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Rental Car after Village Italy tour

Posted by (Sonoma County, California) on

We are booked on the Village Italy tour next year and I'm interested in renting a car after the tour. It doesn't look like there are any car rental places near the final tour city (Orta San Giulio) and that I would need to get to MXP to rent a car.

The tour intinerary says "Your guide will help coordinate transportation to Malpensa, leaving you well prepared for the road ahead." so it looks like we should be able to get to MXP airport easily after the tour. Is this typically by taxi (perhaps shared taxis from the final tour hotel)? How long should I plan to get to MXP? I'm thinking of a rental car from MXP with car pickup around 10 am; does that sound reasonable? (an hour or so later would be ok, but I'm an early riser, so early is better). To be clear: I don't have to have an exact time to pick up the car, just want to know what to expect.

I'm also interested in suggestions for a driving trip for three days after the tour but maybe I'll post that in a separate forum. I'm thinking about trying to see parts of northern Italy that the BOI and Village Italy tours do not cover (specifically Turin) but any other suggestions? By the way, our return flight is out of FCO (Rome) so I am thinking of ending the drive there.

I would love to plan some "interesting" experiences during those 3 days. Something along the lines of the buffalo farm (that was on the South Italy tour) or other interesting/different activities or stops.

Thanks for your suggestions!

Posted by
588 posts

I did the Village Italy tour in May. Over the course of the tour, our tour guide collected everyone’s travel plans and then organized groups to share hired cars to the airport or the center of Milan. The timing was based on when flights (or trains) were leaving. People with early flights left first, then people with later flights. People who were staying in central Milan at hotels left last.. Since you would not be actually catching a flight, the guide would probably put you in whichever car had space, but would certainly be responsive to your needs. Since each car had a flat price, the more people in the car, the cheaper the per person cost.

Posted by
11693 posts

Lake Orta is very near Stresa on Lake Maggiore. You may even want to stay in Stresa for a few days where you see how beautiful and large Lake Maggiore is.
There are many car rental places in Stresa where you can pick
up a rental car. Easy to do. Google “car rentals Stresa Italy”.

Posted by
14972 posts

My long ago experience with Village Italy onward transit was the same as Renee's. The guides for this tour itinerary have this down pat. The train from Orta needs planning ahead since there is not a ticket office there so I'd just go with going to Malpensa with other group members and renting the car there....unless you are planning to explore somewhere other than Northern Italy? In that instance I might choose to take the shuttle transfer to Milano Centrale, take a train to another spot and rent there.

Where are you flying out of?

Posted by
131 posts

Pam,

Flying in and out of Rome. I'm thinking about something like this:

  • Sunday taxi to MXP, get rental car, drive to Turin, stay there.
  • Monday night ?
  • Tuesday night: perhaps in Tuscany somewhere
  • Wednesday night, stay at FCO airport hotel (drop car off)
  • Thursday am flight.

So that means either staying in Turin 2 nights or perhaps visiting a different place.

Another option is to drive to Aosta Valley and stay there instead of Turin. We really liked Chamonix on our recent Best of Eastern France tour, so maybe seeing the mountains from a different perspective would be nice.

A third option is to drive to Aosta for 2 nights, then 1 night in Turin, then a long day driving to FCO. I'm leaning against that one, Turin to FCO shows as 7 hours in google maps. Breaking up the drive into 2 days is probably better than one long driving day.

I think I like planning trips almost as much as going on the actual trip itself.

Thanks,
Tony

Posted by
7335 posts

If you are interested in going to Turin, there are regular buses from Malpensa airport. I would not drive; a car is unnecessary in Turin!
I would rent a car when ready to leave Turin in order to explore the region, either towards Aosta valley or in Piemonte (the wine country is beautiful). Then, I would return the car in Turin and fly or take the train to Rome; flying could be more convenient if your final night is at the airport.

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