Sandy Eibeck

Hi, <BR>We will be in Italy for a month beginning mid Sept. Plan on train travel except for the last week touring Tuscany and Umbria. Any suggestions on car rental in Rome? Can we rent in the city as we will be starting our driving tour at the end of our week stay in Rome? Is automatic or manual transmission better suited? Any suggestions on type of car/make/model, we have heard Auto Europe is a good company to rent from. Thanks for your help, as usual.

Richard

Sandy, I'd suggest picking up and returning the car at the airport location, transportation to the airport from Rome is pretty easy and driving in Rome, to my mind, is a nightmare. Auto or manual is a toss-up, but you'll pay a premium for auto. Autoeurope is a good company as is Kemwel, shop around.

Claire

I'm going to Italy in August and renting a car for 2 weeks. We're renting a compact with manual transmission because the automatics are very, very expensive. Best deal we found was Auto Europe - 800-223-5555. Definitely make arrangements in the US before you leave! <BR>Enjoy!

Paulo

Yes Sandy, you may rent in the city (it's actually cheaper because you avoid the 12% airport tax). Unless you feel extremely unconfortable with it, get a manual transmission car (you may try one back home if you have the opportunity). Leaving Rome by car is a piece of cake ... all you have to do is to follow the green Autostrada signs (A1 in your case). If you're only two people, a small car like the VW Polo, Opel Corsa or Fiat Punto would do. If you feel uneasy with a hatchback (specially if your luggage doesn't fit), get a compact like the Alfa 146. Although A/C is not mandatory in September, I for one, wouldn't complain. I never had any problems with Auto Europe and would recommend them all the way. In any case, I would ask the majors, Kemwel, Europcar and EuropeByCar for quotes. Note that in Italy CDW and theft insurances are mandatory with just about all rental companies or wholesalers. I understand that they are also charging a "road fee" which is new stuff for me. Anybody? On top of everything, there is the 20%VAT charge. When asking for quotes, be sure to specify that you want the complete breakdown of costs, otherwise you won't be able to compares. A USD 100 basic weekly rate can easily go up to USD 240 with the mandatory insurances, fees, and tax. Although some credit cards state that they cover CDW/theft, I wouldn't count on it. On one hand you might have a hard time showing to the rental clerk in Rome that it's indeed the case. On the other, if there's a loss, the total amount may be charged on your card ... blowing your credit limit and turning your card useless. Yyou'll then have to fight it out with your cc company. I, for one, would pay for my peace of mind <BR> <BR>Paulo <BR> <BR>

kam

Always rent from Europcar, never had any problems. Rent from the U.S. Manual transmission is the most common and less expensive, but make sure you really know how to drive one before trying it out in Italy. They don't have a lot of patience for people who don't know how to drive their cars! In Tuscany and Umbria you could be traveling small, hilly roads, so be sure you can drive a manual car safely. Buon viaggio!

Alan

We rented a car in Rome. It's office was off the Via Veneto near the American Embassy and we kept it for 10 days. It was easy and we even got good directions out of Rome toward Umbria. When we landed in Rome, we just wanted to get to the hotel and we were happy to pick the car up a couple of days later.

Sandy Eibeck

Thanks to all of you for all of the helpful advice. Sandy <BR>

Helen

A footnote to Paulo's posting, regarding CDW coverage with credit cards -- from reading prior threads on the topic on this forum, I gather that most/all US credit card issuerss exclude Italy (among others) from their CDW coverage. Check the small print in the info booklet issued by the credit card company.

stephanie

Dear Sandy, <BR> I am just home from a weeklong driving holiday with friends to Tuscany and must offer my praise to Thrifty Rent-a-Car who far and away beat the competition's pricing and even gave us a free upgrade. By all means INSIST that they go over ALL fees (some companies claimed they didn't really know what all the fees might be in Italy and our first reservation with Hertz turned out to be almost $200 more than we'd anticipated for the week--their car quote was going to cost us more than our room for the week!) We ended up with a Lanos by DaeWoo--manual w/air. It was great and although I'd thought the air was a ridiculous extravagance BEFORE the trip we were all thankful for the wisdom of the one friend who'd really encouraged getting it. We were there in May and had glorious weather but the sun does beat into the car. Hope this helps a little--also, don't let anyone scare you too much about the roads etc. Ultimately, you're on vacation, just relax, you have all day to get from point A to point B, and eventually you will- and frankly, once on the Autostrada the signs are posted very well. You'll have a great time!