need to get my French driver's license asap and I am absolutely terrified. It sounds like a similar process than in Italy!!
Forza! And good luck!
Wow the Italian driving test sounds far worse than the Thai one -- and I failed the Thai one 3 times! Thanks for sharing your experience.
Oh no! Yeah, they’re all designed to make you fail. 😂
This is such a treat to read ( and slightly terrifying! ) I should have my residenza soon . Yikes! Its been 34 days and the polizia haven’t checked on me but now i understand the residenza is back dated to the date of the application! So I’ve just lost 34 days of study! And I don’t speak Italian well yet! Okay, time to take this driving seriously. 😳 thank you!!!!
Glad you semi-liked it! ;-) Don’t worry, the police may not come by, or they may decide your name on the citofono is enough. My unsolicited advice: unless you live somewhere where a car is necessary, I’d say focus on learning the language in general, get used to life in Italy, deal with all the other stuff you need to after an international move, and then worry about getting a drivers license later when you’re not in the transitional phase of your move. In any case, I wish you well!
This is an awesome article, thank you
Thanks, glad you liked it!
I can still remember the first time I drove in Cyprus. Getting into a right-side driving car was weird enough, but the first time I turned left, I turned into the right lane as I always do...in the US. I encountered a terrified Cypriot driver heading straight at me at perhaps 60MPH. It took me a split-second to realize my mistake, and I veered into the left lane. For a moment, though, I think both of thought this was how we were going to go out. It was the one and only time I made that mistake. :-)
I can imagine your terror! I don't think I'll ever have the courage to drive such a car! But who knows, I'm hoping to get to the UK next year, and maybe I'll give it a whirl. Out in the country, though, where I'd be less likely to kill or be killed. Then again, I like trains . . .
Bummer about needing a license for the scooter. Oh well, if I move to Italy it will be in an area with lots of public transportation! And thanks for the tip on Google maps and the cameras!
Great recount of your driving experience! I had the pleasure (or, DIS-pleasure) of driving in Italy back in 2017 using my "international" drivers license. We drove from Milano to Nocera Umbra, then to Roma. My wife, son and I in one rented Fiat Panda (I've always had manual transmission cars, so this was a breeze to drive), and my cousin, her daughter and son-in-law in the other. Driving on the highways was fine. The big cities, however... scary. So scary that we decided to ditch the cars in Roma and take a train back to Milano (and we saved a couple Euros in doing so)! Two things I was constantly warned about was inadvertently driving in ZTL zones and speeding (I guess Italy is known for hidden cameras all over the place?)! As a matter of fact, my good friend (who lives in the USA, but has a home in Italy) got a €300 speeding ticket EIGHT MONTHS after he had been in the area where a camera supposedly saw him speeding (he didn't deny it, though)! Anyway, I don't plan on ever driving a car in Italy. I *would* like to drive a scooter, though. But if I still would have to go through everything you described, then fugeddaboudit! I'll do taxis, trains, buses or feet!
Oh, driving here isn't really that bad (not that I want to encourage you to drive if getting where you need to go is doable by public transit). I have zero desire to drive in Roma or Napoli, and there's no reason to, really. I don't drive unless it makes sense to do so (no public transit, transporting something, timing of trains is poor, etc.). As for speed cameras, they show up if you navigate with Google Maps, and yes, long delays are the norm for tickets if you don't live in Italy. Sometimes they track you down; sometimes they don't. And that scooter? If you're resident in Italy, you would indeed need a license for it.
What a funny and informative post this was!!! I had no idea that getting a license was such a nightmare. Interesting because we found driving in Rome a nightmare...! You’d think they’re grooming talented drivers? This also explains the aggression. Passing all these tests, the waiting and the simmering that is part of the experience makes for a different kind of driver on Italy’s roads.
Happy to hear you liked it! Yeah, the hurdle of an Italian license is pretty infamous. It's interesting—I don't see the same kind of aggression here as in the U.S., where road rage is real and you worry someone might pull a gun on you. Here, at least some of the time, it's more like sport or theater. Not to say there aren't plenty of bad drivers. And let's not talk about parking, which is inventive to say the least (but often very problematic).
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 Fantastic! I’ve read a bit about preparing for and taking the driving tests and your account is, by far, the best and most fun (well, at least fun to read). Mamma Mia! This is not something I look forward to. But oh, the sense of accomplishment!
Thanks, Jan, happy to entertain! And yeah, the sense of accomplishment is real! In bocca al lupo (in anticipo) :-)
Terrific synopsis Cheryl. Only thing I noticed is that they changed the number of questions in the written exam to 30 from 40. You can miss 3.
Thanks, Nancy. I'll edit accordingly.
Both entertaining and terrifying, LOL
It's an experience, for sure!
Your posts are always so funny! 😄 And they are always enlightening about how foreigners see Italy and Italians, and how things I consider obvious are definitely not. For example, studying hard for a license allowing you to launch a potentially fatal vehicle along a road with other vehicles and people (and walls). Is really much easier to get one in the US?
About Piedmont: no, it is not possible to have the test in French, and despite this region being on the border with France, no one speaks French, actually. I think the only exception to the rule about the language is in Trentino, where the official second language is German and ao perhaps they also have tests and books in this language.
I am sorry you had to repeat the exam! You surely didn't deserve it!
Elena
Thanks, Elena! And yes, it really is that much easier to get one in the U.S. People hardly study at all and the test is very simple. Una stupidaggine, no? Thanks for the info on Piedmont and taking the test in French—quite a few sites say you can take the test in French, so I assumed that would be in Piedmont. Strange! And no, I didn't deserve to flunk! ;-)
Hi! I did the license last year. It cost a little more than €1,000, and the eye test was €50. I studied five or six hours a day for eight weeks and passed the written test. (A2 level Italian) The instructors do like to yell. It was stressful, yes.
Wow, either prices have gone up or you live in a more expensive area. Congratulazioni!
It was such a rite of passage. One of the hardest intellectual exercises I’ve done… Barely spoke Italian at the time, but passed first time!