The reviews of car rentals are pretty atrocious. What are the best? We’ve never had a problem in Italy but the last time we were there was 2015 in Sicily. Now we would like to drive from Milan to the Dolomites then Venezia and back to the Milan airport over about 10 days. Thanks for your ideas. Chet
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
17916 posts
For the past 15 years I’ve been using a broker/consolidator called www.autoeurope.com every year, sometimes twice a year. Then I select the best deal they offer with the major companies in Italy (Avis-Budget, Hertz, Europcar, Sixt, SicilyByCar, Enterprise/Alamo/Dollar/Locauto). There are also other companies listed like Autovia or Drivalia but they are fairly new Italian outfits that I’ve never tried before. Depending on the dates and type of car the best deal may be with any of those companies. Once I select the company, vehicle and pickup location then I always select the full insurance coverage generally for $8-$12 extra a day, for peace of mind. The basic AWD coverage is free but the deductible is high (like up to 2000€).
PS. If you go to Venice you might consider returning the car in Venice and return to Milan via train. You can’t use the car in Venice and you would need to park it for your entire stay and parking at Piazzale Roma parking structures is 30€ a day. The extra unused rental days and the parking will easily exceed the train fare even on the high speed train.
Posted by
Citizen of the World
3933 posts
Took a similar trip into and out of Milan that included the Dolomites and Venice last September.
To amplify on Roberto’s suggestion— you can take the train from Milan to Bolzano near the Dolomites. You can pick up a rental car reserved through AutoEurope both at Bolzano’s airport and in the city center. To avoid driving in the congestion of greater Venice, we then returned the car to Padua, rather than Venice, and trained the final 25 minutes into Venice.
I’ve rented through AutoEurope many times while in Europe with no problems. Sixt has been the car rental agency most often booked.
A cautionary note: Milan is a huge metropolitan area of some six million people that I was relieved to not have to experience from behind the wheel of a car.