hello all,

i'm a new member with a question i hope won't be too annoying (i searched the forum for the topic but couldn't find anything recent):

do people have recommendations based on recent experience for car rental companies or brokers to use for a short rental (5 days) in italy? we would be picking up in florence, using the car for a sojourn in the tuscan countryside, and then returning it in bologna. from what i can make out, sicilybycar--for which rentalcars.com has good rates--is avoidable with many people noting bogus charges after return. am i best off going with one of the name companies directly (avis/budget/hertz) or is the better move to book through auto europe? i did read some very negative reviews of auto europe as well (on other travel sites) but it wasn't always clear if people's issues were with auto europe or auto europa (apparently the same as sicilybycar) or with the companies auto europe books with (which presumably would be the case if i booked directly with those companies as well). if i use auto europe to book with avis, budget or hertz, am i likely on safe ground?

thanks in advance for any advice.

Yes, you are.
I don't think AutoEurope books Hertz cars anymore.
Lately I've also found that I can get the same or better rate booking directlly through the car rental company. Several times with Budget, and once with Sixt, so it's worth shopping around.

Be sure you also familiarize yourself with insurance. The options include
a) coverage through your home rental company. Chances are good they don't cover rentals in Europe, or Italy specifically.
b) coverage through your credit card. I have a chase travel card and their coverage is excellent
c) coverage through a 3rd party broker such as AutoEurope. Years ago this was the best option, but I can't say if it still is or not.
d) coverage through the company at the time of rental. I don't use this option as it is always the most expensive, and I already have a) or b).
e) self insured. This is the cheapest if nothing goes wrong, and the most expensive if it doesn't. I don't know anybody who would recommend this one.

I’ve booked a rental car in Italy every year in either Tuscany or Umbria for 30 years or thereabouts and have used most of the brokers without any problems. It is worth looking at several of the sites and comparison sites as even if they have the same supplier, the cost can be different particularly for automatic cars. Sicily by Car are fine. I have had a car from them on several occasions. In addition to Auto Europe and Rentalcars, try Holiday Autos, Stressfree Car Rentals, Discover Cars. Also check where the pickup location is. Returning the car at Bologna airport is ok but the entrance to the returns section can be easy to miss.

One of the main price differences is the additional top up daily charge for fully comprehensive insurance, which I think is a must. It can vary from under 10USD to 30USD, so select the car and then see what that company is charging for it.

I've booked both directly and through Autoeurope.com. I go with the best rate and/or preferred vehicle.

There will likely be a one-way rental surcharge. If it sounds like a lot of money, you can see whether returning the car in Florence and taking the train to Bologna would be worth the savings. There are some very low fares (10 euros), but the cost multiples by the number of people in your group. The train takes about 40 minutes.

Any person who will drive the car will need to have an International Driver's Permit. You may never be asked to show it, or the rental company may demand to see it. You never know... Anyway, it's cheap through AAA and valid for a year.

Finally, you need to learn about ZTLs (zona traffico limitato) which are areas within nearly every town/city in Italy tht you can't drive into during most hours on most days of the week.

https://mominitaly.com/ztl-in-italy/

thanks, all. if i go with auto europe i should get the "no deductible with extended cover", right?

the plan is to return the car at the bologna train station. we're not actually staying in bologna. we'll return the car, stash the luggage in the station, and have lunch in the city and wander a bit before taking the train to padua. i know it would make sense to just skip bologna and return the car in florence and head to padua from there--but my kids want to eat ragu bolognese in bologna and who am i to deny them?

the other question is about pickup location in florence. i am drawn to picking up in the city so as to not have to trek out to the airport but i'm wondering if driving out of the city adds layers of complication of its own. as a first-time driver in italy, i'd rather stay out of the cities as much as possible. (though i should say that i have driven all over scotland, including on the mean and very narrow streets of stromness, without incident.)

here is our overall itinerary if anybody wants to offer commentary. though we're u.s-based, for complicated reasons, our travel to italy will have us arriving from and returning to dublin.

• Day 1 Arrive Naples in the evening from Dublin
• Day 2 Naples
• Day 3 Stash luggage in Naples station and head to Pompeii in the mornign; back to Naples in the late afternoon and then to Rome in the evening by train
• Day 4 Rome
• Day 5 Rome
• Day 6 Rome
• Day 7 Rome-Florence by train
• Day 8 Florence
• Day 9 Florence
• Day 10 Florence
• Day 11 Pick up car in Florence and drive to San Gimignano (the agriturismo we're staying at is just outside the city)
• Day 12 Day trip to Pisa/Livorno
• Day 13 Day trip to Montalcino, Montepulciano
• Day 14 Day trip to Siena for the Palio (or if we can't get tix we'll swap for one of the earlier days)
• Day 15 Day trip to Volterra
• Day 16 Drop car off in Bologna and take late afternoon train to Padua
• Day 17 Day trip to Venice from Padua
• Day 18 Padua
• Day 19 Day trip to Verona from Padua (or possibly return to Venice)
• Day 20 Padua to Milan by train in the morning
• Day 21 Milan
• Day 22 Leave for Dublin

i know it's hectic but my wife has never been to italy and so we're trying to hit most of the greatest hits.

Driving in Italy isn't really anything like driving in Scotland... because of the ZTLs. Non-residents can't drive into the historical centers most hours of the day, most days of the week. You park outside the centers and walk in and out. All of the towns you listed as day trips have a ZTL. If you drive into it, even by innocent mistake, you will receive a citation in the mail after you get home. I don't know what the fine is up to these days, but it's not insignificant. Read the link about ZTLs in my previous post (#4 of this thread).

Any rental office in Florence should provide detailed driving instructions for leaving the city without violating the ZTL.

How old are the kids? FYI, there's a minimum age limit for climbing the Leaning Tower (assuming that was in the plans). You must make timed reservations in advance. Personally, I'd rather visit Pisa by train from Florence than drive into the city. (Or train from Certaldo when you're in SG.) If you drive, see if you can find a ZTL map for Pisa and figure out how you're going to reach parking coming from SG. Good luck, because I find the ZTL maps difficult to decipher. Often there is no English translation. Do not trust any GPS, Googlemaps on your phone, etc.

Why Livorno? The aquarium? Or could you possibly mean Lucca?

Which Palio... July or August? (I hope it's not August, see below.) Were you thinking of driving to Siena on Palio day? You might consider driving to Poggibonsi or Certaldo and taking the train to Siena. Re the Palio, there are test races and lots of other events in the several days before the final race.

If you're going to the Palio in August, be aware that the day prior (Aug. 15th) is the biggest summer holiday in Italy. Roads and trains and towns (Livorno, yikes!) will be very crowded from about Aug. 12th through about Aug. 20th.

If viewing The Last Supper in Milan is high on your list, you need to be vigilant in checking the web for tickets. I'm not up to date on how far in advance reservation slots are offered, but they sell out incredibly fast.

thanks for all the feedback. we'll be in italy from june 19 to july 10. would you recommend giving one of our florence days (day 9 or 10) over to a train trip to pisa and doing the tuscan countryside in a more relaxed way?

and yes, planning to drive to the smaller cities/towns, park outside and walk in/out. we do have italian friends who are giving us guidance--hoping they'll be able to help with advance decoding of the ztl maps. (my reference to scotland was only to indicate that i am not uncomfortable driving in tight spaces--which is what i am assuming i might encounter if driving out of florence proper rather than the airport.)

We've visited Italy a number of times, renting a car each time. Dealing with the ZTL has become easier over the years; I feel like the cities are getting better at providing signage showing the beginning of the ZTLs. There are also websites that you can go to that will show you the boundaries of the ZTLs, so you can avoid them and, if you like, locate car parks prior to your trip that you can see on the map are outside of the ZTLs.

On the matter of whether you need an International Driving Licence in Italy, it depends on your nationality and where your driving licence was issued. If you are in the EU you don’t need one, so that means if you have an Irish licence that will be all you need.

I will leave it to others to comment on whether to pick up your rental car in the centre of Florence or not. However as mentioned many of the cities and towns in Italy, including Florence, Bologna and Pisa have driving restrictions referred to as ZTL - zona a traffico limitato (limited traffic zone) and you cannot drive in those areas without incurring a fine. In many cases there are electric bollards barring access, but in others there are signs. Therefore I suggest that you check with the car rental company about that before deciding on where to pickup and drop off the car.

With regards to the itinerary, I believe that often less is more. It does seem a bit too intense. I think that by the time you get to San Germiniamo you will need some R&R, so I would suggest doing something on alternate days and cutting out some of the agenda. If you decide to drop off the car in Bologna, then you could go via Pisa. One day in Venice is not enough. Personally, I would cut out Padua and Verona, stay in Venice or Venice Lido and then fly back to Dublin from there.

BTW If I remember correctly, the restaurants in Bologna don’t describe spaghetti bolognese as that, but just spaghetti al sugo or ragù.

One reason to pick up a car at the airport is if you need an automatic. More likely to have a larger selection of such cars than smaller location. Last time we rented from Florence we got a Jeep

Florence airport is a quick 10min taxi ride outside of town so getting there is not a hassle. You can also take the tram to the airport, but then you'd need to get on the shuttle bus to the rental car center.

thanks. yes, it is looking like it will be best to pick up from florence airport--one less bit of ztl madness to contend with.

re the point above about the trip being intense. yes, but no way around it for this visit. the five days in tuscany, we are hoping will offer some relaxation. on some of those days we'll only do things in the first half of the day and relax in the agriturismo's pool in the afternoons. i am currently thinking that maybe we should compress the major florence sights into two full days (day 8 and day 9) and on the third (day 10) take the train to pisa and back. that will allow us to make the five days in tuscany more relaxed.

If your time in Florence includes and Sunday and/or Monday, plan your sightseeing around the open/closed days of the major sights. Not all are open every Sunday and Monday.

There is a LOT to see in Florence, although perhaps not all will be of interest to your family. If it's hot and humid (pretty typical in summer), you may not be able to zip around as fast or see as much as you thought. Have a plan, but be flexible. As you're a group of 4 (or more?) people, accept that you can only move at the speed (and endurance) of the slowest person.

As to your Tuscany plan of doing things in the morning and relaxing in the afternoon, unless your days start really early I think that would only be possible on the Volterra day. Siena/Palio is a full day. Pisa/Livorno is a full day. Montalcino/Montepulciano is a full day. Speeds on most roads are fairly low, esp. if there's traffic, and it takes a bit of time to park the car and walk in/out of the towns. Again, have a plan, but be flexible.

There are things outside Florence's ancient walls worth visiting

If I rent directly from a company (Hertz, etc.) I make sure I'm picking up/dropping off at a corporate location. I've had trouble with tack on fees at franchise locations.

I agree with Jean’s comments. Not only can Florence be hot and humid, but the crowds mean that it can be difficult to get around the sites quickly. I’ve even experienced tour groups blocking my access off season and I know the back streets, so I definitely wouldn’t try to cram everything into 2 days. I agree about the half day approach in Tuscany, but you really do need to reconsider what is achievable particularly since you may need to park outside the historic centres.

I have a Chase card as well that offers primary insurance coverage. I've looked through the requirements and it states that the renter needs to decline any collision damage waivers to have the policy be active. However, when renting from Europcar directly, or through AutoEurope, you cannot opt out of the CDW coverage as it's required when renting in Italy. Unless I'm missing something, which is likely, it is best to get the full coverage option whenever renting in a foreign country.

As for liability coverage, my normal car insurance policy, and most in the US, do not provide any liability coverage outside of the US so it is best to ensure the rental company does provide that. I've confirmed, on the respective companies websites, that both Europcar and Hertz have liability coverage included in the normal rates in Italy.

All of that being said, this October will be the 3rd time renting a car in Italy and the 5th time within Europe. It's also the first time I've looked into all of this. I had an issue with Avis out of Malaga Spain last year and that's why I'm finally trying to sort it all out. It did get resolved to my satisfaction but it was still nerve-racking having the issue hanging over my head until it was sorted out. My ignorance was bliss while everything went smooth.

thanks, all, again, for the feedback on the itinerary--i really should have started a separate thread for that.

to get back to the original point of this thread, not seeing anything to the contrary, i am assuming that the consensus here is that using auto europe for a booking with one of the major carriers (they do still book hertz, and that's what we'd use for a florence pickup and bologna drop-off) should not give me pause. and if i'm understanding the insurance conversation correctly, i should opt for the "no deductible with extended cover" option. correct?

I believe so. At least that's the way I'm going for my trip this October and anything thereafter.

Out of interest have you contacted Chase to specifically check if car hire in Europe is covered? I know that one of my American cousins had a problem with this in the past. If they don’t then you should take the additional insurance cover, not just the basic. I know that I’m pleased I always do. One time I came back from shopping to find someone had clipped the corner of the car whilst it was parked. Not to mention the occasion when my late husband put in the wrong fuel!