charliesnickers

I am going to Italy in September: From Rome to Amalfi, to Cinque Terra, to Umbria at end with friends and back to Rome.
We are planning on renting a car after our three days in Rome and driving. If we take a train to Amalfi area, can we rent a car there. Do we need a car on Amfali coast. I'm sure there are ways to get to Pompeii. How long is the drive from Amalfi to Cinque Terra. I want to have a car when we need it, but not have it when it will be inconvenient. Can someone please help me travel around the most convenient way with lots of freedom, too. I want to be sure I can pick one up and drop one off when needed, or take trains when it makes sense.

Thanks so much

uhoh_busted

Your plan to pick up a car when you are through with Rome is great. We've driven the Amalfi coast (in May) and would in September. You can use Google maps or Mappy to plot your drive from Amalfi to Cinque Terra. It will give you driving times. (You can even pick to use the highway or more scenic routes, and route through someplace you may want to stop for lunch) We'll be driving there from Umbria this September ourselves (then on to Lake Como via Bologna). We'll be staying in Riomaggiore as we know we can leave the car parked there for the 2 nights we'll be there before heading on.

uhoh_busted

Sure - you can rent a car in Amalfi. Check a couple of the rental companies (AutoEurope, etc.) to see if the rate makes much difference. Sometimes it is cheaper if you don't pick a car up at an airport, but it is also sometimes just plain more convenient (e.g., if you are going to return it there).

HappyTrvlr

You also can park in a large lot in Monterosso in the Cinque Terre.

greg

This is a type of question where responses come from different view of renting a car: where to pick up, what is cheapest; as well as whether to rent a car in the first place for what purpose.

For those in rent a car unconditionally camp, certain aspect of using a rental car overrides all other considerations. If you are in want a car when you need it camp, then I think you need to focus on logistics of where to pick up and what to do after you have a car.

If, however, you are in a camp to optimize the visit experience, a car may or may not be the relevant means of transport. Having a car when you need it does not necessarily translate to getting to the destinations when you want to be there.

Whether you need a car in Amalfi has to do with where you are going in AC. Similarly in CT, moving from town to town using a car can be a PIA compared to frequent train service as well boats connecting the towns when the sea is calm enough.


Also relevant is whether a car is a transport between the destinations or a way to tour between the destinations. Many of my acquaintances thought before the trip that they were doing the latter but ended up doing the former due to the tight schedules.

uhoh_busted

We enjoyed having a car on the Amalfi coast. We used it daily. It was before the hordes came. We parked that same car for 4 days in a parking garage just outside of Venice because we didn't need it...but prior to parking it, had a most astonishing drive through the Dolomites which would have been impossible w/o a car. But it was a trip of more than 3 weeks, and we turned it in at the airport in Rome before we ended our trip with 3 nights/4 days in Rome.

The length of your trip has considerable influence on whether you want it for a long period of time (e.g. 2 weeks of driving) or for 3 or more days at a time. Compare the costs. For many of us, not having to rely on someone elses' schedules is priceless.

tcreath

I can't speak for the Amalfi coast but I was very thankful we had a car for our Umbria trip a few years back. Although many towns have train stations, the smaller ones do not and we liked the flexibility of not having to rely on a bus schedule. It's easy to drop the car off at a number of spots in Umbria (we chose Foligno, but Orvieto is a popular option) and train to Rome.

Tracy