car rental near Cinque Terre?
Apr 12th, 2006, 07:32 PM
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car rental near Cinque Terre?
My wife and I are going to Italy in June. We fly into Bologna, then we plan to head to Cinque Terre for a couple of nights, then 4 nights in Tuscany (Panzano), then back to Bologna for our return flight.
I'm reading that a car isn't worth the trouble in Cinque Terre, so we were thinking we would take the train from Bologna to Cinque Terre (we're either staying in Monterosso or Riomaggiore, still not sure about that), then rent a car before heading to Tuscany.
I just did a couple of quick searches and it looks like we'll need to take the train to a bigger town to get a car. This is starting to get a little bit complicated, so I was hoping to run this past the experts for some feedback.
Does this sound like a reasonable plan? I've never been to Italy before, so there is probably a major problem somewhere
. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.
I'm reading that a car isn't worth the trouble in Cinque Terre, so we were thinking we would take the train from Bologna to Cinque Terre (we're either staying in Monterosso or Riomaggiore, still not sure about that), then rent a car before heading to Tuscany.
I just did a couple of quick searches and it looks like we'll need to take the train to a bigger town to get a car. This is starting to get a little bit complicated, so I was hoping to run this past the experts for some feedback.
Does this sound like a reasonable plan? I've never been to Italy before, so there is probably a major problem somewhere
. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.
Apr 12th, 2006, 07:56 PM
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I've had good luck finding Europcar rental offices in all sorts of lesser towns in Italy, so check their locations. If you aren't familiar with the larger towns near the CT, just call Europcar. They have an 800 number you can find on the web.
Sometimes cars with automatic transmissions are only available out of airports or major cities. If you need an automatic, I would probably opt for picking it up from Pisa rather than Genova, which is a pain to get out of with a car. You'll have to train down to Pisa.
Some mid-sized towns convenient to the CT by train or by boat are Sestri Levante, Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure and Portovenere as well as the above mentioned La Spezia and Chiavari. You will have no trouble driving through these streets to get to the autostrade.
Get zero deductible insurance for your car.
Driving in Italy is easy and enjoyable and you will enjoy the freedom of having a car.
Sometimes cars with automatic transmissions are only available out of airports or major cities. If you need an automatic, I would probably opt for picking it up from Pisa rather than Genova, which is a pain to get out of with a car. You'll have to train down to Pisa.
Some mid-sized towns convenient to the CT by train or by boat are Sestri Levante, Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure and Portovenere as well as the above mentioned La Spezia and Chiavari. You will have no trouble driving through these streets to get to the autostrade.
Get zero deductible insurance for your car.
Driving in Italy is easy and enjoyable and you will enjoy the freedom of having a car.
Apr 13th, 2006, 09:03 AM
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Your plan sounds fine (train from Bologna to either Monterosso or Riomaggiore). You can pick up your rental car in La Spezia. It is the city closest to the Cinque Terre (8 mins by train from Riomaggiore) and there are a few rental car companies. Likewise, if you opt out of getting a rental car, you could take a train from La Spezia to the nearest town to Panzano, then take a taxi or have the hotel pick you up.
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