Our family of 6 adults is considering traveling to Italy. I have been to Italy three times and 3 of the others have been once. We will likely start in Venice and end in Rome. We will have 2 weeks and would like to set up a base in Tuscany or Umbria to tour some hill towns and make a day trip to Florence to see the Duomo and Accademia. I am not sure where to begin with planning this part of the trip. I would think an agritourismo would be best, but I am concerned about getting a rental vehicle large enough for 6 plus luggage for the journey. Does anyone have experience with traveling with a group this size? Any recommendations for vehicles and lodging are appreciated!
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
We traveled as a group of 16 last summer and rented two large passenger vans. You can rent them from almost all the rental companies. Be sure to get an International Drivers Permit for anyone who plans to drive. It's required by law.
Donna
Posted by
Pennsylvania, USA
38 posts
Buon giorno Stephen!
We are a party of 6 traveling to Italy in September. We will be visiting Rome, Positano, and Florence. I have reserved apts in all three destinations through VRBO. Two are 3 bedrms, 3 bath and the other is 2 bedrms, 2 bath with a sofa bed. I find apt rental to be very affordable and like having the feeling of "my own place". Although our apts are centrally located in each destination, VRBO has countryside rentals available. Do you plan on renting a car? Check out their website. You can put in your requirements and save available rentals to a "favorites" list until you decide on which one suits your needs. Homeaway is their sister site so your saved properties will come up on both but all of the same properties are not listed on both sites. Buona fortuna e buon viaggio!
Posted by
Pennsylvania, USA
38 posts
Oops! I totally ignored the part about transportation rental. Mi dispiace! We use public transport so I'm afraid I have no suggestions for the vans. Happy traveling!
Posted by
Pensacola
9110 posts
Sixteen divided by two is eight. Isn't that past the legal limit for a non-commercial drivers license?
Posted by
Chicago
792 posts
My family routinely travels with 6 adults. We usually don't have a problem finding lodging. We mostly rent 3 bedroom apartments. A few times we have done 3 room in a hotel or bed and breakfast.
We have also rented minivans for 6 without a problem. It gets a little tight with luggage but is doable. The downside is that minivans seem to cost a lot more than an economy sized car (to rent and to fuel) and it seems to be even more so in Europe. But it was comfortable to travel around. You probably won't need a car in Venice or Rome. So look into some rental car companies base out of Florence to get an idea on pricing. If you think cost would be prohibitive, I think you could rent apartments in a couple of central locations (central to the area you want to see, not central Rome) and do day trips using trains or buses.
As far as the logistics of travelling with 6 people together-I think it can work out well. My only recommendation is to be willing to split up sometimes. If all of your opinions on what to see, when to eat, etc coincide, great! But at least with my family, this will not happen for 14 days straight. So we go with the mindset that we know there are times we will do our own thing some days and no one feels offended or has hurt feelings.
Posted by
OP
Charleston, SC, USA
927 posts
Thanks for the replies! Good info here!
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
Who says I don't have a commercial drivers license or that someone else in my party didn't? ;-)
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16240 posts
No need for a commercial driver's license to drive a passenger vehicle as long as the number of passengers' seats does not exceed 9 (INCLUDING THE DRIVER).
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16895 posts
You may find that the van rental costs about the same as two smaller cars, and can choose which better fits the style of your group. Auto Europe works with many suppliers, so that's a good place for a price comparison.
Posted by
8 posts
Stephen,
We also are traveling with 6 in October. We are starting with 1 day in Milan using hotel reservations (Hotel Soperga, which I found on TripAdvisor).
We then catch the train to Venice staying at an apartment rental (3 bedroom/2 bath rental through www.locappart.com via Homeaway, Simeone II) where we will stay 3 nights.
We leave Venice for Tuscany in a rental van (7 passenger) from Autoeurope. We have the van for a week @ $866 (with insurance!) which we could not match with 2 seperate car rentals. We are staying at an agritourismo (La Bruciata) which I found on Slow Travel Italy (www.slowtrav.com/Italy). The agritourismo is located just outside Montepulciano and the rental has 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. That is our base to see Florence, Siena, Pienza and the Val d'Orcia. I have located some sites that show the parking locations in Florence and Siena so I am not worried about driving to those locations.
Finally we drop off the van in Rome and stay there 5 nights. We have another apartment rental (3 bedrooms/3baths) found on Homeaway also (Casa Rubino).
All the locations we are staying at had great reviews and I am stoked to get there. October cannot come fast enough!
Have a great trip.