Hotel parking garages

Hotel garages are expensive in every country

The hotel garage will often be far costlier than a nearby public garage or other parking option

OK, that'll be €120 ($140) for your room, and €45 ($53) a day for parking...

Sound familiar? All of a sudden, you're looking at a triple-digit daily charge just for you and your wheels to spend the night.

With rare expectations, hotel parking (whether on-site or using a local garage) costs far more than the municipal garage or public lot. I've actually run into hotels charging $80 a night, just for the car!

The catch, of course, is that if you do pick the public garage/lot, you have to then shuttle yourself between the hotel and said lot—and the most reasonable lots (ones costing under $25 for 24 hours) are usually on the edges of town. Private garages in the historic center will be closer to the hotel, but usually not nearly as cheap (figure on $35 to $60 a night).

Then again, keep in mind that most cities have crazy traffic, arcane driving rules, narrow streets, and a mindbogglingly large percentage of one-way or pedestrian-only roads, and suddenly paying a bit extra to just get rid of the car at your hotel door starts looking pretty tempting.

Contact the tourist office or look in your guidebook to find out the going rate at the city garage, and then ask your hotel what their charge would be, as well as whether it's on-site (garage, lot, or just a few spaces on the streets around the hotel) and DIY, or if it's nearby and requires a valet (and, if so, how much that service costs).

Oh, another random tip: If it is on-street parking (the case with many smaller, cheaper hotels), make sure you tell them you have a car when checking in and exactly where you parked it. The desk clerk will know whether you're in a legal space, and whether he needs to give you a special temporary "residents" parking disc or something so you can run down and stick on your dashboard before getting ticketed.

Back to garages: Long experience—and much driving frustration—has taught me that, unless you're carefully scrimping on every penny, if the hotel's parking only costs up to about $10–$20 more than the municipal lot, it's worth it if only to relieve yourself of the hassle. If the difference is significantly more than that (which it often is), well, then it's up to your take on how much extra time versus money you have to spend, and how wiling you are to get (ahem) taken for a ride on the parking fees.

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Useful Italian phrases

Car travel
Basic phrases
Calendar
Numbers

Useful Italian for car travel

English (*inglese*)	Italian (italiano)	Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
car	automobile	ow-toh-MO-bee-lay
scooter/motorboke	un motorino	oon mo-tair-EE-no
gas station	stazione di servizio	stah-zee-YO-nay dee sair-VEE-tzee-yo
gas	benzina	ben-ZEE-nah
diesel	gasolio [or] diesel	gah-ZOH-lee-oh [or] DEE-zell
Fill it up, please	al pieno, per favore	ahl pee-YAY-noh, pair fa-VOHR-ray
Where is...	Dov'é	doh-VAY
...the highway	l'autostrada	lout-oh-STRA-dah
...the state highway	la statale [written "SS"]	lah sta-TAHL-eh
...the road for Rome	la strada per Roma	lah STRA-dah pair RO-mah
to the right	à destra	ah DEH-strah
to the left	à sinistra	ah see-NEEST-trah
straight ahead	avanti [or] diritto	ah-VAHN-tee [or] dee-REE-toh
keep going straight	sempre diritto	SEM-pray dee-REE-toh
to cross	attraversare	ah-tra-vair-SAR-ay
toll	pedaggio	peh-DA-jo
parking	parcheggio	par-KEH-jo
road map	carta stradale	kar-ta stra-DA-lay
where can I pay the fine?	dove posso pagare la multa	DOH-veh Po-so pag-GAR-ray la MOOL-tah

Typical road signs / terms » more

English (anglais)	French (français)
Stop	Stop
Exit	Uscita
Staffic light	Semaforo
One-way	Senso unico
Dead-end	Strada senza uscita
Parking prohibited	No parcheggio or parcheggio proibito
Pedestrian zone	Area pedonale
Limited Traffic Zone (you pay to drive in)	ZTL or Zona Traffico Limitato

Basic phrases in Italian

English (inglese)	Italian (italiano)	pro-nun-see-YAY-shun
thank you	grazie	GRAT-tzee-yay
please	per favore	pair fa-VOHR-ray
yes	si	see
no	no	no
Do you speak English?	Parla Inglese?	PAR-la een-GLAY-zay
I don't understand	Non capisco	non ka-PEESK-koh
I'm sorry	Mi dispiace	mee dees-pee-YAT-chay
How much is it?	Quanto costa?	KWAN-toh COST-ah
That's too much	É troppo	ay TROH-po

Good day	Buon giorno	bwohn JOUR-noh
Good evening	Buona sera	BWOH-nah SAIR-rah
Good night	Buona notte	BWOH-nah NOTE-tay
Goodbye	Arrivederci	ah-ree-vah-DAIR-chee
Excuse me (to get attention)	Scusi	SKOO-zee
Excuse me (to get past someone)	Permesso	pair-MEH-so

Where is?	Dov'é	doh-VAY
...the bathroom	il bagno	eel BHAN-yoh
...train station	la ferroviaria	lah fair-o-vee-YAR-ree-yah
to the right	à destra	ah DEH-strah
to the left	à sinistra	ah see-NEEST-trah
straight ahead	avanti [or] diritto	ah-VAHN-tee [or] dee-REE-toh
information	informazione	in-for-ma-tzee-OH-nay

Days, months, and other calendar items in Italian

English (*inglese*)	Italian (italiano)	Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
When is it open?	Quando é aperto?	KWAN-doh ay ah-PAIR-toh
When does it close?	Quando si chiude?	KWAN-doh see key-YOU-day
At what time...	a che ora	a kay O-rah

Yesterday	ieri	ee-YAIR-ee
Today	oggi	OH-jee
Tomorrow	domani	doh-MAHN-nee
Day after tomorrow	dopo domani	DOH-poh doh-MAHN-nee

a day	un giorno	oon je-YOR-no
Monday	Lunedí	loo-nay-DEE
Tuesday	Martedí	mar-tay-DEE
Wednesday	Mercoledí	mair-coh-lay-DEE
Thursday	Giovedí	jo-vay-DEE
Friday	Venerdí	ven-nair-DEE
Saturday	Sabato	SAH-baa-toh
Sunday	Domenica	doh-MEN-nee-ka

Mon-Sat	Feriali	fair-ee-YAHL-ee
Sun & holidays	Festivi	feh-STEE-vee
Daily	Giornaliere	joor-nahl-ee-YAIR-eh

a month	una mese	oon-ah MAY-zay
January	gennaio	jen-NAI-yo
February	febbraio	feh-BRI-yo
March	marzo	MAR-tzoh
April	aprile	ah-PREEL-ay
May	maggio	MAH-jee-oh
June	giugno	JEW-nyoh
July	luglio	LOO-lyoh
August	agosto	ah-GO-sto
September	settembre	set-TEM-bray
October	ottobre	oh-TOE-bray
November	novembre	no-VEM-bray
December	dicembre	de-CHEM-bray

Numbers in Italian

English (*inglese*)	Italian (italiano)	Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun
1	uno	OO-no
2	due	DOO-way
3	tre	tray
4	quattro	KWAH-troh
5	cinque	CHEEN-kway
6	sei	say
7	sette	SET-tay
8	otto	OH-toh
9	nove	NO-vay
10	dieci	dee-YAY-chee
11	undici	OON-dee-chee
12	dodici	DOH-dee-chee
13	tredici	TRAY-dee-chee
14	quattordici	kwa-TOR-dee-chee
15	quindici	KWEEN-dee-chee
16	sedici	SAY-dee-chee
17	diciasette	dee-chee-ya-SET-tay
18	diciotto	dee-CHO-toh
19	diciannove	dee-chee-ya-NO-vay
20	venti	VENT-tee
21*	vent'uno*	vent-OO-no
22*	venti due*	VENT-tee DOO-way
23*	venti tre*	VENT-tee TRAY
30	trenta	TRAYN-tah
40	quaranta	kwa-RAHN-tah
50	cinquanta	cheen-KWAN-tah
60	sessanta	say-SAHN-tah
70	settanta	seh-TAHN-tah
80	ottanta	oh-TAHN-tah
90	novanta	no-VAHN-tah
100	cento	CHEN-toh
1,000	mille	MEEL-lay
5,000	cinque milla	CHEEN-kway MEEL-lah
10,000	dieci milla	dee-YAY-chee MEEL-lah

* You can use this formula for all Italian ten-place numbers—so 31 is trent'uno, 32 is trenta due, 33 is trenta tre, etc. Note that—like uno (one), otto (eight) also starts with a vowel—all "-8" numbers are also abbreviated (vent'otto, trent'otto, etc.).