I am needing to rent a couple cars in Palermo in October for our tip to Sicily. I have done several searches and get lots of different results. Is there a best website for seeing some comparisons? I know of AutoEurope and the sites like Expedia, Booking and carrental.com. But when buying airline tickets, it is so easy to go to Googleflights and see all options and the best (or almost always best) prices.
When I do the searches, the cost of the bigger US mainstream companies like Hertz, Budget, Alamo .. . are always on the expesive end. Does anyone have experience with Sicily by Car, Italycarrental, and Noleggiare? I know of Sixt and some of the other European agencies. I have found some reviews and most all get OK to good reviews, obviously I would avoid some of the worst ones. What else do I need to look out for?
Price wise some list by the day, some by week, or other by the whole trip. Then when you go to checkout all sorts of other fees and charges start to appear. This makes it hard to compare sometimes. Thanks, any tips would help.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16959 posts
Try www.autoeurope.com or www.autoeurope.eu
Auto Europe is a broker/consolidator. I generally use that, but you can probably try other venues, including the individual car rental companies’ websites.
Sixt is good. SicilybyCar is good (at least in my experience) and they are big in Italy, especially in Sicily where the company was founded.
Never tried Noleggiare yet.
Consider purchasing the full zero deductible insurance coverage option (no matter which company) or they’ll ding you for the smallest scratch, and the deductible is at least 1,000€ which maybe you can get reimbursed by your credit card but only after you pay in full the rental agency.
Posted by
Twin Cities of MN
7513 posts
I used Autoeurope and the car was from Avis. Picked up in Siracusa and dropped in Trapani. Absolutely no issues.
Posted by
Saint Paul, Minnesota
1932 posts
For many years, all of our car rentals in Italy have been from Europcar, and that's who we rented from at the Palermo airport this March. Drove all around Sicily for a month and then returned it to the airport again. I guess we don't price shop ever because we find Europcar to be reasonable.
Posted by
493 posts
Hello,
Plese do your research before renting cars about the ZTL's and the fines for driving in/thru them (even if it is by accident). I have also read on this forum and others about rental cars being broken into, etc. Buses in Sicily go all over and are very efficient and not expensive at all. There are trains as well, but buses are the way to go in Sicily, and they are comfortable as well. I do not suggest driving at all in Palermo. There is company AST and Interbus.
https://sittingunderapalmtree.com/getting-around-sicily-by-bus-and-train/