Rental car

Linda - we used Auto Europe to reserve the car that we had in Sicily last year. Going onto their website you will be able to see where they have their cars - so you can tell if there is another option besides the airport. We had flown into Palermo and spent a few days there before we went to get our rental car. It was in the city, NOT at the airport.

BTW - in case you don't know - Auto Europe is the car rental consolidator, so you will get your actual rental car from another company (i.e. Europecar or Hertz) but your rental is through Auto Europe.

Hi, Linda. In general it almost always cheaper to rent/reserve from the US before you go. One - US sites usually have better prices, and 2 - the closer you get to the rental the higher the rates can be.

You can rent airport to airport or in the cities. A lot of people here will recommend that you don't drive a car into most big Italian cities. Where are you planning on going? :)

I am planning on being in Catania on May 23 and I will then go over to Palermo and then take a ferry to Naples and go to Amalfi, then to Rome and finally to Venice.

We just got back and rented. We did it from states. Do it in advance so you can ensure you get the type of car you want. Remember cars are much smaller and many have manual transmission. So, be specific on what car and the type of equipment

Just as an addition to what Tom has to say about manual transmission cars, just because you request an automatic does not mean you will get an automatic. They are rarer than in N. America.

If you have access to a computer and a credit card, you can access Autoeurope from anywhere. It is cheaper because you can pay in American dollars.