Practicality of renting a car in Tuscany

We're renting a car to explore the area around Lucca on our trip. We're in Italy for 21 days, and are only renting a car for 3 days. We were going to rent in Florence and drive to Lucca, but after hearing the horror stories about ZTL, etc. we decided to train to Lucca and rent there. We're staying in Bagni di Lucca, about 10 miles outside of Lucca. Basically, the bigger the city the less fun it is to drive, and the less it makes sense. Initially I used kayak.com to rent a car from Hertz. After setting that up, I read about this place: http://www.vroomvroomvroom.com/ They were the same cost for the cheapest car, but if you wanted to step up to the next larger car is was much cheaper on vroomvroomvroom. We saved $75 over the three days. I bought a garmin nuvi 275T because it comes with european maps. I found one for $130 at Fry's. I plan to sell it when I return.

Ted gave you some great tips. (and I reallly want to emphasize that you stay away from any city that has ZTL's!) One more thaing to add is that the rail and bus system in that area is awesome. We only use a rental car to "get off the beaten path". Rent your car here thru one of the wonderful and tried-but true EU auto brokers like Autoeurope.com or Gemut.com. AE's web site is great. Fiddle with the pick-up locations and you will see that that prices are usually much higher if you pick up at an airport or train station. Renting in one town and droping off at another is common. Bring your own GPS and a small Michelin fold-out map of Italy. Don't forget your International Drivers Permit, and your drivers license.

Oh, this is good info. Thank you both. Is an Int'l drivers license really necessary? Or can I get away with just a Canadian driver's license? What about priceline.com to bid on a car. Is there an extra fee for pickup in one town and drop off in another? thx!

I have rented many times and never had the license, however, I never had been asked, so I didn't bother. I am going in a few weeks and it is only $15 so I thought it was stupid not to get it in case I get stopped. I really never knew I should have one. As far as renting in Florence... there is no reason to drive in the city. You just get the car at the airport and get on the freeway. What a pain to land somewhere, then have to haul your stuff to take a train because of the zones. All of that probably costs more than the ticket. If you drop it in the same country there is usually not an additional charge. I always bid on priceline here in the US, but on international trips I do not...just in case of flight delays, who knows? I call or email all the rental companies then just go with the cheapest that I do not have to prepay. I keep checking and will always change if I find a cheaper rate. What part of the Italian Riviera are you thinking?

Thx Terry. I don't plan to drive in the city. That's just nuts. I'm in Florence for a few days. Then pick up a car and drive to Cortona. See the area. Stay a few days. Them drive to the coast. Probably stay in the Viareggio area. From there take a day trip drive up to Portofino or maybe even up to Genova. Pick a spot to watch the sunset. Have dinner and drive back. Thoughts? Comments? Thx!

From Viareggio it takes a couple of hours to drive to Portofino in the winter. In the summer it could take two hours just to get into Portofino from Rapallo. Plus, you've got a pretty good hike to get from the harbor to the west side of the peninsula to see the sun. You might want to think about watching sunset from the beach at Camoglie instead - - less traffic. The grub's cheaper there anyway. Sunset on the summer solstice at that lattitude is going to be around nine - - making for a long drive home.

I use autoeurope.com for my European car rentals. They are a consolidator and you choose what car you want. You won't know what company it is until you book, but it is no problem to change things. When are you going? They often have deals if you sign up for their emails. You will want full insurance for Italy. You will need the International Drivers Permit (IDP), plus your local driver's license. The IDP simply translates your local license into other languages. Rent for as few days as you can get away with, but the driving is really no problem. Take a GPS AND maps. Get the smallest car possible, because some roads are very narrow and parking spaces are really small. Have a great time!!

Tom, the IDP is the law in Italy! Before you bid on a Priceline car do go to the Autoeurope web site and check their rates. One more thing. If something goes wrong AE and Gemut will stand behind you, and..... all of their charges are quoted, up front. And one more thing; do NOT get the smallest car...get AT LEAST the next size up. The smallest are really underpowered; we almost got killed in one. When we go with friends we usually rent a small station wagon, and we can go most areas with no problem.

Have a special place in my heart for Portofino as on my first trip to Europe drove and finally hit the Mediterranean coast about 10pm after a long driving day... and there was the beautiful sea with a full moon sparkling on the water.... perfect memory. Stayed at a 'rustic' little place a bit further down the coast and when I woke up in the morning the shutters opened to the beautiful blue Mediterranean (visions of Enchanted April...a British chick flick) Genova was a bit too big for my taste. I would mapquest to check mileage. That drive was easier for me than the Amalfi coast, and there were beautiful views as well.

' I would mapquest to check mileage. ' Mileage ain't the problem, and software won't tell the story since it computes based on posted speed limits. It's about three miles from SML to Portofino. I've walked it in less than forty-five minutes. It's also taken me well over an hour to drive it. It just depends on how thick the strollers are and the illegally parked cars that make choke point after choke point.

Take a good GPS, believe me you will be glad you have it. We survived driving without one in Italy but lost a lot of time because signage in Italy, unlike Northern Europe, is either unclear or nonexistent. I came home and bought a TomTom right away and use it for vacation driving both here and Europe.