Car Rental at Malpensa and Driving into Switzerland from Italy
 

Hello all...we are just a few weeks away from our trip to the Italian Lake region and I was wondering about picking up and returning our car at Malpensa. I know from past experience that signs are not always very obvious so if anyone has any do's and don'ts for us that will save us some time and stress, particularly on the way back in terms of returning our rental, we would appreciate it. We are renting from Hertz.

Also, my husband will be getting an international driver's license. Is there anything additional that we need if we are driving into Switzerland???

Thanks as always, for all the invaluable help I always get on here!

When we rented a car in France and drove through Switzerland and Italy, we had to buy a "highway" sticker in Switzerland, it was around 30 Euros at that time. Unless things have changed, if you don't have this on your car, you could be subject to a big fine.

Otherwise, it was easy driving through the other countries.

The highway sticker, aka vignette, applies only to limited access roads. One can drive in Switzerland without it, but it is at times not easy to find the alternative to the "toll" road, as when crossing the Alps by the St. Gotthard. In Italy, the alternative to toll roads is clearly marked, not so in Switzerland.

How nice that you have been warned about the highway sticker in advance! It startled me considerably at the Italy/Switzerland border at Como when the Swiss customs officials pulled me over in my rental car and declared that I needed it. If you enter Switzerland on a main road you will be given the 'opportunity' to buy it, in euros or swiss francs.

The Swiss are very serious about stopping for pedestrians in cross-walks (as opposed to the Italians, who still assume the pedestrian will stop).

Returning your car at Malpensa is very easy and clearly marked like at US airports.

Great...thanks everyone!