Car rental in Italy

www.autoeurope.com
Limit your search results to Avis, Hertz and Europcar

You can call by telephone as well and they are very helpful on the phone but the rental charges are usually a little higher if booked on the phone. Phone bookings give a couple of extra perks like later cancellations and changes and I suspect will be serviced better should any issues arise.

You can request an automatic transmission but it is not guaranteed. The majority of rentals are diesel and standard transmission.

wind,

Also note that each driver on the rental form will require the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. These are easily obtained at any AAA office for a small charge, and are valid for one year.

You'll also need to be vigilant to avoid dreaded ZTL (limited traffic) areas which exist in many Italian towns (hefty fines for each pass through one, which you may not know about until several months after you return home). Finding parking in Siena is often challenging, so it would help to choose a hotel that offers parking. As Frank mentioned, you can request an automatic but you may have to settle for a standard transmission.

We traveled with another family who just "had" to have an automatic transmission. So they reserved their automatic car, and upon arrival found that they actually had a 10 passenger Mercedes mini-bus...not exactly what they were expecting and definitely not what they needed.

If you can learn to drive a stick shift then by all means do so.

Do your search on Autoeurope or Kemwel (both are part of the same company) on line.

I usually book over the phone, but I always have my selection open in the website on my computer while I call. When I mention what I see, they always give me the exact same rate as the online rate, no extra rate for using the phone.

If you can drive a manual transmission car you will be better off. Automatic cars come only in higher level (more expensive) models in Europe and use more fuel in most cases. Also I'm not sure of the availability of automatic cars in smaller offices like Siena. If you rent an automatic, you might have a better chance at the Florence airport or Florence downtown locations.

Navigation GPS may be expensive to rent from the rental agency, although higher models will have it standard in the car. I suggest bringing your own (or using your phone).

If you use your smart phone, be aware of the high data roaming charges. This topic deserves a post in itself. You can search this forum since there have been so many posts about smart phone use overseas.

I fully agree wit Roberto. I have used Autoeurope for over 15 years and have been completely satisfied. Also, suggest using your own GPS or smart phone for navigation. I just replaced my aged garmin with a new one with European maps for $210 (incl trade in of my old model) and will use it in Italy next month. You can ask autoeurope if they will include a gps for free with your rental which i have done. But you have to bring it from home and return it when you get back to the US. Easy for me since I live near autoeurope's office in Maine so I avoid shipping costs.

Replying to what Roberto mentioned.
I used Auto Europe for a booking recently over the phone and told them what I was seeing online.
They said that online sometimes waives one way drop off fees and they were unable to over the phone and would not matc ; the difference in costs being the one way drop off.
Maybe if I threatened to hang up they would have but didn't feel like haggling that day.

I paid a little more to book with the rep on the phone, I liked the better cancellation and change policy it offered and the gentleman was helpful answering my questions.

Of note to the OP: Auto Europe will rent to you for free a GPS right now for US customers traveling to Europe, there is a small shipping fee and they ship you a GPS unit to your house preloaded with Italy maps in the US with a return box and postage paid for return included (Auto Europe is actually in Maine) the week before your trip. When you return you ship the GPS back to them. The total cost for the GPS was about $25.00 if I recall correctly which included the shipping both ways.
Ask about it over the phone if you do not see this option online, they have to create a separate booking/voucher for it and they offer separate insurance of it as well if you want

If you must have automatic I would try to stick with an Airport rental location as they typically are larger and have more cars.

I rent frequently and use Priceline. I will find the price that is the cheapest for the kind of car I want and book it. Then check back every few weeks and if the price goes down make a new res and cancel the first one. I once needed an automatic as I had a cast on my arm and had no problem when I arrived. It did cost a little more, but if you are renting for a major airport you should be able to get one. Unless you are comfortable driving a manual it might not be the best place to practice! Lots of hills, which can be challenging to a new driver of a manual. Renting from one of the major companies will probably help in getting an automatic.

I'll just emphasize that in three separate experiences with Italian car rental (my trip and two different friends' trips), Kemwel had a MUCH better price than AutoEurope for the car desired. So, be sure to check both.

I have used Auto Europe and Kemwel. Just make sure you have an international DL. Beware of hidden costs. Use your smart phone for navigation, renting a GPS is a rip off. Be sure your phone is up to date with current maps. I have driven many times with out problems.

Lorie

If you want a GPS bring one from home that you are familiar with and just download the Italy map. If you do use your smartphone for navigation be sure you download some maps that can be used offline, or you could end up with a huge bill using cellular data while in Europe.

The open hours for rental car offices are limited on the weekends in some cities. For example in Bolzano the major vendors aren't open Saturday afternoon through Sunday. If your pickup involves Saturday or Sunday you may want to check the hours of rental offices in those locations before you finalize travel plans and maybe shift your itinerary so it aligns. I don't know if renting in Siena has those issues..