I am planning to rent a car in/near Venice to drive to the Dolomites for a few days and then on to Lake Garda. Where is the best place to rent the car? At the airport in Venice or somewhere outside of Venice, possibly near the Dolomites? Thanks for your advice in advance.
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
It's perfectly easy to rent a car in Venice at the Piazzale Roma. There's one road out of town and on to the Autostrade.
Posted by
Mansfield, GA
850 posts
Sheron, check with gemut.com or autoeurope and see if you can pick up a rental in Mestre. From Venice to Mestre by train only costs a couple of Euros and takes just minutes. That would be a good starting point and from there you could drive to Cortina d'Ampezzo to begin the Dolomite Drive.
Posted by
Mountain Lakes, NJ, USA
20 posts
I've rented cars at both Piazzale Roma and at the Marco Polo Airport....both were easy.
Have a great trip!
Posted by
Bay Area
3551 posts
Mestre is a great place to rent a car or Padua and you would save on the airport surcharges. www.gemut.com uses consolidators to get you the best rate. Italy car rentals can be pricey and other county drop offs have big surcharges. Hopefully it does not matter to you.Option, Buses can also be taken thru dolomites if you prefer.
Posted by
OP
Alta Loma, CA, USA
1446 posts
Will I pay an airport surcharge if I rent the car at Piazzale Roma?
Posted by
Chicago, IL, USA
13 posts
I just rented a minivan for 6 days through autoeurope. There was a big difference between the 3 locations offered for pickup and drop off in Venice. There were 2 different addresses at piazzale roma that were more than $200 different! I don't know why that would be but you may want to just check all options for pricing before making your reservation
Posted by
The Hague, NL (AMS)
2207 posts
Marisa, the reason you might have prices so varied is you are working with a consolidator such as AutoEurope. The $200 variance and address difference in the same piazza reflects "prices" from two different companies - like Hertz or Avis. You make a great suggestion to check all options because they will have different deals with different vendors.
Here in CPH, Hertz has much better prices than Budget or Avis when working through consolidators. The other advantage a consolidator may give you is in mileage. Europecar (here) charges for miles (after say 200 km a day), but if you book through AutoEurope, Europecar waives the mileage limitations and charges. Working through a reputable consolidator can save you time and money. But you're right, you have to check ALL options and addresses because each one usually represents a different company (and thus different price).
Don't forget to add insurance - often your credit card will not cover you in Italy (been there, done that!), and also make sure all drivers have an International Driving Permit - see this link for more info *** http://tinyurl.com/Italy-IDP ***