driving in italy - which company, which car, driving guidelines

The only question I can answer is #2: I travel with two friends for two weeks each summer, we find the Punto has plenty of room for us and luggage.

We use Avis and haven't had any issues yet.

I wouldn't rent a GPS. We use googlemaps on our iphones and find that to be fine.

Be sure to read up on the rules of driving in Italy. Also, carefully read all the terms and conditions before renting your car. There are terms such as holds being put on your card if you don't take the extra insurances, fees to forwarding your information if you get traffic fines, fees for returning the car without a full tank of gas.....The list goes on and on. Most people don't read the T&C's and come back to complain when they get a fee they didn't realize they agreed to upon signing the contract.

As well as reading the T&C's of the contract you should also do a search to find out the rules of driving in Italy. There are restricted zones which you will be heavily fined for if you enter them, called ZTL's. You cannot drive in a bus lane, there are speed zones all over the country, parking is hard to find and expensive, you cannot drive into any city and must park outside the walls....... You must get an IDP. It's an international drivers permit, a translation of your license. You must have this along with your license in order to rent the car. It is required by law that you carry it and your drivers license with you.

Donna

What Donna said.

Have a scroll around this website and you will find many, oh so many, stories of people getting fees from their rental car company months after they get home which is opening salvo before the actual ticket comes in the mail with a very expensive fine for contravening a bus only lane, or a taxi only area, or a ZTL, or for offending a speed camera or Tutor .

Know what you are doing when driving there or the costs will add up and up and up.

I've been driving from the UK to Italy each year for quite a few years and have never had a ticket. But I'm super careful, I know what the signs mean (and can read the words in Italian) and I don't speed.

Rent a car through a consolidator, such as:
www.kemwel.com
www.autoeurope.com
Both are part of the same company based in Maine, but price vary so shop both. They work with the largest international companies operating in Italy (e.g. Europcar, Hertz, Avis-Budget). Generally Europcar has the cheapest prices, once you consider the price of no deductible insurance. Avis is the most expensive.
Make sure you select the No Insurance Excess (no deductible option), by clicking the box in the above sites. I've had issues (i.e. unwarranted after the fact charges which I had to dispute with the credit card) with all of the above, including Avis/Budget which charged me for fuel charges in spite of having returned it full. So don't assume anything. Just take a picture of the fuel gauge and keep receipts. Make sure the attendant marks the receipt "full tank" when you return it. The bill always comes a few days later via email, so expect surprises like that. Check what you have been charged.

As mentioned above, speed is checked by Autovelox machines with cameras, therefore don't assume you can speed just because there are no cops around. Of course locals speed because they know where the cameras are, but you don't.

Historical centers are closed to traffic, except for residents and transit vehicles. Google: Zona Traffico Limitato to see what they are and what the signs look like. Entry in a ZTL is prohibited to those without permit, and it's enforced by cameras. They are well marked in spite of what people say in this site.
Also review the Wikipedia article on "Road Signs in Italy". Italy uses the International Signs used by the rest of Europe.

My father owned a Punto most of his life and I'm familiar with it. It's nowhere close to a Ferrari, but it's better than a Panda, although for two people and a half like you, a Panda would do also.

In preparation for your trip practice parallel parking in very tight spaces. Also find a roundabout near you and practice those too. Nearly all intersections in Italy (in Europe actually) have been converted from street lights (or stop signs) to roundabouts.

I had a bad experience with Hertz in Italy and will never willingly do business with them again. Most of the issues had to do with outright lies by the agent; but there were also some shady practices. They are separate from Hertz USA, so you have no recourse with them. The email address given for customer service didn't work. While the total didn't amount to a fortune (I caught some of the ploys and was able to avoid them, like the agent telling me there were no service stations near the airport, so I'd better take the prepaid fuel option.) I really dislike doing business with dishonest scumbags.

Hertz often is the most expensive of the companies, as well. If, as was suggested, you use one of the consolidators, you can see the companies and prices. While it's a small sample, our several experiences with Europcar have been very positive.

Maybe it is the luck of the draw. Last May we used Hertz from the Rome airport to the area around Florence for a week. They were the cheapest for that week. Everything was fine. And, so far, no administrative charges for potential tickets. Obviously, we did not drive in Florence. For the other towns we always parked in one of the perimeter parking lots. And since every little town appeared to have a speed camera mounted where the speed limit dropped, we tried to stay a hair or two under the limit. So far has paid off well. We had our own GPS with current maps and backed up with a cell phone. There were some differences from time to time.

Hopper82, I was in your situation a year ago, doing research for a few days rental upon arrival in Sicily, and chose to rent from Sixt. I got a good price and had a perfect no-problems experience with them. Brand-new Fiat Punto, and quick and excellent service. Two pieces of guidance with any rental: (1) for various reasons, get the full no-deductible insurance; not only do you have full coverage if there is any damage, but this removes any incentive for rental company staff to find a problem, like a scratch, that you deny or dispute; also, your own insurance or credit card coverage may or may not be valid in Italy, but even if it is, you would likely need to pay for any damage in Italy, then deal with the hassle to file for reimbursement later, and will you have the required documentation, such as police report or whatever? (2) make sure you know how to get into reverse before you leave the rental lot; I did not, and could not get into reverse when I very much needed to, and there was no written manual in the car; I tried every reasonable way I could think of, over and over, and they did not work. Very fortunately I found an Italian to help me, he knew right away, and it was simple but I just never would have figured. (FYI there was a soft ring underneath the ball on the top of the shift stick on the floor, and I needed to lift up on that ring while shifting, only when getting into reverse. Maybe that's common, but I had not driven a manual in many years.)

I would like to add, regarding the GPS, that you should not rent one because it's expensive (about 15 euro/day). You are better off taking your GPS from home (if you have one) or using an 'offline' GPS application with your phone.
Also get a detailed map of the region you are visiting. It will be useful to plan your day trips, since a map will give you the overall "big" picture. Also once you have decided an itinerary, mark the towns you will be hitting. Italian road signs rarely indicate the highway numbers or north/south, rather they indicate the town names. For example if you enter the A1 freeway in Florence and want to go north or south, the sign will say BOLOGNA (which is north) or ROMA (which is south).

@ Larry from Carmel: my Subaru Outback (I have one with manual transmission) has that exact same mechanism to put in reverse, you need to lift the ring under the stick knob. It's pretty universal with many models, but I guess if you have only automatics, you wouldn't know.

thanks forum..few more questions..

1) is it easy to drive in italy at night ?? my flight arrives in pisa at 9 pm. i would like to rent my car and then drive to lucca the same night (i think driving time is 30 minutes)

2) my flight to dubai departs @ 12-30 pm from rome fiumicino airport. is it OK to leave siena the same morning (say start 6 am) and drive to rome international airport.

great idea about the offline maps (not sure how they work though. will try them around home). the gps rental is about 20$ / day which adds up for a weeks stay.

Check out this website and others like it for useful driving tips.

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/driving/index.htm

1) is it easy to drive in italy at night ?? my flight arrives in pisa at 9 pm. i would like to rent my car and then drive to lucca the same night (i think driving time is 30 minutes)

Traffic will probably be lighter at that time of evening, but street signs for residential streets could be harder to read in the dark. Make sure you have your route well mapped and printed out and that the hotel knows your plan. Does you hotel have free parking, or is it in a residential neighborhood where you'll be looking for street parking (but not inside the walls of Lucca)? Your flight arrival might be too late for the last train to Lucca, which usually leaves from Pisa Centrale station at 21:50. Of course, sleeping one night in Pisa would be simplest.

2) my flight to dubai departs @ 12-30 pm from rome fiumicino airport. is it OK to leave siena the same morning (say start 6 am) and drive to rome international airport.

Let's assume that you start driving at 6:00 and it takes 3 hours to drive to the airport with no significant delays. Then you have to fill up the gas tank, check the car back in, maybe get a shuttle van from car park to airport, gets you there at 10 a.m. earliest, which is about when you must check in for your 12:30 flight. If there was any delay due to traffic, oversleeping, getting lost, etc., then you would not make it.

I suggest that you drop the car off earlier in Siena, take a train from Siena to Rome, and sleep in Rome the night before your flight.

Sygic is a good offline app. It even lets you know where all the italian fixed speed cameras are located.

I also suggest you sleep in Rome or closer to FCO the night before, as Laura suggests. However I see no reason for returning the car in Siena and go by train. Just drive the car to Rome or vicinity. If you stay downtown Rome is best to return the car in Rome upon arrival then the next day take a taxi to the airport ( Tiburtina station rental return location is easy to drive to). However you might also wish to stay outside Rome. For example Bracciano is a nice quaint town on the homonymous lake and very close to the airport. Then the morning of departure just drive to the airport, return your car and fly away.