Car rental

debbie, Which website are you using to research rail schedules? The bahn.de site indicates the trip from Nice Ville to Milano Centrale is ~5H:02M, with one change in Ventimiglia. Are you stopping in Milan for a night or so, or just transiting through there to Florence? You stated that you "mostly want to use buses and trains to visit places like Sienna, Rome, and Florence", so I'm not clear on why you'd need a car? These are my usual comments on the subject: One important point to note is that for driving in Italy, each driver must have the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. These are valid for one year, and easily obtained at any AAA office (two Passport-sized photos required, which in some case is offered at the issuing office). Failure to produce an IDP if requested can result in fines on the spot! Have a look at This Website for more detailed information. You may also want to search other Posts here regarding the Zona Traffico Limitato areas that are becoming increasingly prevalent in many towns in Italy. EACH PASS through one of the automated Cameras will result in a €100+ ticket! A GPS along with a good Map would also be a good idea. Be sure to also give some thought to the question of CDW. If you accept the CDW offered by the rental firm, it will be expensive but will provide "peace of mind". Some "premium" credit cards provide rental vehicle insurance, however I've found this to be somewhat complicated so I just accept that offered by the rental firm. Check the Car Rental section in Europe Through The Back Door for further information. Happy travels!

Ken, thank you! I did read before your notes on driving in Italy so I am a bit nervous about doing so. We need a car to reach our destination because the house is away from the town, so even if we took a bus to town, we would have to walk with luggage about 3 miles. I pack light but maybe not that light:) I guess we could take a taxi to the house, but I would sort of like a car so we can get to town without walking all the time. Also, I know my husband is probably going to want to drive around some. I am going to print out your info on driving in Italy and show him so he is aware of what it's like. Truthfully, never having been there, I'm not sure what the best thing is to do. I just wanted to ask so we could weigh the options and hopefully make a good choice. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

No need to be nervous about driving in Italy. I've driven Italy top to toe & Sicily too and, outside the cities, I've never found the driving too difficult. A car is a great way to see the beautiful Tuscan countryside. You can get an IDP in about 15 minutes at any AAA office. The ZTL's are pretty much all in the old historic city centers where they obviously have to limit vehicle traffic. To me it's mostly just common sense - the ZTL's are where you'd expect them to be. I agree that you should buy the "Super CDW" coverage for total insurance protection. It's worth it for the peace of mind. Just relax and have fun.

I've never equated a European Car Rental with Peace of Mind - no matter HOW much insurance you have ;-)

I never thought a guy from NASCAR country would be nervous about driving a car. :-)

I have driven all over Europe and can tell you it is the only way I want to see Tuscany. If you rent at the Florence airport you are near the freeway so just hop on and go to your destinations, or just drive till you see something that intrigues you. I would not drive in Florence, or Rome, and even Sienna parking can be a pain, but all the little villages and vineyards and country roads that are the Tuscan experience are easy to drive. I would return the car to the airport and take the train to Rome. It's all a matter of 'travel style.' I very rarely, actually never, have an exact plan. I explore, follow my instincts, take the road less traveled, ask for adivce of locals and may miss some of the highlights. But I have the most incredible experiences of my trips to Europe that could not have been planned. I do like the train, but not for my whole trip.

Thanks so much, this really helps! Plus love the humor. I'm sure I will be "gripping" as my husband drives. I grip now when he drives our PA back roads.

I absolutely love Anghiari. We visited there last June, and loved the Busatti linen store. There is such family history in those beautiful linens. Will definitely return when we go this August. We stay in a villa in the Casentino Valley after staying in Florence a couple of days, and this time will rent a car from the airport rather than near the train station. Every time we return the rental car, we cross the ZTL by accident, but have had significant fines. The last time we even had a GPS. We still like having the rental car for the hilltop towns that we can't reach by train. There are so many day trips from Tuscany that are fabulous by train, but it is sure nice to have that car to explore on your own.
Hopefully be renting the car from the airport, we can avoid the traffic fines. Saw that suggestion on a Rick Steves blog.

Hi Debbie; There is a bus shuttle from the Train Station in Florence (SMN) to the airport to get a rental car. I think the shuttle is around 5 Euros. From there it is easy to get on the highway to head north or south. I recommend you use a GPS, I d mine to European maps, and it made it easy to get around the hill towns. One funny thing happened to us tho, just a few miles south on the highway from the airport there is a toll booth, i think a euro, but anyway after you put in your money, you have to press a button on the machine to get your receipt, or the gate does not open! We used our car to tour the hill towns as we stayed in an Agroturismo in the country.
Enjoy your trip!