My wife and I were looking at taking trains throughout Italy this coming March... but we had talked a little about rental cars...If anyone has rented a car in Italy...do you have any tips? ..I am in the states and live in a very large city... so I am adept at driving with lots of traffic, etc...

Thanks in advance.

What is your itinerary? We can't advise you if a car rental is a good idea without knowing your plans. Cars are best for visiting small towns and the countryside. Trains are best for connecting between big cities. A combination of both might be in order. Can you give us an idea of your plans?

ok...sorry.... looking at 2 weeks... flying into milan, going to venice, then florence and finally rome and back to milan. We have been to Italy before, so Rome and Florence is just really to see things we missed...

I thought maybe it would be just more convenient by car... i may be wrong.

Most italian would do this by train. there are virtually hourly departures between all the cities you name. A car is difficult to manage within cities. Plus it is not cheap to buy fuel and You must purchase the insurance with car rentals in Italy. If you're thinking of visitIng the Tuscan countryside, rent a car for that portion of the trip.

Most Italians . . .

Great. thank you for your reply Ellen... I think I am just a little anxious about taking trains.. never taken them before, much less in a foreign country.

If you're doing just those few big cities take the rain. If you want to see the small towns andd counryside in betwene then rent a car.
We alost always do rod trips - but then we love driving in europe. Much fster than in the US, much better drivers, take it very seriously (try sitting in the left land insted of passing and they'll be on you in a second).

I wouldn't drive around in the center of Rome or florenc - but you can easily drive in and park the car for a few days if you want. Driving semi on the chicken prinicple (few traffic lights) - but if you can drive in NYC or Boston it's not bad.

I live in NYC so never understand why people are so fearful of trains, but don't even ask me to drive a car--I don't know how.

Here's an excellent web site that explains all about Italian trains:

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/trains/index.htm

Just be aware: Florence in particular and other Italian cities have restrictions about unauthorized license plates driving in the center of town. Some visitors are surprised by hefty fines that appear on their charge cards months after their trips.

Check the prices on car rentals--better to arrange rental from home--and go for it if you like. But if you're only interested in those cities, take the train.

We've rented a few times in Italy - always from hertz. My husband always rented from Sixt when he was there on business and that was great too. We had a NeverLost nav system in one car and would not rent without one now. You can program it to 'speak' in english which is nice when you're zipping along and also looking for street signs. You'll need to be adept at driving a manual transmission or be willing to spend a lot of extra dollars for an automatic. We found Hertz to be easy to work with, good when we had a breakdown, etc. DH had Sixt in Germany and really liked getting their upgrades to little mercedes or BMW two-seaters..of course, he wasn't travelling with kids in tow at the time! Be sure to check and make sure your domestic auto insurance and/or credit card insurance will be in effect in europe - or be prepared to pay extra for the coverage there.

I just got back, well the 26th of Sept. and I always rent cars and get a GPS navigator and it works wonderfully even in big cities such as Rome and Florence. The first time I went to Florence I swore I would never drive there again but with a GPS it was no problem.

I rent from Europcar they have always had the cheapest rates for me.

Good Luck and have a great trip.

Make sure to get an international driving permit. It is required.

Hi

My wife and I rented a car after staying a few days in Florence last year. My recommendation is to have a GPS as it makes the navigation a lot easier Here is my Florence and Tuscany trip report with pictures http://gardkarlsen.com/florence_italy_travelogue.htm

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

> so I am adept at driving with lots of traffic, etc...

It's not so much the driving that is the problem. It's parking.
Contrary to the American cities, Italians don't devote half their inner city areas to parking lots.

Hi Jo,

> into milan, going to venice, then florence and finally rome and back to milan.<

A: It would be a lot easier if yu flew into Venice VCE or Milan and left from Rome.

B: If your plan is to visit cities, you are better off without a car.

From MXP, take the shutlle bus to Milano Centrale.

From to/from Venice you want the Santa Lucia station, not Mestra.

Train schedules prices and tickets are are at
www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

You do not want a railpass.

Enjoy your visit.

Cars are useless and even a liability IMO in Italian cities - parking can be a hard find and expensive - few hotels seem to offer parking unless outside of the town center. Major swathes of city centers are off-limits to cars without permits (folks are always complaining here about tickets they got in Florence from cameras for entering areas they were not supposed to) and theft reportedly can be a problem with contents left overnight.

Cars - great for wandering thru the proverbial hill towns on tuscany - a bad idea for cities like Florence, Rome and, of course, Venice.

Our car rentals were for driving from Munich to Rome, from Florence to Montalcino and from Venice to Cortina/bolzano/riva del garda/milan/verona and back to Venice. We've also taken trains when that made more sense. With 4 travelling, the car rental between munich and rome was less expensive than the train. I wouldn't rent a car if you're going to be staying in the cities and not doing day trips outside of them. The florence train station is close to most hotels and the venice station is also so convenient to many hotels or the vaparetto/water taxi's.