My family of 6 will be traveling from Sorrento to Paestum, Matera, Alberobello, Melfi (my grandparent's small village) and then to Montepulciano.
I think the easiest way to do this will be to rent a car in Naples (train station if possible) and drive to all the locations except return before Montepulciano.
We are trying to do this as cost effective as possible. Realize we will need 2 cars.
Kayak seems to be far lower price than all others and is typically not shown on the comparison charts.
Anyone have any advice.
Rental from July 4- July 7
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7278 posts
Check AutoEurope.com
A US based consolidator with stellar customer service and usually best rates
Might consider pick up and drop in Salerno
Will be much easier than Naples
I believe there is also an agency in Sorrento
I wouldn’t rent a car thru Kayak, any issues and you’ll get no help
Be sure you are including full insurance coverage
Posted by
Boston
1806 posts
Do not use a site like Kayak, they are only an advertising medium. Go directly to the car rental companies or to a well established broker like Auto Europe. Many brokers found on the internet are recent creations with little or no substance. Some low priced car rental companies make up the price difference with poor service, high mileage cars or even bogus car damage claims. Personally, I would only use Avis, Sixt, or Europcar either direct or via Auto Europe.
Posted by
5174 posts
I would also pick up anywhere but central Naples. Won't you need the car in Montepulciano also?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34145 posts
all drivers should also familiarize themselves with Italian traffic law, including ZTL, TUTOR, and IDP. Don't drive in bus lanes or enter prohibited areas even if other cars are doing so.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16168 posts
Use www.autoeurope.com
In your shoes I would pick up the car in Sorrento at the end of your stay there (you probably don't need a car in Sorrento/Amalfi Coast) and keep it all the way in Montepulciano. You will definitely enjoy having a car in Montepulciano, and frankly I wouldn't know how one could visit the Val D'Orcia without one.
The drive from Puglia to Montepulciano is a long 600km (almost 400 miles) trip, mostly on 4+ lane divided freeways, so you'll need a huge chunk of your day to cover the distance (I'd say 7+ hours plus pit stops along the way). But the freeways are good and there are plenty of rest areas (Area di Servizio) with all kind of services (gas, restaurants, bathrooms, shops) along the freeway. Take your time and enjoy the drive.
To return the car after Montepulciano, there are rental car offices in nearby Chiusi, from which you can take regional trains to Florence or Rome, but the choice really depends on where your next destination is, after Montepulciano.
Posted by
OP
7 posts
Thank you all for this amazing help. The only reason I was going to go through kayak is because they had the lowest price that I had found and then when I looked on the Rick Steves site she does post kayak first in the conversation.
The only reason I thought of getting the car in Naples and dropping it off there was that I thought there would be more options but thank you I never thought that there would be rental places in Sorrento. So so very helpful.
Yes I think it might be easier to keep the car until we get to our bed-and-breakfast in multi ciano I just thought it would be needed for us to return the car in the same place for price reasons.