Safety of bags in rental cars in Sicily

I asked a similar question on the trip advisor forum regarding Tuscany hill towns since we also like to make en-route stops. Several people who actually live in the region said it is a very bad idea and they would never do it themselves. Is Sicily more law-abiding than Tuscany?

We are also planning a trip to Sicily that includes going from Taormina to Agrigento and would love to stop at Villa Romana. We have traveled in the mainland several times and rented cars, but we would never leave our luggage in the car to stop at a destination. We have decided not to do this in Sicily either. You will get responses that say “I’ve done it without issue” but do you really want to add that level of stress to your trip? We have been in parking lots that are full of glass from windows being broken and I don’t want to be one of those statistics. Just saying…

Generally it is not a good idea ever to leave luggage in a car. However, on a couple of occasions we have had to. Try to find a parking space that is very public, hide the luggage in the car under newspapers, blanket, or in the trunk if you have one. Also, anything of value is in the money belt or backpack. Would hate to lose the clothes but all easily replaceable. We have never had a problem as we do avoid it if at all possible.

Leave nothing visible inside the car to reveal you are a tourist. ( guide books, hotel parking passes , anything that is a tip off)

Be sure to do the 'clean up/sanitizing' before you get to where you leave(park) the car.

Statistically the chances that your car will be broken into while in Italy, including Sicily, are much lower than in the United States.

Even in my own experience, I’ve lived almost half of my life in Italy and just over half in the SFBay Area. I also visited Italy over 40 times since I moved to the U.S. My car(s) have never been broken into while in Italy, whereas in California, I had 8 break ins (and a license plate stolen in Oakland), with even my work computer stolen (in spite of being hidden in the trunk). But in spite of car break ins being rarer in Italy than in California, even in Italy I would not risk leaving anything unattended that I’m not willing to share with the local community.

Your call.

As for Florence, at present it is better not to leave anything in plain sight, not even a pair of glasses. Windows are being broken for trivial things, worth much less than the replacement price of a glass. I receive almost daily reports of glasses being broken. Items in the trunk may be marginally safer - marginally.

We did stop at Villa Romana Casale and leave our luggage in the car. It is a pay lot and we parked near the buses where the drivers were standing around. Our luggage was covered in the trunk and we did not go into the trunk after arriving. We all took backpacks with everything we felt we absolutely could not loss (e.g., travel information, medications) as well as taking our passports.

The cover to the trunk looked the same whether there was nothing in it or four suitcases so no way to discern whether it had anything in it.

It was a calculated risk but the only other option for us was not visit. We did not leave our suitcases in the car any other time.

Thank you for your helpful responses.

Just like in a city in the U.S.

When possible, leave nothing in the car.

If you leave something in the car, leave it in the trunk. DON'T put it in the trunk after you park (don't let people see you putting something in the trunk). Have everything in the trunk before you park; so you can simply get out, lock it, and walk away. If necessary, stop briefly somewhere else to put things away before you pick a parking spot.

As already mentioned, leave the inside of the car clean with nothing (tour books, English language books/brochures, etc.) that would mark you as a tourist.

That said, often rental car companies put something on the car that marks you as a tourist (window sticker, gas cover sticker) anyway, so you should also try to park in safe areas. Look for parking areas that are well lit, little graffiti, no one hanging around and especially no broken glass (from car windows) on the ground. I've seen plenty of sketchy parking lots in Italy that I avoided completely (La Spezia train station comes to mind). It's better to pay for secure parking than to have your things stolen.

If you decide to park with your belongings in the car, do the following:
1. Look for a pay parking that is guarded by live staff (not just a useless camera). The word to look for is PARCHEGGIO CUSTODITO (guarded parking).
2. Take the most important and valuable items with you (important documents, medicines, and especially electronic devices).
3. Place items that you don’t want to lose but are not taking with you inside the spare tire hold. Also scatter everything in the trunk instead of leaving it in the bag. It’s easy and fast to run away with a bag, but if everything is scattered maybe they can only take a few garments.
4. Back your car against an obstacle (wall, tree, bush) so to make access to the trunk more difficult. Be aware that your rental car will almost certainly be a hatchback or a station wagon (rental sedans are rare) therefore people will be able to access your trunk by simply lowering the back seat after they break the side window and enter the car from the car door.

I would advise against it. There is always a possibility of something happening. There are many luggage storage places nowadays. Also just because one person has had a problem doesn't necessarily mean you will.