Leaving Luggage in Rental Car?

Dennis,

Leaving luggage in a rental car (whether covered or not) is not something I'd ever do. I've heard of several cases where travellers returned to their car and found one of the windows broken and all their kit missing. If the lot has an attendant, that would help but IMO it's still risky.

I'm sure there will be a variety of opinions on the topic. If you decide to try it, be sure to post another note when you get back, as I'm sure the info would be helpful for others here.

Good luck!

Like you, we have had times when it was unavoidable to leave our luggage while we toured. (Stopping to see something when going from one city to another, etc) While it always makes me nervous, so far it has worked out for us. We always put everything in the trunk out of sight, we get out what we need when we start the day so that we never open up the trunk when we park (in case someone is watching). We hide all maps, books, etc so it does not look like we are "on the road". (Even if our car is obviously a rental, we don't want to "look" like we are driving between cites-even if we are) Always carry the things you cannot afford to lose (passport, money, etc). The truth is, you can be robbed anywhere. The only person I know who has actually had their car broken into and robbed of ALL their suitcases and everything in them (contact lenses included) had it happen in downtown Philly at a "guarded" parking garage. We also have travel insurance for all our European trips, and it includes stolen or lost luggage. However, I hope we never have to use it. If you are really concerned about it, you could look into leaving the luggage at the train station. To be honest, if I were driving into Flornece, I would probably be more worried about the ZTL zones. :) Have a great trip.

But Connie, we all know in Philly that a "guarded" parking garage means one where the guy working there calls his buddies and tells them which cars are loaded. ;)

Dennis - have you driven in Florence before? If not you should search the threads on here about some of the nightmares people have had with tickets and zones, etc. Someone may have a good recommendation on where you could leave the car (relatively safely) outside the city and bus or train in.

I read in one of Rick's books once to put a local newspaper in the window of the car to make your car look like that of a local and make sure all luggage and valuables, including GPS systems, are out of sight. Good Luck!

I purchased a cheap $2 black travel blanket from Target & took it with us in case we had to leave our luggage in our car. My plan was to cover the luggage with the blanket just so it didn't stand out. Luckily we never had to leave our luggage in the car. I also used the blanket on the plane & at night in hotels if I got cold. Just an idea. I personally would have been nervous the whole time wondering if our luggage would still be there when we got back to the car. I like the idea of putting an Italian newspaper on the dashboard.

I think the tip to put a local language newspaper visible in the car is a good one, no matter where you are.

We use the newspaper idea. Just be sure it is the current paper (today if it's daily, this week if its weekly). We enjoy trying to read the local paper so it isn't wasted money!

We always have a car with a true trunk and never leave maps, sweaters, food, or anything in the car. We've never had a problem.

I must be the luckiest sucker alive. We usually make three month-long trips a year to europe. The back seat of the car looks like the beverly hillbillies live in it. Yank the gps off of the window, toss it on the floor, and throw something over it -- that's it. Probably no suitcase in the back overnight since it's made its way into the hotel, but everthing else is still flopping around.

Never had a problem and never thought much about it -- and we go to some pretty odd places I have screwed up a couple of times by leaving the gps in the window turned on -- it was sill glowing at me the next morning.

Guess my time will come; meanwhile, there are better things to worry about. Florence during the day I sure wouldn't worry about, the place is crawling with visible cops and a few folks who look suspiciously like plain-clothes types to boot.