Italy and Croatia

Italy

We did a big loop in the northern part of Italy: Milan - Lake Como - Genova - Cinque Terre (coast) - Tuscany (Sienna, Lucca, San Gimignano, Volterra, Florence). Unfortunately we made a mistake of renting a car, and by the time we realised it was a mistake it was too late to return it as we needed a car for the subsequent trip to Croatia. As a consequence, we had to endure the experience of driving in Italy, which was not particularly enjoyable and which I would not recommend. I did not have a problem with actual driving, but the practicalities of traveling by car in Italy just were not enjoyable - very slow roads, almost total absence of directional signs, parking hassles. If anyone is planning a trip to Italy, I would suggest to learn from my experience, rent a car where you actually need it (i.e. in Florence to travel to see hill towns), and use public transport to move between big cities.

Tuscany was the highlight of the Italian part of the trip for me. It is an area full of rolling green hills, vineyards, and old towns that seem to be perched on top of every second hill.



Croatia

From Italy we moved to Croatia, which seemed like an automotive paradise by comparison - decent roads, excellent road signs, little traffic. I found Croatia a lot more relaxed than Italy. It is less populated which makes it much more attractive from the traveling perspective: one travels through small towns separated by almost untouched country-side - something that I did not see in Italy.