GPS Buy or Rent/Car Cell Phone Chargers

SteveandCandy

New member
Ciao Forum Members: New member with a first question.

My wife Candy and I will celebrate our 25th Anniv in Italy in Nov. After driving up from Rome we will spend four days at Fattoria Degle Usignoli agriturismo in San Donato in Fronzano, Reggello, arriving after dark. I understand this is off the beaten path and difficult to find (per many comments on their web site) during the daytime, so extra difficult at night. I'm told to punch in Fronzano when using GPS as there are many San Donatos.

I do not have a GPS. Can I rent one or must I buy one? I will have a rental car for seven days. If rental, is it easier to rent in the US or rent when I get to Italy?

To charge my cell phone, will the car charger I use in the US be compatible with the car charging system in Italian cars? My rental is a compact manual transmission, so I'm thinking small. But is the charging system 12volt or 6volt? Has anyone had compatability issues using their GPS or cell charger in Italy?

Thanks for your help. I love this forum as a way of learning pre-trip.

Steve
 
might not need a GPS at all, and chargers should all work in general

Welcome Steve!

The official website for the agriturismo (http://www.usignoli.it/EN/fattoria-degli-usignoli-info.php) you're talking about has a map but no specific directions to get to them. They do however provide an exact address to plug into Google Maps so you can map the way. I've tried it with Figline Valdarno since, if you're driving up from Rome, this will be your likely exit off the A1.
You can see the road mapped out here.

You definitely don't need to buy a GPS as usually car rental places can offer one with the car. Since you've already booked a car rental, the best thing would be contact them and ask how much it would cost to rent a GPS. Nowadays, most GPS are pretty cheap -- and also if you have a tablet/ipad or smart phone, many can act as GPS themselves so there wouldn't even be a need to rent/buy one! depends on what you already have.

While you contact the rental company, ask about the charging system - I've also bought car chargers in the US and used then fine here in small, manual transmission cars (they were always 12V). Whether they are 6V or 12V I suppose depends on the car model, I suppose, but I'm thinking it is likely you won't have a problem.

Hope I've been helpful in clearing out some of your doubts, if you have any other questions feel free to post!!
 
Top