Is there a risk of a ticket with 6 people in a 5 person car?

Chris, The car rental agency was undoubtedly giving you the correct information. It's very likely that the law in Italy requires one seat belt per person, so if you're caught there could be fines. In some cases, fines in Italy are collected on the spot, and those that don't pay will have their car impounded (rental or not). Of course the likelihood of being caught is difficult to predict. As a 30-year Paramedic & First Aid Attendant (retired), I definitely agree with the previous comments from David. There's no way I'd want to take a chance with my children's safety, so would take the larger vehicle. European cars have "limited" luggage capacity, so if you'll have the whole gang in the vehicle WITH luggage, you'll probably need the Van. I'm assuming you're aware of the usual "caveats" regarding driving in Italy? If you need further information, post another note. Happy travels!

I absolutely agree with the two prior posters. If you kill these poor children, and possibly other passengers as they fly about, if you survive you should expect the Italian authorities to do you for murder as it was a knowing act. In a former career I responded to car crashes. You don't want to know what carnage can be caused by items and people flying around. I also agree about the luggage. European cars don't have big luggage areas - neither do people carriers (mini-vans). You really need to work out where the luggage will go. For the same reason as not having people not properly secured, you mustn't have the family with luggage on their laps. The car stops. The luggage flies forward hitting people on the back of the head ... BTW - children of that age are required by European law not only to be strapped in independently but also to each have an appropriate child seat or booster attached to the car - based on their age and weight.

Bite the bullet and pay for the appropriate sized vehicle. Your children's safety should come before cost savings. Donna

I've, similarly, have traveled in Italy with 4 adults and 2 children with a rental car seating 5 and staying at an agriturismo just outside of a small Tuscan hill town. For day trips from the "home base" we were able to get creative to avoid situations where we would have 6 in the car. Sometimes we were able to send an adult and child ahead on train or bus to a town we were visiting. Other times it made sense for a couple of people stay back. Sometimes the car was used to shuttle a small group to the train station, for example. And, admittedly, there were times we all piled in for short trips to town on local roads. If you're relying on the car as your sole mode of transportation for the entire trip then, by all means, get the larger vehicle. If you can combine the car with train and other modes of public transit then the standard size car can work. Also, consider how often all six will be day-tripping together or, if it's more likely to be smaller groups.

While I agree with the previous safety and ticket concerns, the more likely scenario is that there is no way you will fit all those people AND your luggage for the trip to the airport. Even packing light will mean more luggage than will fit in a trunk and there will be no place in the car for it. That alone calls for the larger vehicle.

Thanks for all of the valuable feedback. We were planning on doing what Ryan had talked about - mostly use the car to ferry people to the train station for our day trips away from home base. Most of the time we probably wouldn't have all 6 of us in the car at the same time other than the trip back to the airport in Rome. But I do agree that the mini-van is the safest choice. Now I just have to see why Hertz won't accept the Marriott Rewards discount code at the Florence train station location. -Chris

Hertz isn't the only game in town. Use Kayak.com or carentals.com or autoeurope.com or autoeurope.de Search around and probably get much better prices.

Chris, Do not do it, for the following reasons: (1) as it will be written in any rental agreement - regardless of a sales pitch by the phone -, it will be voided if you are carrying more people than the allowed legal capacity. (2) insurance is null when you carry more people than allowed. (3) many modern cars have 3-point central seat-belts (4) in the unlikely even you are stopped by police, fines do apply (5) above everything else, it is outright dangerous, no savings from renting a larger car pays for the risk of serious injury to your kids

Instead of a full mini-van, you could try some car with two extra seats on the back like the Zafira.

Chris, "I just have to see why Hertz won't accept the Marriott Rewards discount code at the Florence train station location." The comment quoted above raised some definite "red flags". As I mentioned earlier, there are some "caveats" regarding driving in Italy, and that's especially true in Florence. You may want to do some research on the dreaded Zona Traffico Limitato areas in order to avoid expensive tickets, which you'll receive several months after you get home. One recent post here indicated that the authorities in Italy hired a U.S.-based Collection Agency, and the "damage" was ~$500 by the time he got it settled. I can't recall where the Cameras are located in the vicinity of the train station, but this is definitely something you should check. Kent posted a Map here some time ago, but I'd have to do some searching to find it. Cheers!

Ken is right, driving IN Florence should be avoided. I used the Florence airport to return my car.

Ken and Andrea, We have no plans of driving in Florence. We would only get the car there at the end of the day that we are visiting there and drive it directly back to the villa we are staying at. I had understood that the rental agencies should be able to provide you with very specific directions for getting out of their lots and directly onto the highway out of town and thereby avoiding all of the penalty zones. As for the recommendation to try some of the other rental sites, I've been through all of them and I'm not really finding anything better than the Hertz rate for the minivan. I thought I had one for about $100 less at Thrifty but I'm reading the fine print and I don't think the CDW is included in their rate. Will give them a call to clarify. Thanks.