Car hire in Italy - Oct 20-Nov2
 

Hi all,

I plan to do Milan-Verona-Venice-Florence-Rome during 12 days with my wife and 10 yr old daughter. Was wondering if we should travel inter-city by train or hire a car for the entire duration of our stay. Both will cost more or less the same ~Euro 460 or so. The advantages of train are - faster, no parking issues, no searching for directions/losing our way/fighting with spouse over whose fault it is and probably safer. Car hire - make our own time, no lugging heavy luggage(and my wife does NOT travel light), enjoy the scenary and take pictures of the Italian countryside, take many side trips, see Italy more intimately.

Currently I'm leaning more towards the car hire option though I have never driven in Italy or in any country where they drive on the wrong side of the road, I mean RIGHT side of the road (I'm from India).

Can somebody give me some answers to the following:

How difficult is it to drive in Italy - I've been warned about Italian drivers but being used to Mumbai traffic, how difficult can it be??
My calculations do not include tolls, how much are the toll charges typically in Italy?
How about ferry charges? Google maps shows at least one ferry crossing.
How expensive is parking in Milan / Verona / Venice / Florence / Rome?
Do hotels usually provide parking?
How difficult is it to find aprking esp in Milan and Rome.
Can you hire GPS's along with the car in Italy?
Who should I use to hire a car?

Please tell me if I'm being a fool and should take the easier option of trainitelia.

Himesh

Driving is not difficult except in cities and parking is a real pain. If you plan to see mainly cities, the train may be better.

For the 12d/5 city itinerary you list I would definitely do train. You're also not including gas, cost of parking, and the 100+ euro fine you may very well get in Florence for entering the limited traffic zone (ZTL).

Where are you getting your train prices from? They may be correct - I don't know. The definitive source for tickets is
www.trenitalia.com. If you book in advance you may bet able to get discounted "mini" fares on these routes.

I see the base, non-discounted train fare for your routes adding up to 127 euros per person, or 381 euros total.

Looking at a date 1mo from today I can get mini fares for a total of 90 euros per person, or 270 euros total.

Definitely use trains. We rent cars if we plan to be in rural areas for the majority of our trip but, even then, use trains or buses for day trips into cities. You won't have any use for a car in the cities you plan to visit so it will sit idle for the bulk of your trip. While cost is definitely a factor, weigh convenience as well. Include gas and parking in your calculations. You can't even take a car into all or parts of some cities (Venice, Florence).

Florence isn't the only city that has ZTL (means you aren't allowed to drive in the center). Rome and Verona do also. Of course, you can't drive in Venice either. Parking at the edge of the ZTL's and taking other transport in adds up (about 30-35€ per day to park overnight). For your itinerary, you barely have enough time to visit the cities on your list in only 12 days, so I don't think you have time for stopping other places.

Yes, you're trying to hit too many cities in 12 days. Is it 12 full days/13 nights? Will you be sleepy and jet-lagged when you arrive?

Since your itinerary demands using the train rather than a car, maybe cut out some destinations to save money. I assume you're flying into Milan. Could you fly into Pisa instead? Or Venice? Milan is skippable. And Verona can be done as a stopover between Venice and Florence, leaving your luggage at the train station.

Driving in Italy is not your problem. Your problem is that your trip includes only cities - in none of which does a car make any sense.

You can;t use a car in Venice at all. And having a car in Florence and Rome is worse than useless. A train in the only sensible option based on your itinerary. (And this is from someone who has done numerous road trips in europe.)

Separately you have way too many places for such a short trip. If it were me I would limit yourself to two or at most 3 destinations.

Hi H,

If you were planning a motor trip through the Italian country side, a car would be an asset.

For your itinerary, it would be a definite drag.

Parking in cities is expensive. Fuel is costly. There are places where you are not permitted to enter, but you won't know it. www.viamichelin.com will give you toll charges.

Get discounted tickets online before you leave.

Use the money you save to take taxis to/from the train stations.

Enjoy your visit.

((I))

If you do this trip by train, I think that you capture all the benefits you highlighted in your query. You won't really be lugging around all of your bags. You'll get to the train station and take a taxi to your hotel, check in and leave the bags (even if your room is not ready for you) and then head out for the day. It's not as if you'll be hauling your luggage all over Rome! Another vote for taking the train and I think you'll enjoy it 100% more than you would driving.

P.S. And I have been the recipient of not one, but two notices from the Police that I drove in a forbidden zone. I ended up paying 100 euros each as many of the posters here have. Avoid it. Take the train!

himeshj: Be sure you read Akislander's travel report - Two weeks in the Veneto - for some very good travel tips.

The main problem with hiring a car in Italy is that you are very likely to be ripped off by the car hire company. In my experience the Auto Europa Group (Italy by Car, Sixt, AutoEuropa) are the main culprits.Incidentally Auto Europe is a different company.
It works like this. (You may have zero excess insurance - this does not help.) You return your car to the required spot at the airport and find that nobody is there to check your car in. You hand in the keys in the airport and get a polite smile. A month or so later you see a large charge on your credit card bill. Eventually after persistence you get a letter saying that uninsured damage was found on your car. This means under the car or to the wheels. With persistence you then get sent a photo of a similar looking car, not necessarily in the airport with an explanation that the exhaust or the wheels are damaged. You will have signed a contract that says that the hire company can charge for anty damage that they feel like charging for. If you dispute this you don't get a reply - if you try to express fraud through your credit card company, they say that you signed this contract and there is nothing they can do about it.
You pay!
Maybe taking out separate balance of excess insurance in UK may help _ I do not know.
I have been travelling to Italy for more than 50 years - this is a new phenomenon - suddenly France seems more attractive!

Come back Fred when you have a positive contributin to make.
Next time rent via AE---they back you up when you most need it.

If you are coming to Bergamo Orio al Serio Airport as this airport has several flights which are cheaper than other's you car take car on rent from www.carrentalbergamoairport.com . You can check prices online from various car rental providers online. Parking are hourly based, mainly depend upon in which area you are parking the car.

With 5 cities in 12 days you are in a mad rush and don;t have time to enjoy scenic countryside - barely time to see major sights in each city (not enough for Rome certainly).

We have done and loved may road trips in europe - but this is an itinerary that cries out for train. Tell you wife to pack as much as she can easily lift over her head.