We are four females who will be in Italy the middle of June. After our week in Rome, we have rented an apartment outside of Certaldo. We want to rent a car for the week to visit the Tuscany area before our stay in Florence. Not crazy about driving in Rome. Looking for advise on where to rent the car. We would be ok taking a train to a smaller area and picking up the car. We plan to drop it off by the airport in Florence or other suggested area. Also wondering about the insurance. Remember reading past posts regarding insurance but don't remember the specifics. I'm planning on getting a no fee for international charges credit card but haven't done so yet so not sure if it has insurance coverage for Italy.
In looking at a map, I see there's a train that goes to Grosseto and Cecina. Would either of those places be a good place to pick up a car?
Thanks!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
34349 posts
Hi Karla
I won't say that you can't get a car in the smaller villages and towns because I haven't looked - but I doubt it.
Most credit card insurance does NOT cover driving in Italy.
There are some laws that you will need to be familiar with that you can search for on this website - they are discussed frequently - which will cost you dear if you are not familiar.
Among them are:=
Every driver will need a mandatory IDP (around $15 from AAA) in
conjunction with their home driving licence.ZTLs are camera enforced no driving areas unless you have a special
permit which you won't likely have. Very expensive.Speed averaging speeding cameras and hidden speed cameras.
Speed limits are often not posted - you are expected to know the
national limits in different circumstances.Coloured lines painted on the road - even if worn out - mean
important and expensive things so you must know the code.You can't drive in a bus lane.
and a few others probably mentioned by others...
Posted by
Vignola, MO, IT
711 posts
Have you looked online to see where you can pick up rental cars? We have used Orvieto and Florence several times to pick up /drop off cars.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16240 posts
I (and many contributors to this site) prefer to rent a car through a wholesale consolidator.
The company most often cited here is:
www.autoeurope.com and their sister company www.kemwel.com
They are part of the same group, but I check prices with both since the sometimes prices differ a bit and therefore I pick the better deal in either site.
They work with the largest rental companies in Europe, such as Avis, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, etc.
I also select the no deductible insurance option (a.k.a. ‘no insurance excess’) since my US car insurance does not cover me abroad. It’s a bit more expensive, but the deductible can easily amount to €1,000 or more. Also coverage provided by many credit cards excludes Italy and a handful of other countries.
I’ve rented through both consolidator websites above (generally selecting Europcar or Hertz as the rental provider, as they tend to have cheaper rates). When you return the car make sure you obtain receipt that you filled your tank (I also take a picture of the dashboard showing the full gasoline gauge). I often get charged for fuel charges after the fact when I’m back home and having those records allow me to dispute the extra charge with my credit card.
Don’t forget that to drive in Europe you need an International Driver’s Permit (obtainable in 10 minutes at any AAA office with $15 and 2 passport photos). The IDP is a translation of your home driver’s license in multiple languages.
I also recommend to take a GPS unit from home with European maps loaded on it (Maps available on Amazon) and an old fashioned paper map for planning your itinerary and also as a back up since GPS navigators are sometimes inaccurate. You can buy a map locally.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16240 posts
Pick up in Rome. To minimize city driving choose a location that is easy to get out of town and get to the freeway A1.
HERTZ: Via Salaria 1300, 00138 Roma, Italy
HERTZ: Via Flaminia Nuova 211, 00191 Roma, Italy
EUROPCAR: Via Flaminia Nuova, 216, 00191 Roma RM, Italy
Or also near the Tiburtina station, which is close to the Tangenziale East A24 (beltway) entrance:
HERTZ: Via Lorenzo il Magnifico 154, 00162 Roma, Italy
EUROPCAR: V.Teodorico 48 Ang.v.l., Via Lorenzo Il Magnifico, 00162 Roma, Italy
If you want to visit Orvieto, you could also consider picking up in Orvieto, but only HERTZ is there. Orvieto is about 70 minutes north of Rome via train.
HERTZ: Via 7 Martiri 32/F, 05018 Orvieto, Italy
I'm not mentioning the other rental companies since Europcar and Hertz are generally the cheapest.
Posted by
Portland
3648 posts
I suggest you call either Kemwel or AutoEurope and ask where you can pick up a car . We have, however, picked up at a city location in Rome. The agent gave us very clear directions for getting to the A1, and it was pretty easy. I'll also add that we used the rental car insurance provided with our Chase Mileage Plus Visa card on our most recent trip. We suffered a dent while parked in a lot, as well as a broken wing mirror. Our claim was handled in about 6 weeks, with no hassles