Need some guidance on car rentals for four adults, April in Italy. Flying into Milan traveling to Venice, Florence, & Tuscany for one week, then down to Rome for another week. Then on to Amalfi (3-weeks total). No plan to use car while in Rome. Is this too costly. Should we book a car for only the weeks we will be driving? Or, as one travel agent say's keep the car at our Rome hotel. <BR>Help! I can't see the value in the rental if we're not using it? How costly is this plan? Any suggestions?

Car rental in Italy, with all the required insurance, is pretty expensive. Especially a car thats large enough for 4 adults and all your luggage. I mean you could spend around $500/week. That plus parking seems like a really silly expense to have while in Rome. Why would the travel agent say to keep the car? what could you possibly gain?

ELAINE, Change your sequence and it will all make sense. Cars are very expensive in Italy and you do not want them in the 3 big cities. Use the trains <BR>for Venice and Florence, get the car as <BR>you leave Florence and use it in Tuscany. But, drive from Tuscany to <BR>Amalfi for your time there and then end <BR>up in Rome, dropping the car on arrival. <BR>Travel agents do not know---what you <BR>need is a trip planner. I have done 48 <BR>trips like this one.

Unless you're renting a really big car, it's cheaper for 4 people to share a car than take the train. Especially in Tuscany, the scenery is too wonderful to miss. Check both Eurail and the Italian rail to see what rail 'n drive deals they might have (so many days train travel, so many days car rental).

I've checked rail & drive rates for my party of four for next year,and they seem to only feature small and intermediate cars in their program. I doubt that this would work for 4 people plus luggage.