Need help with rental car in Italy
Sep 13th, 2005, 04:07 PM
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Need help with rental car in Italy
I would like to pick up a rental car in Rome and travel to various cities in Italy for 10 days. I will then drop the car off in Florence. Does anyone have recommendations regarding car rental companies? Also, if anyone has any other helpful information about driving rental cars or driving in Italy general that would be great too!
Sep 13th, 2005, 04:45 PM
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Pokeywokey (cute), type AutoEurope into the search box at the top of the page. Many posts will appear from the archives on the left-hand side of the page about this company which many of us have used repeatedly with great results.
Sep 14th, 2005, 12:48 AM
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I just came back from an 10 day trip and rented a car this time. I have rented from Autoeurope before, but wanted to try something new, so I rented a Micro sized Smart Car from Sixti. Here's the link:
http://www.sixti.com/cgi-perl/rental/el?language=en
They have offices at Fumicino and also inside Rome on the Via Borghese. I chose the airport-easier to pickup and drop off, but you have to pay an extra fee for this convenience. At such a low cost, it was worth it to me.
My cost for the rental was just under 170E.
(Days 1-3 are 5 Euros/day, then the next three (if I remember correctly, am still jetlagged) are 15E or 20E per day, and so on.
I thought the company was very good, and would rent from them again.
At first the car looked scary small, but it's amazingly spacious inside. It was a "manual/automatic" which is esentially an autimatic. It took about half an hour to adjust to the size of it in relation to other vehicles on the road.
It also had a surprising amount of "go", and handled well on the Autostrada as well as on the Amalfi Coast Drive, where lots of locals wanted to know where I rented it and how much it cost. It's fantastic because you can park it in many places that normal sedan cars can't fit. There was plenty of room for my bags in the back.
Here's my limited list of driving tips.
In spite of the scary reputation of Italian drivers promoted on travel sites and in guidebooks, I found them overall to be very easy to share the road with.
They have a driving style which is different, and it's wise to create a strategy right at the beginning, this way you'll have an easier time.
They will pull up close behind you on the highway. The best thing to do (at least it worked every time for me) is to stay calm and when possible move over to let them pass. In all 10 days of driving, I saw only one case of "road rage", and that was from a tourist. I found drivers were generally friendly and polite, just had a different style.
They like to drive fast, and make decisive moves. If you are driving slowly along checking out the sights, you will need to get used to cars and scooters passing on either side. I found that giving a willing right of way to the locals worked out very well for both sides. In driving on the Amalfi Coast, I tried hard to avoid the tourist rush hours and had to be prepared to back up on a hairpin turn to let buses pass.
Do NOT use a cell phone while driving, ever. Handsets or the other kind.
Gas (Benzina) is enormously expensive. Some stations are self service, and you can insert cash or credit cards and fill up yourself. On the Autostrada, there are usually attendants.
An Autostrada tip- don't go into the "Autogrill" to grab a quick bottle of water, because the system force you to go through a labyrinthine shopping maze before you are able to exit again! I made this mistake twice, and remember it a kind of bad dream named "la dolce truckstop vita".
For the bigger cities you visit, try to find out if there is a "Parcheggio Publico" at an airport or outside the city where you can leave your car and take a bus or shuttle in. This is easier in many cases than trying to navigate crowded and narrow city streets, and is less stress on the local traffic.
Parking in blue (legal) zones in cities and towns will probably require you to buy a "parking card" in a local shop. The times I did this, I had to buy one per hour, then scratch off the date and time and leave it on the dash board. Sometimes there's a machine on the street to buy these also.
Street signs are commonly found up on the sides of buildings in the towns, and might be hard to read.
Memorize the words for "right", "left" and "straight ahead" so when you have to ask for directions, it will be easier to understand.
www.mappy.com is the best website for maps and directions between cities.
It takes longer than you think to get from place to place.
All that said, avoid driving in Naples if at all possible!
Don't know if any of this is helpful or useful, but hope so.
Good luck and have a great trip!
http://www.sixti.com/cgi-perl/rental/el?language=en
They have offices at Fumicino and also inside Rome on the Via Borghese. I chose the airport-easier to pickup and drop off, but you have to pay an extra fee for this convenience. At such a low cost, it was worth it to me.
My cost for the rental was just under 170E.
(Days 1-3 are 5 Euros/day, then the next three (if I remember correctly, am still jetlagged) are 15E or 20E per day, and so on.
I thought the company was very good, and would rent from them again.
At first the car looked scary small, but it's amazingly spacious inside. It was a "manual/automatic" which is esentially an autimatic. It took about half an hour to adjust to the size of it in relation to other vehicles on the road.
It also had a surprising amount of "go", and handled well on the Autostrada as well as on the Amalfi Coast Drive, where lots of locals wanted to know where I rented it and how much it cost. It's fantastic because you can park it in many places that normal sedan cars can't fit. There was plenty of room for my bags in the back.
Here's my limited list of driving tips.
In spite of the scary reputation of Italian drivers promoted on travel sites and in guidebooks, I found them overall to be very easy to share the road with.
They have a driving style which is different, and it's wise to create a strategy right at the beginning, this way you'll have an easier time.
They will pull up close behind you on the highway. The best thing to do (at least it worked every time for me) is to stay calm and when possible move over to let them pass. In all 10 days of driving, I saw only one case of "road rage", and that was from a tourist. I found drivers were generally friendly and polite, just had a different style.
They like to drive fast, and make decisive moves. If you are driving slowly along checking out the sights, you will need to get used to cars and scooters passing on either side. I found that giving a willing right of way to the locals worked out very well for both sides. In driving on the Amalfi Coast, I tried hard to avoid the tourist rush hours and had to be prepared to back up on a hairpin turn to let buses pass.
Do NOT use a cell phone while driving, ever. Handsets or the other kind.
Gas (Benzina) is enormously expensive. Some stations are self service, and you can insert cash or credit cards and fill up yourself. On the Autostrada, there are usually attendants.
An Autostrada tip- don't go into the "Autogrill" to grab a quick bottle of water, because the system force you to go through a labyrinthine shopping maze before you are able to exit again! I made this mistake twice, and remember it a kind of bad dream named "la dolce truckstop vita".
For the bigger cities you visit, try to find out if there is a "Parcheggio Publico" at an airport or outside the city where you can leave your car and take a bus or shuttle in. This is easier in many cases than trying to navigate crowded and narrow city streets, and is less stress on the local traffic.
Parking in blue (legal) zones in cities and towns will probably require you to buy a "parking card" in a local shop. The times I did this, I had to buy one per hour, then scratch off the date and time and leave it on the dash board. Sometimes there's a machine on the street to buy these also.
Street signs are commonly found up on the sides of buildings in the towns, and might be hard to read.
Memorize the words for "right", "left" and "straight ahead" so when you have to ask for directions, it will be easier to understand.
www.mappy.com is the best website for maps and directions between cities.
It takes longer than you think to get from place to place.
All that said, avoid driving in Naples if at all possible!
Don't know if any of this is helpful or useful, but hope so.
Good luck and have a great trip!
Sep 14th, 2005, 03:25 AM
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We've driven in Italy and agree that it's not bad at all. Bellastar gave some very good advice, especially the tip to just stay calm and expect that both cars and vespas will be passing you on both sides. They don't care if you're driving slow, they'll just go around you, no big deal. That's their attitude. They really are excellent drivers, just a different style from most US drivers. Just make sure you only go into the left hand lane to pass and quickly go back to the right.
The only place I would not drive in Italy is Rome. Unless you are extremely familiar with a city, you need to spend too much concentration on where you are going, and that combined with the amount of traffic, and their driving style, would make it too difficult. I drove in Palermo this summer and managed that OK, but I still wouldn't drive in Rome.
The slowtravel web site has an excellent section on driving in Italy.
The only place I would not drive in Italy is Rome. Unless you are extremely familiar with a city, you need to spend too much concentration on where you are going, and that combined with the amount of traffic, and their driving style, would make it too difficult. I drove in Palermo this summer and managed that OK, but I still wouldn't drive in Rome.
The slowtravel web site has an excellent section on driving in Italy.
Sep 14th, 2005, 04:54 AM
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Thanks everyone for your replies. Bellastar, do you recall how much gas was? Your reply was exactly the type of information I was looking for....little helpful hints that you dont know about until you are actually in the situation. Thanks again.
Sep 14th, 2005, 06:12 AM
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it is about 5-6 u.s. dollars a gallon.
( no, i´m not kidding).
i am sure someone can give you a website with exact prices. this is from my memory of recent trip there and averaging the spanish lower prices.
( no, i´m not kidding).
i am sure someone can give you a website with exact prices. this is from my memory of recent trip there and averaging the spanish lower prices.
