When we vacationed in Croatia in 2023, we went all out and had Secret Dalmatia customize our entire itinerary. The excellent tour company arranged luxurious and unique lodging, private tour guides, and private drivers for our land travel, even a long leg from Dubrovnik to Zadar.
We had a trip to Italy planned in May of 2024, but we had to cancel due to a personal emergency. We had taken a less expensive approach to that trip. We did all the planning ourselves and would have used high speed rail for the longest legs. We planned to rent a car at the Florence airport and then drive to various locations - Lucca, Vernazza, Volterra and Siena. Cars are not permitted in the city centers of those places, but public parking facilities are available nearby.
We now want to reschedule the itinerary in the spring of 2025. However, I have recently reached an age (75) when I'm not as sharp witted as I once was. I'm still fine driving in the US, but I’d be less comfortable when distracted by unfamiliar signs, navigating and [pardon the stereotype] Europe's most aggressive drivers. Travel by bus or local train would take up way too much of our vacation time.
What I’d like to do is hire private drivers for our land travel. Cost is not an issue, but I'd like to shop wisely. It is easy to find drivers for airport and train station transfers, but I don't see any pool of chauffeurs available for one-way travel of 90 km or more. I've seen an interesting recommendation for FindTransfers.com on this forum. It plays matchmaker with taxi companies, but apparently not with independent chauffeurs. The tour companies keep their own pool of subcontracted chauffeurs, who are not taxi drivers, but those people are usually obligated to drive only for the tour companies.
Does anyone know of any independent drivers that specialize in cross country legs for private hire?