We're a family of 5 traveling through Western Europe these next few weeks by rental car. In our travels we're spending one niht in Cinque Terra and one night in Venice where my plan was to just leave our luggage in the trunk and just take a few backpacks/overnight bags. I've since read on here not to leave anything in the car especially in Venice. What should I do? We're spending a few nights in Milan before going to CT and a few nights in Rome before heading to Venice. Should I try and buy a bike lock somewhere and try to secure our luggage to the car? Not sure where to find one though.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23343 posts
The common advice is not to leave any luggage in any car at any time. Securing your luggage to the car is of little value because a major problem is the damage done to the vehicle while trying to get to the luggage. On the surface it sounds like you might have too much luggage. You might get away with something in the trunk because it is well hidden but I would not. Unless you are renting a large sedan, five people with five carryon size bags will more than fill the standard rental.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
If you must leave luggage in the car (and it's a risky thing to do) try to find a parking space where you can back the car up against a wall so that the trunk cannot be opened. We did that once but you need to get lucky with the space. On the other hand, you ask, "What should we do?" Well, what you should do is take all your baggage with you into the hotel. The end.
Posted by
havertown
22 posts
We parked our car in the Tronchetto lot for 3 nights with our luggage in the trunk with no problems. We were on a 4 week driving trip through Germany, Austria and Italy. What I did, was pack a small bag with what we needed for the 3 days in Venice as we left our hotel in Germany. Doing that, we did not have to open the trunk for anything when we parked. We just took the bag out of the back seat on went on our way. I would in no way open the trunk in the lot to advertise to any "lurkers" that it contains items. One of the "tricks" I had read elsewhere was to leave an Italian newspaper on the front seat to make it appear as the vehicle belongs to a local. I would have no second thoughts on doing it again. Lydia
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
No doubt lots of people have done this and not had their luggage stolen. However, the consequences of being one of the unlucky ones and having your luggage stolen would be enough to dissuade me from doing this. I would take my bags into the hotel where they will be much safer.
Posted by
OP
Cincinnati, Oh, Usa
3 posts
Thanks for the advice! I was able to reserve a parking spot from our hotel in riomaggorie that is an actual garage with a lock so I feel better about that. In Venice I'm just going to leave the largest suitcase in the trunk full of dirty laundry and take the others with us. It won't be visible and I decided I'd sleep better taking the rest of our luggage with us. We have one suitcase and one backpack for each of us. It's manageable but I was trying to make it even easier by just taking the backpacks with all of the steps in Venice (and I'm sure well get approached by more gypsies when were rolling our suitcases). I like the idea of leaving an Italian newspaper in the car, but I think the French license plates will give us away!
Posted by
havertown
22 posts
"I like the idea of leaving an Italian newspaper in the car, but I think the French license plates will give us away!" LOL ! ! ! Lydia