We are renting a car for 1 day in Sienna to visit a couple hill towns. There are four adults and we won't need room for luggage since its a day trip. Can anyone recommend what size of car we should get. I've read a few tips and I know the cars are much smaller than in the US and the roads are narrow. Any tips are greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8371 posts
They've got mini cars, like a Smart. Then they've got a little larger size--skip'em.
Get the next larger size--maybe called mid sized.
Chances are they're not much more expensive than the two smaller sizes.
I suggest visiting San Gimignano in the late afternoon--after all the tour buses have left. And we absolutely loved Volterra.
I hope you can drive a straight shift automobile, as most rentals are not automatic. The countryside has very good roads, but they're pretty hilly and crooked. And they have road signs pointing you to the popular hill towns along the way.
We love rambling from hilltown to hilltown in Tuscany.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16234 posts
The cars are made the same size as in the US.
Volkswagen makes the Golf in Europe the same size as in the US, Ford makes the Fiesta the same size as in the US, Toyota makes the Yaris the same size in both size of the Atlantic.
It's just that Europeans tend to use smaller models like the ones mentioned above more, rather than large SUV, because they are more maneuverable in those ancient city streets and also gasoline costs 3 times as much as in America. However they have also have many of the same larger models and SUVs that you can find in America as well.
For 4 people without luggage, assuming they are regular size/height people, any compact model will do, e.g. Golf, Grande Punto, Ford Focus, Fiat 500L.
An intermediate will do too. Don't get anything larger or you might encounter problems parking.
They also have the Mini category there. That would be a Smart for Two, or a Fiat 500 (not the L model).
Don't get those, they are too small.
If you want automatic you might need to book intermediate. Smaller models are more likely manual transmission.
Posted by
4 posts
We were in Tuscany fall of 2015. Rented a Fiat 500 for 4 of us, all adults of average size(guys 6 ft tall, women 5 1/2 ft tall). Drove around Sienna, San Gimignano, Volterra, over thru Livorno to Cinque Terre, Don't drive to Cinque Terre unless you have verified parking as the is very little parking in Cinque Terre, we were fortunate to have parking with the flat we rented. Found the Fiat to be comfortable and sized appropriately for Italian roads in Tuscany.
Posted by
OP
18 posts
Thank you everyone for your feed back, this is very helpful.