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> SlowTrav > Italy > Trip Planning
Recommended Maps for Italy (Planning and Driving)
Pauline Kenny
This page shows you my favorite maps for Italy with links for buying maps
from our affiliate TrekTools - Italy Maps. Click for maps of
Italy on this website (regions).
Buy Italy Maps Online |
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TrekTools.com: Maps of Italy: regional, provincial, city streets,
etc. Get the detailed maps before you leave on your trip to help with
your trip planning. |
Why Have Maps?
I love maps. I keep my Touring Club Italiano (TCI) road atlases beside
my computer, so I can look up the locations of any vacation rentals that sound
interesting. Before we go on a trip, I study my maps for hours memorizing
the town names in the areas we will be near. This helps when you are there
and driving; things feel more familiar, you can navigate using town name signs.
It helps with trip planning; when you read the guidebooks you already know
what towns are near where you will be based.
Understanding Map Scale
The short explanation is that small scale gives you less detail (covers
a larger area), large scale gives you more details (covers a smaller area).
Read the long explanation here.
What Maps do You Need?
I recommend getting the following maps for a trip:
These are discussed in more detail below.
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Michelin Country Maps
Folding maps, 1:1,000,000 - 1:400,000 scale. Good for overall planning,
but not detailed enough for driving.
The Michelin maps are good for an overall picture of the area and for
initial planning, but to really study an area before you leave, and to
have with you while driving, you need more detailed maps (see regional
maps below). Michelin maps are available for the whole country and for
sections of the country.
Click to order from TrekTools - Italy - National Maps,Atlases and Guides or click on the
links below.
Country Map of Italy: Scale: 1:1,000,000. Small scale map of the entire
country, good for initial planning and to get an idea of distances. Also
features a distance table with driving times between important cities.
Michelin Northeast Italy: Scale: 1:400,000. Includes the regions of
Trentino-Alto Adige, Veneto, Fruili-Venezia Giulia, and Emilia-Romagna.
Michelin Northwest Italy: Scale: 1:400,000. Includes the regions of
Valle d'Aosta, Piemonte (Piedmont), Lombardia (Lombardy), and Liguria.
Michelin Central Italy: Scale: 1:400,000. Includes the regions of
Toscana (Tuscany), Umbria, San Marino, Marche, Lazio and Abruzzo.
Michelin Southern Italy: Scale: 1:400,000. Includes the regions of
Molise, Campania, Puglia, Basilicata, and Calabria. |
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Touring Club Italiano Road Atlas
Road Atlas, 1:200,000 scale (same scale as the regional folding maps
shown below). Good for planning and driving. These are my favorite maps
and I find the road atlas format to be the easiest to use when driving.
The TCI regional maps are also published as a road atlas called Atlante Stradale d'Italia. It comes in three volumes: North (Nord);
Central (Centro) - includes Tuscany, Umbria, Rome; and South (Sud). The
maps are exactly the same as the folding regional maps listed below and
are easy to read, have great color to differentiate the types of roads
and have the detail you will need. In Italy, pick them up at the Autogrill
(rest stops) on the Autostrada (highway). They are also carried in bookshops
in Italy. Or purchase them before your trip from TrekTools.
Click to order from TrekTools - Touring Club Italiano Maps or on the links below.
TCI-Atlante Stradale d'Italia (3 volume set): Combination of the three
TCI regional Italy atlases (North, Central, South). 1:200,000 scale.
TCI-Nord Atlante Stradale d'Italia: Northern Italy, 1:200,000 scale.
TCI-Centro Atlante Stradale d'Italia: Central Italy, includes Tuscany,
Umbria, Rome, 1:200,000 scale.
TCI-Sud Atlante Stradale d'Italia: Southern Italy, 1:200,000 scale.
TCI-Atlante Stradale e Turistico: Road Atlas, 1:225,000 scale (slightly
smaller scale than the 3 volume road atlas), spiral bound. All of Italy
in one atlas. Good for planning and driving. This is a good compromise
if you want one road atlas for the whole country, but still want good
detail for driving. |
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Touring Club Italiano Regional Maps
Folding maps for each region, 1:200,000 scale. Good for planning and
driving.
The Touring Club Italiano (TCI) regional maps are the best maps for
trip planning and for driving. Get them in this folding map format (one
for each region) or buy them in road atlas format (3 volumes) listed above.
Click to order from TrekTools - Touring Club Italiano Maps or on the links below.
Maps are listed by region, with the regions in English followed by
Italian in italic. Or you can click on the map below.
TCI Maps for Northern Italy
Trentino Alto Adige: Northern Italy, bordering on Austria and the
Alps. The mountains called the "Dolomites" are in this region. Main cities:
Bolzano, Trento, Cortina.
Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia: Veneto borders on the Adriatic coast.
Main cities: Venice, Padua (Padova), Vicenza, Verona (Romeo and Juliet's
balcony, famous opera). Friuli-Venezia-Giulia is in northeastern Italy
on the borders of Austria and Slovenia. Main cities: Trieste, Udine.
Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta: (Piemonte e Valle d'Aosta) Piedmont
is northwestern Italy, north of the Mediterranean, bordering on France
and Switzerland. Main cities: Turin (Torino), Asti, and Verbania on the
western shore of Lake Maggiore. Valle d'Aosta is on the border of the
Alps in Switzerland and France. Main cities: Aosta.
Lombardy: (Lombardia) Northern Italy. Main cities: Milan, Bergamo,
Varese, and towns on Lake Como (Como, Bellagio, Menaggio, Varenna).
Liguria: The Italian Riviera, on the Mediterranean coast from France
to Tuscany. Main cites: San Remo, Genoa (Genova), Portofino, Camogli,
Levanto, Cinque Terre, Portovenere.
TCI Maps for Central Italy
Emilia Romagna: Central region north of Tuscany. Famous for its cuisine.
Main cites: Bologna, Ravenna, Ferrara, Modena, Parma.
Tuscany: (Toscana) Central Italy bordering on the Mediterranean.
This region has major art cities and wine regions. A popular tourist destination.
Main cities: Florence, Siena, Lucca, Cortona, Pienza, Montalcino, Montepulciano,
famous wine region of Chianti.
Umbria and the Marches: (Umbria e Marche) Umbria is called
the "green heart of Italy", central region east of Tuscany. Main cities:
Perugia, Assisi, Spello, Spoleto, Todi, Orvieto. Marche is east of Umbria,
bordering on the Adriatic. Main cities: Urbino, Ascoli, Ancona.
Lazio: South of Tuscany, borders the Mediterranean. Main cities: Rome,
Fumicino (near the main Rome (FCO) airport), Viterbo, Tarquinea, Rieti,
Ostia Antica, Sperlonga.
Abruzzo and Molise: Rural, mountainous area east of Umbria.
Sardinia: (Sardegna) Island in the Mediterranean, south of
the French island of Corsica.
TCI Maps for Southern Italy
Campania and Basilicata: Campania is south of Rome, on the Mediterranean
coast. Famous Amalfi Coast and Sorrento. Main cities: Naples, Avelino,
Salerno, Amalfi, Positano, Capri, Ischia, Sorrento. Basilicata is southern
Italy. Main cities: Potenza, Matera (with the "Sassi" cave dwellings).
Calabria: The "toe" of Italy. Main cities: Cosenza, Reggio dei Calabria.
Puglia: Southeastern Italy, on the Adriatic coast, an upcoming tourist
area. Main cities: Trani, Bari, Taranto, Brindisi, Lecce, Ostuni, Alberobello
("truilli").
Sicily: (Sicilia) Large island off the toe of Italy, famous
for its cuisine and ancient ruins. Main cities: Palermo, Taormina.
Note: TrekTools also sells the LAC regional maps at a scale of 1:250,000.
These are also very good detail and good for driving or planning. |
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LAC Carta della Provincia
Folding map, 1:150,000 scale. Good for planning and driving.
Each region in Italy is made up of provinces. The "Carta della Provincia"
maps from LAC (Litografia Artistica Cartografica) are issued for each
province and are available from TrekTools or in book stores and tourist
shops in Italy.
These maps are more detailed than the TCI Regional maps, but cover
a smaller area. I like to have one of these for an area where I am based,
but if you have to choose between a regional map or a provincial map,
get the regional map because it covers more area and has good enough detail.
Click to order from TrekTools - Italy - Provincial Maps or the links below.
Maps are listed by province, with the provinces in English followed
by Italian in italic.
Provinces in Tuscany
Massa-Carrara: North-western corner of Tuscany - seaside, Carrara.
Lucca: North-western Tuscany - Lucca, Barga.
Pistoia: Northern Tuscany - Pistoia, Montecatini Terme.
Florence and Prato (Firenze e Prato):
Central Tuscany - northern Chianti, Florence.
Pisa: Central Tuscany - Pisa, Volterra.
Siena: Central Tuscany - southern Chianti, Siena, Montepulciano, Pienza,
Montalcino
Arezzo: Eastern Tuscany - Arezzo, Cortona.
Livorno: Western Tuscany - seaside, Island of Elba, Livorno (Leghorn),
Piombino
Grosseto: South-western Tuscany - Maremma, Grosseto, Orbetello (Monte
Aregentario), Pitigliano. |
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LAC Tourist Maps
Folding map, 1:100,000 - 1:40,000 scale. Good for detailed exploration
and walking/hiking.
These maps vary in scale, but at a scale of 1:50,000 or larger, you
can use these for finding the hiking trails. They are also good for detailed
exploration in areas with lots of small towns and roads.
Click to order from TrekTools - Italy - Tourist Maps or on the links below.
Some of the ones available in large scale good for hiking are listed
below. Be sure to check the scale when ordering these maps. They are not
all the same scale.
Sorrento Peninsula: 1:35,000 scale, in the region of Campania south
of Naples, includes Amalfi Coast, Capri, Sorrento, Salerno.
Cinque Terre: 1:40,000 scale, southern Liguria, includes from Levanto
in the north, the Cinque Terre towns (Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia,
Manarola, Riomaggiore), south to Portovenere. Also La Spezia and Lerici.
Golfo Tigullio: 1:25,000, Liguria south of Genoa, includes Santa Margherita
Ligure, Rapallo, Zoagli, Chiavari, Camogli, Lavagna, Sestri Lavante, Portofino. |
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City Center Maps
Folding map, 1:15,000 scale. Necessary for large cities, good for smaller
cities.
You need good maps for the major cities you will be in. Either buy
your map ahead of time or get one as soon as you arrive. For cities like
Rome, Venice, Florence, Siena, Naples, and Milan, you have to have a good
map to find your way around.
Click to order from TrekTools - Italy - City Maps (they have an amazing selection of city
maps) or on the links below.
Some of the city maps available are listed below.
Rome: (Roma) 1:15,000 scale. A "must have" for a visit to this
large and magnificent city.
Rome - Bus and Metro: 1:20,000 scale showing metro and bus lines.
Florence (Firenze) 1:15,000 scale. Florence is a good sized
and complicated city. You will need a city map.
Siena: 1:5,000 scale. Although Siena is a small town, it is good to
have a map to find your way through the maze of streets and to locate
yourself once you have parked your car and are looking for Il Campo.
Venice: (Venizia) 1:7,500. What can I say? Being lost in the
alleys of Venice is wonderful; finding your way back to your apartment
is even better. |
The scale of a map is clearly indicated on the map cover and on the legend.
Scale indicates the level of detail and is expressed in a ratio showing what
one unit of measure on the map equates to in reality. For example 1:250,000
(1 cm = 2.5 km), meaning that one centimeter on the map covers 2.5 kilometers
of distance in reality.
Some examples:
- A Michelin map with a scale of 1:1,000,000 means that a centimeter on
the map represents 1,000,000 centimeters (10 kilometers) in reality. This
scale does not show great detail. It will show the main roads and towns,
but not all the smaller roads and towns.
- The Touring Club Italiano map at 1:200,000, is a large scale and shows
good detail for planning or driving, but not enough for hiking. For hiking,
you need a scale of 1:25,000.
A map is considered "large scale" if it has more detail - more information.
A map with a scale of 1:250,000 is large scale (the ratio is large), but a
map with a scale of 1:1,000,000 is small scale (the ratio is small). I always
get these confused, so I googled a few references (see Resources at the bottom
of the page).
For more information
About.com - Map Scale: Article on Map Scale by Matt Rosenberg.
www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk: England map makers discuss map scale with some
examples.
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