Home Self-Guided Driving Tours
Self-Guided Driving Tours
A driving tour is the right answer whenever the distances are too big to walk, the weather is against you, or somebody in the car cannot manage a long walk — and it is often the only way to see a region rather than a centre.
The same planner that builds walking routes will build driving ones, and it does not simply reuse the walking route with a car icon on it. Driving mode uses road routing, which means one-way systems, sensible distances between stops and a route that a car can actually complete. You choose scenic or efficient, and the stops are chosen to suit stopping in a vehicle.
Opens with Drive already selected. Name a city or region, say how long you have, and pick what interests you.
When a driving tour beats a walking one
Regions, not centres
Wine roads, coastal drives, national park loops and valley routes — anything where the good parts are 20 kilometres apart.
Mixed groups
When somebody cannot walk for two hours, a driving route with short walks at each stop keeps everyone together.
Bad weather
Rain that would ruin a walking tour barely affects a driving one, and the narration works the same either way.
Limited time
A three-hour drive covers ground that would take three days on foot, which matters on a single-night stop.
Cities where the drive is the point
In a great many historic centres, driving is actively a bad idea — restricted zones, cameras and automatic fines. In these places the drive is worth taking outside the centre, and each guide says exactly where:
- Driving near Paris — start one
- Driving near London — start one
- Driving near Rome — start one
- Driving near Barcelona — start one
- Driving near Amsterdam — start one
- Driving near Prague — start one
- Driving near Florence — start one
- Driving near Venice — start one
- Driving near Lisbon — start one
- Driving near Berlin — start one
- Driving near Madrid — start one
- Driving near Dublin — start one
Before you set off
Mount your phone properly and set the narration going before you drive — the stops are read to you, so you are not looking at a screen. Check whether your destination has a low-emission or restricted-traffic zone, since several European cities issue automatic fines by camera and a rental company will pass them on months later. And if you are driving abroad, confirm what your licence needs before you collect the car.
Questions about driving tours
Is a driving tour different from a walking tour with a car?
Yes. Driving mode uses road routing rather than pedestrian routing, so it respects one-way streets, road access and realistic distances between stops, and it chooses stops that suit arriving by car.
Can you mix driving and walking?
That is how most good driving tours work — you drive between areas and walk a short loop at each stop. Plan the drive for the distance and set the time at each stop to whatever you want to spend on foot.
Does the narration work while driving?
The narration is spoken, so it plays through the car audio while you drive between stops. Set it running before you move off rather than reading anything at the wheel.
What about restricted traffic zones?
Many European historic centres — Rome, Florence and Milan among them — enforce restricted zones by camera with automatic fines. Each city guide flags this, and driving routes are better planned to start outside the zone.