We (2 couples) will be traveling to Castellina de Chianti, Tuscany from Levanto, CQ in mid September.
What is the best option to get there? Train, Car Rental, private driver..?
We are going to rent a car while in Tuscany for day trips...but didn't necessarily want to rent a large car to hold our luggage...just a smaller vehicle for the day trips..
Posted by
Boston, MA
1832 posts
If your place in Levanto has free parking I would rent a car and drive it but not everyone is as open to driving in a foreign country.
Wanted to post mainly to remind you that small cars in Italy are really small. Even their larger cars are small by our standards. If you are 4 adults you don't want a compact car in Italy even if no luggage. You will be tight in a mid size rental.
Posted by
Wyckoff, NJ, USA
8079 posts
Because hill town parking lots can be very tight, I'd get the smallest car you can bear, for day trips. You could take the train to Pisa or Florence and rent there, or drive. Learn about ZTLs and refresh your standard transmission ability. Investigate CDW options - many credit card coverages are invalid in Italy.
Luggage for 4 can be an issue. If you're flying a bargain airline maybe you won't have big bags? It's unwise to leave anything visible in the car, anyway.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16238 posts
You will certainly need a rental car while in Castellina.
In your shoes I would rent a car at La Spezia (a city next to Cinque Terre) and drive from there.
Levanto is technically not part of the Cinque Terre and is easily accessible by car, so you could even rent before going there and drive to Levanto from wherever you are before (you don't say where you are before Levanto). If you travel on Sunday the La Spezia offices are likely closed, in which case the next available rental office, open on Sunday, is the Pisa airport.
The amount of luggage determines the size of the car. An economy car is small, about the size of a Toyota Yaris hatchback or a Ford Fiesta HB. This is ok for 2 or 3 passengers, but not for 4, unless you each couple has one suitcase only.
A compact car is the size of a VW Golf or Fiat 500-L. Probably insufficient for 4 suitcases, even if all carry-on size. Maybe one suitcase would need to go between the two passengers in the back seat.
An Intermediate car has a trunk large enough that should be sufficient, if you can all do with one carry on size bag plus a backpack. If suitcases are larger, you will unlikely fit all four in the trunk.
A standard size car (large) is generally a VW Passat Station Wagon size. That is definitely sufficient. In such car I had 5 people, with 4 large suitcases + backpacks.
If you drive automatic cars only, those are generally standard size anyhow.
Check pricing on www.autoeurope.com