The Italy Confidence Survey

Italy is the number one road trip for American travellers. That part isn’t surprising – rolling Tuscan hills, Amalfi Coast switchbacks, espresso stops in villages that haven’t changed in centuries. Of course, people want that.

What’s more revealing is what happens next. When we asked 2,000 US adults how they’d actually feel about getting behind the wheel in Italy, the picture shifted dramatically.

That gap, between wanting something and feeling ready for it, is the most important finding from this research. It tells us that the barrier to an Italian road trip isn’t desire. It’s confidence.

The desire is real

We didn’t have to go looking for enthusiasm. It was everywhere in the data.

When asked to pick their top 3 dream trips from a list that included Scotland, France, Greece, Scandinavia, and Iceland, Italy came out on top by a clear margin. More than half of all respondents put an Italian road trip in their top 3. No other destination came close.

And when we asked specifically about a self-drive road trip through Italy, nearly 7 in 10 said it was either a once-in-a-lifetime trip or something they’d love to do someday. Only 9% said it held no appeal at all.

When we asked what excites them most, the answers weren't about the bucket-list landmarks. 51% want to discover small towns and villages off the tourist trail. 43% love the idea of stopping wherever they want. And 43% are drawn to the landscapes themselves – Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast, the Dolomites.

In other words, people want the real Italy. The winding back roads or the unplanned lunch at a family-run trattoria. That’s the dream.

But confidence is the barrier

When we asked people which statement best reflected how they’d feel about an Italian road trip, 84% said they’d love to do it. But of that group, nearly half, 49%, said they wouldn’t feel confident planning or driving it themselves.

This isn’t just about nerves. There’s a genuine knowledge gap behind these results.

Nearly 29% said they wouldn’t know where to start, and another 21% admitted they know very little. That’s half the respondents operating with virtually no practical knowledge of what driving in Italy involves.

What’s actually worrying people?

We gave respondents a list of practical and emotional concerns and asked them to pick the ones that resonated most. The results paint a clear picture of where the anxiety lives.

The practical concerns

The number one practical worry, by a wide margin, is understanding local traffic rules and Italy’s ZTL restricted zones – flagged by 67% of respondents. ZTL (Zona a Traffico Limitato) zones are restricted driving areas in Italian city centres that catch thousands of foreign drivers off guard every year. This often results in expensive fines that arrive months later.

Only 3% of respondents said they’d have no practical concerns at all. That means 97% have at least one worry that could stop them from booking.

The emotional concerns

Beyond the logistics, there’s an emotional layer that’s just as important. The top 3 emotional hesitations all centre on feeling out of control in an unfamiliar environment:

Notice that the top concern isn’t about danger or cost, but being lost. The fear of ending up on a remote Calabrian hillside with no phone signal and no idea how to get back to the hotel.

What would change their minds?

The confidence builders people want most are remarkably specific – and they align with what a specialist travel company can offer:

The top answer, a pre-planned route with daily driving instructions, is a self-drive tour itinerary. The second, a local expert on call, is a 24/7 helpline. The third is a driving guide. The fourth is a rental car package.

What this data shows is that the gap between wanting an Italian road trip and feeling confident enough to book one is closable. The solutions people are asking for already exist –most travellers just don’t know they’re available.

Who are these travellers?

The survey reached 2,014 US adults, with responses weighted towards the demographics most likely to be in-market for a European self-drive trip:

Geographically, the strongest representation came from the Pacific states (23%), South Atlantic (20%), and Middle Atlantic (19%) – regions with major international gateway airports and established demand for European travel.

More than a third (36%) of respondents have already driven a car in Europe, and another 18% have driven abroad. A further 32% have never driven in a foreign country but said they’d be open to it. Only 13% said they wouldn’t want to at all. 

The bottom line

The travel industry has long suspected this, but now there's data to back it up. The demand for Italian road trips is huge, but it’s being held back by a confidence gap... not a desire gap.

Most hesitant travellers told us exactly what they’d need to feel ready: a planned route, a local expert to call, clear guidance on the rules, and the logistical headaches taken care of.

Which, if you think about it, is a pretty specific brief.

For the travel industry, the opportunity is clear. The people who'd love to wind through Tuscany or drive the Amalfi Coast at their own pace are already out there. They just need someone to tell them: we've got you.

Methodology

The Italy Driving Confidence Survey was conducted in March 2026 via SurveyMonkey Audience. 2,014 US adults aged 30–74 completed the 10-question online survey. The panel was sourced from SurveyMonkey’s market research audience of 335M+ respondents.

No screening for travel intent was applied at the panel level; travel behaviour was captured within the survey itself. Results are presented as reported and have not been weighted.

We commissioned this research because we kept hearing the same thing from travellers: they wanted to drive in Italy but didn't know where to start. We wanted to understand exactly what was holding people back, so we could build better trips and give better advice.