Renting GPS in Italy
 

Should I rent GPS from Auto Europe before I leave the U.S., or add it on to my rental at the counter when I get to the rental agency in Italy? I am renting from Avis in Venice via Auto Europe and driving through Tuscany for three days.

A GPS in not always that reliable. Have you considered buying a good map? Michelin map # 358 should work just fine.

I bought a Garmin portable GPS for a two week drive through Florida. Was $50 cheaper than renting one. For our two week drive from London down thru Cornwall and back to Bath and Malvern, etc. I add the maps of Europe for $100. Worked perfect for the higgly piggly roads of England.

We got a car that came with a GPS from SIXT in Florence. Worked great on many drives through Tuscany. Ask for an upgrade - We reserved the cheapest car and got a Mercedes.

Thanks for your advice so far! Renting GPS from Auto Europe will cost about $90 and involves receiving the unit here in the US and taking it with us to Italy; I only need it for three days so I'm wondering if it's possible to rent from Avis at the counter for less money.

I'd also opt for buying my own and getting to know how to use it before the trip. But if the choice is AutoEurope's or Avis I'd opt for the former as you might find they're out of them when you get to the rental counter.

Do get paper maps and study your route plans with them and with online sources like Google Maps and ViaMichelin.com

Remember... GPS is a great tool but you can always ignore the instructions and go a different way.

Apparently the GPS rental rates vary. Last time I was in Germany I added a GPS at the Europcar counter for less than 10 bucks a day.

I've added at the Hertz counter in Florence and the cost was a bit more.

I'm sorry, I agree that maps are great but I think a GPS is a lot easier to deal with and in Italy they also warn you about approaching speed cameras; add alternative routing, points of interest, etc., and sorry, just better than paper maps IMO.

Thanks again to all who have replied. Ideally, I would love to find out that I can rent a GPS from Avis when I get to Italy instead of bringing one over from the U.S., without fear of the cost being astronomical (> $30/day) or Avis running out of GPS units (I'm going in April--so not high season at least). If anyone has experience with cost or availability of getting a GPS without reserving ahead, please let me know.

I would not bring one over.

Where we rented in Florence (in the same building as Avis and Auto Europe on an easy-access street), they did not rent individual GPS units. Instead many (actually, most) of the cars were equipped GPS systems. When we said we wanted a GPS they gave us a choice of cars which had them installed. There was no additional charge for the GPS, and as I said, we were upgraded.