We have recently done a 10 Italy road trip and it was awesome! Last year, we have done another road trip to Italy and we have visited Cinque Terre and Positano, you can also read here our guide to Cinque Terre. This year we wanted to see more of the north of Italy. Especially because we have always dreamed to visit Venice, Tuscany and the Dolomites!
We have started this beautiful trip in Tuscany: Firenze, Siena, and Saturnia. Then we have been to the pretty and unique olf city of Venice and, we ended this beautiful trip with the wonderful Dolomites. We really loved this trip. Italy has beautiful and very diverse landscapes: mountains, lakes, epic cities, or countryside landscapes. There is always something interesting to visit. Also, there is a strong culture in Italy, which makes this country really unique (promise we don’t say that because we have Italian origins 😉 ) If you are planning to do an Italy road trip, this post is for you. Read on!
Our Italy road trip itinerary for 10 days
We are living in the south of France, so we have started our trip there in our own car. We have done this road trip with my mum and my grandma, we have Italian origins so we really love to visit our country together!
Tuscany
We have started to go to Firenze. We have been driving to Firenze for 10 hours and we stayed 1 night there. Then we have been to Siena (2 hours and a half driving) and we stayed another night there. Next, we have been to Saturnia (2 hours driving) and we also stayed one night there.
Venice
After that Tuscany trip, we have been to Venice (5 hours driving) and we stayed there for 2 nights.
Dolomites
We ended this trip with the Dolomites ( 3 hours and a half driving) and we stayed in Cortina d’Ampezza 3 nights. We have visited the Lago di Braies and the Lago di Sorapis.
After that, we went back home, we went through Villefranche-Sur-Mer and we decided to stay there 1 night. The way back was too long to drive in one time (12 hours) so we stayed one night in this cute city before going back home. We have driven a total of 30 hours during all trip and 3000 kilometers.
1 The first day: Driving to Florence (10 hours for us)
2 The second day: Visiting Florence + driving to Siena at the end of the day (2,5 hours)
3 The third day: Visiting Siena + driving to Saturnia at the end of the day (2 hours)
4th Day: visiting Siena + driving to Venice (5 hours)
5th Day: visiting the city of Venice
6th Day: visiting Venice in the morning + driving to the Dolomites (3,5 hours)
7th Day: Visit of the Lago di Sorapis
8th Day: Visit of the Lago di Braies
9th Day: driving back to France
10th last day: visiting Villefranche-sur-Mer
Why do to an Italy road trip?
The main reason is that you can visit several places in the country without booking another expensive flight. Doing a road trip is very economic! Also, you when are doing a road trip there is huge freedom in the organization. You are really free to go where you want and stay how many days you want. You are free to change the itinerary and stay more or less it was planned in a place.
What budget to plan?
For the whole trip, we have spent around 600€ on the oil and high ways for 4 persons, so 150€ per person, which is not expensive. Concerning the parking, you can park your car for free during your stay in Sienna, Saturnia and the Dolomites. In Firenze and Venice, the parking will costs you around 20€ per day. If you are renting a car, you can count around 500€ for the week. For the meals, you can count around 15 euros per day per person. It is easy in Italy to find lovely restaurants not expensive. You can eat pizza and pasta everywhere for a reasonable price.
What is the best time to visit Italy?
The best time of the year to visit Italy is from May to October. If you don’t like the crowds, come during May/June or September. The weather is still amazing and the streets are less crowded. We have done this trip at the end of August and it was really nice.
Our Italy road trip in 10 days
Tuscany
Florence
We stayed only one night in Florence and it was not enough to visit the city, but we have seen the main places: the Piazza del Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, or the Piazza Della Signoria.
We stayed in a lovely hotel near the Piazza del Duomo with a good price/quality ratio and it was a really nice location. It is called B&B Le Sanze del Duomo. Also, when you arrive in Florence by car, the staff of the hotel will park it for you for 20$ per night.
Also, we obviously had dinner at this famous place, in front of the Duomo, it was beautiful. The city is really pretty and worth a visit.
Saturnia
Saturnia is a beautiful place in Tuscany, located near Grossetto. We have been there because we wanted absolutely to visit the beautiful Cascade di Saturnia. You can see it on the photo at the left. This place is absolutely incredible. I can not believe it’s a natural place untouched by humans.
Fun fact: The water is naturally warmed at 37 degrees Celcius by a crater near there. How amazing is that? You can also read our full blog post about the Cascade di Saturnia.
Siena
We stayed 1 night in Siena in a typical agriturismo in the countryside. It was an amazing experience. First of all, it is a total disconnection from the stressful city life. The landscapes are beautiful and made of threes and vineyards. We were in a familial agriturismo called Fattoria del Colle. They were adorable, we really felt like home.
During the day we explored the countryside and the vineyards. We had dinner at the Fattoria and we had the best homemade pasta ever with local Chianti red wine. We have also visited the famous Agriturismo Baccaleno, at the photo on the right. You can read more details about our Tuscany itinerary.
Venice
We have always dreamed to visit Venice together, and it’s finally done! We have spent 3 days in Venice and it was absolutely stunning. This city is straight out of a movie! Every corner is so beautiful, the buildings are orange, yellow or red. The architecture is absolutely incredible and the famous gondolas are floating in the canals. 3 days in Venice is pretty short because Venice is actually bigger than we expected but we had time to see the most famous places: the San Marco place, the Dodge Palace, the Rialto Bridge, the Grand Canal, many beautiful colorful streets and bridges and also to do a gondola ride! Read our full Venice travel guide!
The Dolomites
The Dolomites are without any doubts one of the most beautiful places in Italy. The recognizable mountains and the unique lakes make this place really special. I have been dreaming to visit the Dolomites for years so it was impossible to not add this place to our road trip! So we ended this amazing trip with this amazing place.
We stayed there for 3 days there but obviously it was not enough. We only had the time to visit two lakes: the famous Lago di Braies and the unreal Lago di Sorapis. But also Cortina d’Ampezza, as we were staying there. We were not disappointed, these two lakes are absolutely incredible and totally different from each other. If you are planning to visit the Dolomites, you should definitely visit these two lakes! You can also add to your list the beautiful Alpe di Siusi, Santa Magdalena, and the Lago di Carrezza. If you like adventures, hiking, mountains, and lakes, believe me, you will love the Dolomites! Read our post about our favorite lake, the Lago di Sorapis!
Plan your Italy road trip!
If you are planning your next road trip to Italy, we hope this post will be helpful for you! Let us know in the comments 😉 Don’t forget to follow our next adventures on Instagram @chiarabarrasso @jelafaille!
