HarrisonRH

We're off on a house buying/area fact finding trip to Abruzzo and Molise in October, or at least we were planning to, but the question of winter tyres has arisen. The plan was to drive down from the UK and to stay for about 6-8 weeks, but that seems to take us well into the winter tyre requirements which seem to kick in in mid-late October?

Flying in and then hiring a car is not an option as the car hire prices are eye-wateringly expensive for that period of time, but I don't fancy buying a set of winter tyres there either.

Any ideas/solutions/thoughts from anyone else who has done this?

PSG2014

Easiest just in case......buy a pair of snow chains which should suffice ?

PSG

HarrisonRH

Thanks PSG - you mean just use normal tyres and carry snow chains just incase? will that suffice for any "you must have winter tyres" rules?

C.2s

It's always a bit risky in a forum like this to say with 100% certainty that something is or isn't legal. Especially in Italy where there are a number of authorities that can (and do) make laws. There's the national government of course, but also the regional, provincial and municipal (comune) authorities. And any of them might make a law that applies to a particular road .Typically it's a choice of snow chains OR winter tyres. I think there might be periods of the year where you CANNOT use winter tyres... but I have never heard of them being obligatory or seen any signs that say that. Where did you see this rule?

On the other hand, it might well be that winter tyres are advisable, depending on where exactly you are going. My impression (based on what some Italian friends do) is that it's fairly common for people to swap tyres during the winter. But then in general Italian drivers are much more cautious about this sort of thing (despite the fact that the majority of them take far greater risks when driving than the average Brit, and that many of them are happy to drive around in vehicles that are falling apart!)... but no I don't believe it's obligatory

Jake.White

I don't think that will satisfy the rules, although I may be wrong as it's been 2 years since I was last over there and the rules might well have changed. From memory I think the winter tyres rule runs from 15th November till 15th April (although that may need correcting too..) I found the easiest way to do it is to simply get your regular tyres replaced with winter tyres in the UK and use them as normal when you are at home, they aren't necessarily any more expensive than summer tyres, then when you go away you will be covered and not have to think about it. I would forget the idea of driving in any kind of alpine or dolomite winter conditions with summer tyres and carrying chains as an emergency option because the chances are you'll get caught in a difficult situation and wont be able to get out of it easily. Snow chains also carry their own risk in that if you damage the road surface with them and get caught you will be liable for the repair costs. In the mountainous regions of Europe they are well prepared and the roads are cleared quickly and efficiently but you can still get caught by sudden heavy snowfall.

You also have to consider road conditions and requirements in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France according to which route you decide to take, because they all get snow too and lots of it.

Jake.White

https://www.uniroyal-tyres.com/car/t...yres-mandatory

HarrisonRH

Indeed. That's exactly what we're concerned about.

Thanks Jake, and for the link. I guess that's the link I saw a few weeks ago where is says:

Neither of us have much experience driving on winter tyres and it is a very very long way from the UK to Abruzzo - and related: for some reason I thought there were very low speed limits on winters but a quick google says that they should be ok for normal road speeds

Thank you all for your help with this, very much appreciated!

Jake.White

It's unlikely you'll get caught in heavy snow in October, although it can happen in the mountains. I wonder which route you're taking..? I always went via Germany and Austria as I would catch the ferry from North Shields and get dropped near Amsterdam the next morning. Nice route but not convenient if you live in the south of England I guess. I did it in two days every time and that was all the way to Puglia. I don't expect you'll see any snow down on the A14 at all but it can get pretty hair raising up in the hills of Abruzzo in the depths of winter...

Listen Very Carefully

Snow chains can difficult to put and take off and you usually have to do that when it is freezing cold so get some winter tyres

C.2s

Which website is that quote from? Is it the Uniroyal (tyre manufacturer) website? Might be worth looking at a website that doesn't profit from selling tyres.

For example try the RAC. They say:
"In the Val d’Aosta region in northern Italy, vehicles must be equipped with winter tyres or carry snow chains between 15 October and 15 April. In other areas, this requirement is signposted and applies from 15 November to 15 April."

The crucial word here is 'OR'.

If you don't want to listen to the RAC you could try a quick internet image search for the relevant Italian road sign. You'll see that they have a picture of a tyre with chains fitted.

Now of course if you are likely to be driving high in the mountains you might well decide to fit winter tyres.... but that's a purely individual decision.It's also quite valid to just avoid driving in the mountains. It's quite likely that there'll be snow on top of the mountains of course, but it's also quite possible that you'll be on the beach basking in the sunshine.... though tbf you won't see any Italians there, only other north Europeans ;-)

GeorgeYoung

In provinces of Trento & Bolzano, plus I believe Austria & Germany, a set of snow chains is considered adequate preparation. I think there is a proviso that if it is currently snowing then you may be required to have both winter tyres & chains but I'm not 100% certain.

All that said, I'd 100% recommend getting winter tyres or at least 4-season ones if you can, they do make a huge difference, even in the rain.

GeorgeYoung

Low speed limits apply to snow chains but that's fairly self-explanatory & self-regulating given the conditions you'd be driving in if you have them fitted!

I strongly recommend trying them out at home too, before you find yourself having to put them on in snowy conditions, just to get a feel for how they go on.

Jake.White

Have a look at these two then...

https://www.autobrennero.it/en/on-th.../winter-tires/


https://www.autostrade.it/en/la-nost...ioni-invernali

Seldomseenkid

For what it's worth I have been doing this trip every year for ten years through Switzerland returning to the UK mid to end of November. My snow chains are still in their orginal wrapping and we never been asked to produce them for inspection. Having said that I am now sure I will be stopped....

Jake.White

I did it twice a year for 16 years via Austria and never needed snow chains, like yours mine are still brand new! The winter tyres came in handy a couple of times but never once on the Italian part of the trip...