OT: Car rental in Italy

[dbnm]

I will be going to Italy in a few weeks and will be renting a car.

Any advice?

Will I need the extra extra insurance?

Thanks!

[zzy]

Based on my experience driving there - get all the insurance you can get. Some drivers will take crazy risks in very tight spaces. But man was it beautiful. Doing 200km/h on the autostrade was fun too.

[fogrider]

hope you know how to stick shift.

[dbnm]

I know how to shift stick.
even better.



hope you know how to stick shift.

[fogrider]

I know how to shift stick.
even better.

Petro is expensive, go with a diesel if that's available.

[Polyglot]

I will be going to Italy in a few weeks and will be renting a car.

Any advice?

Will I need the extra extra insurance?

Thanks!

I lived for a decade in Italy with no accidents but many close calls. The drivers are far more adept there than here in the US, but (and it is a huge BUT) the traffic density is much worse so a minor mistake can quickly lead to an accident. There is then the fact that drivers rarely follow all the rules of the road and instead simply rely on common sense. Traffic becomes ever more unruly as you go south. So you need to always be extremely vigilant, especially if you go south of the Po valley. If you are vigilant, you shouldn't have any issues. Having said that, be aware that many credit card issuers who normally give free CDW coverage to their card holders do not necessarily do it in Italy because of the surfeit of fraudulent insurance claims. Amex for example does not cover it in Italy under my card agreement.

[homagesilkhope]

If you use it to rent the car, your credit card likely offers you - automatically, unless you make the mistake of buying the rental car company's insurance - essentially the equivalent coverage of extra, extra insurance (ie, zero deductible collision coverage). Call your credit card company to confirm. Buying the extra extra coverage from the car rental company will increase your rental car insurance costs to roughly $40-50/day.

Speed limit on the autostrada is usually 130 kph, sometimes less depending on weather/traffic conditions. Also, in Italy it's illegal to drive and hold your telephone at the same time.

[Polyglot]

If you use it to rent the car, your credit card likely offers you - automatically, unless you make the mistake of buying the rental car company's insurance - essentially the equivalent coverage of extra, extra insurance (ie, zero deductible collision coverage). Call your credit card company to confirm.

Italy is often a special case as far as free CDW coverage through credit cards. This is what my Amex gold card states: "Coverage is worldwide except for vehicles rented in Australia, Italy, New Zealand and any country on the Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) sanctioned country list." The same also applies to my Visa card, which is why I decided to rent a car in Switzerland instead of Italy earlier this spring (the plane was also cheaper to Zurich than Milan). I ended up saving about $15 a day in CDW, and at the rental desk they ended up giving me a free upgrade to a full option Passat instead of the Golf I had booked.

[Spaghetti Legs]

I found driving in Tuscany pretty standard. Rome kind of hairy, but more just crowded than anything. Naples and environs, free for all. It’s all fun though.

Gas stations work differently, you pay at a central station which wasn’t a big deal, only a little confusing until one disaster day when apparently you can’t use a credit card on Sundays (at least not in Fiumicino). This led to a mad hunt for a cash machine, figuring out how to use cash at the kiosk, and a confrontation with a man who thought I was stealing his gas, all while my flight departure time approached.

[fignon's barber]

I've driven in Italy a bunch of times, and didn't notice any better or worse driving than in, say, Florida. If you are spending any time in Rome, however, I wouldn't recommend a car, especially if you are spending time in the tourist areas. Heavy traffic, very narrow roads, no parking, vespas darting around. I found that part of Rome to be one of the best walking cities in the world.

[merckxman]

btw, become familiar with "ZTL", limited traffic zone, if you are driving into some cities. These restrict when and who can drive into them, otherwise you will be receiving a fine.

[sokyroadie]

btw, become familiar with "ZTL", limited traffic zone, if you are driving into some cities. These restrict when and who can drive into them, otherwise you will be receiving a fine.

True, and don't speed, they have cameras everywhere. I got a ticket in the mail 3 months after I got back. It was already past due and twice the original amount, luckily there were some Italians in town and they handled it and I paid the original amount around $70.00 USD. Avis also charged $30.00 to my CC for supplying my address to the Police, I got dinged twice as I apparently got a ticket for the "ZTL" above leaving Milan (Malpensa) airport. I never received that ticket.

[zzy]

Speed limit on the autostrada is usually 130 kph

Italians aren't big on speed limits. I was in a whole multilane convoy doing 200+, had I been doing less I would have been an obstacle. I was passed by a couple cars and some sportbikes too. Italians drive like it's a race. And +1 on not driving into cities. There are large parking lots outside most major towns.

[Marcovelo]

Another thing to consider is whether your current driver's license will be valid in Italy: you need to make sure there is reciprocity between Italy and whatever state you live in. This is not always the case with all states (at least it was not n 2012 in Germany: haven't checked since then.) Some states had reciprocity; some did not. But this might be different in Italy.

It is likely you will want/need an International Driving Permit: which is really only a translation of your own state license into different languages. You can get one at AAA.

allez

[Tim Porter]

Random thoughts:

On the autostrada, a couple rules will keep you safer. Stay to the right except to pass and only use the left lane to pass another car. Otherwise you'll have a huge Mercedes, or a small Fiat, literally on your bumper in the left lane.

Driving in the city centers can be frustrating. Look for whether or not the no parking rules are in effect. In Rome, the VARCO is either attivo (active) or non-attivo (meaning you can drive in the affected area). This is generally indicated by a sign that is lit up to indicate which is in effect.

If you've done a lot of bike riding in a pace line, you'll be fine. I swear after driving dozens of times in Rome that the lane lines mean very little and you're all just in one big peloton, with the same kinds of give and take.

[sokyroadie]

Also at the roundabouts (and they are EVERYWHERE) ignore yield and stop signs or you will never move. :) I was there in late 2017 and did not need the International drivers license. Get the navigation package with your rental, cell phone data charges (at least with my local carrier) were astronomical.

[makoti]

Rented a car in Rome. The desk person asked if I was driving it south.
-No, north & west, but not to the south. Why do you ask?
-Because we'd charge you more
-You'd charge me more if I went south instead of north? Why?
-We wouldn't expect it to come back. Car thieves.

Driving in Italy is a joy in the countryside & even smaller cities are good. Rome itself is interesting. Parking is going to be the worst thing.

[Climb01742]

I found having voice-directed GPS driving directions very useful. My eyes had more than enough to handle without having to look at a screen. My wife and I split the driving and riding shotgun helping with directions. The actual driving, as others have said, isn’t bad at all once you get the flow of it and get used to blurs passing on your left at insane speeds.:) For me the key was having a game plan for directions. Enjoy!

[makoti]

Italians aren't big on speed limits. I was in a whole multilane convoy doing 200+, had I been doing less I would have been an obstacle. I was passed by a couple cars and some sportbikes too. Italians drive like it's a race. And +1 on not driving into cities. There are large parking lots outside most major towns.

In general, signs and road markings are simply suggestion.

[fmradio516]

Just make sure whatever GPS you use is up to date, especially if you go to a big city.. My wifes family is from outside of rome so we borrowed a car and a GPS. The GPS we had was an old garmin unit a few years ago and when we got to Florence, it took us down tiny streets that go down a half mile and then wind up being gated off with no way to exit or turn around. Had to back up the entire way back up the street with bikes flying by. Super dangerous.

A few minutes later, the GPS brought us through a Piazza that was completely forbidden to cars to be there. About halfway through we noticed people were yelling at us to get out and we wound up getting a ticket in the mail for that.

Those italians!

[arik]

fiat panda all over italy for 2 weeks 10 years ago with my then almost fiance now wife, the time of our lives

[dbnm]

thank you all for the info and advice.

[Polyglot]

An accompanying international driver's license (available cheaply at AAA) is officially required for all American driver's licenses in Italy. The rental companies generally do not require it but the police will more than likely fine you if you do not have one and you are stopped (they have become aware that tourists are fertile ground for collecting revenue). I have also heard of rental agencies at airports in Italy who are short of cars using this requirement as a means of magically opening up availability. So you are better off getting one. When I lived in Italy (more or less the full decade of the 90's), it was perfectly normal to drive over 100 mph on a daily basis. This would now be folly as there are speed cameras everywhere. Every successive trip that I have made to Italy since returning to the US has revealed more and more compliance with the speed limits. This has been achieved through massive enforcement efforts by the state. If you speed excessively, you WILL get caught. Do NOT exceed speed limits on the autostrade by more than 10%. You cannot turn right on red. Roads that have the right of way are indicated with the same standardized sign used throughout Europe Learn the most important road signs used in Italy by going here: http://italyexplained.com/driving-road-signs-italy/). If there is no sign, then priority is always given to the road coming in from the right (except at traffic circles where the party that has already engaged the traffic circle always has right of way unless otherwise specifically indicated). The Zone a traffico limitato (limited traffic zone or ZTL) are areas found throughout the country that were instituted to reduce pollution and traffic in downtown cores. They can exclude all traffic or special classes of vehicles or special classes of people. Taxis are generally exempt as are some special vehicles (often based upon the CO2 emissions, the more polluting cars the likelier they are to be prohibited). They are generally surveilled by camera, and there are no excuses if you erroneously end up in one as they are always indicated. So even if you do not see a policeman, you can count on getting a ticket. There are also days of "targhe alterne" (alternating license plates) where certain license plate numbers (depending on whether the last number is odd or even) are simply precluded from driving to reduce pollution. These days occur almost exclusively during the winter but could in theory also happen any time in the year. Rental cars used to be excluded but I couldn't be sure if that is still the case. The targhe alterne rules generally only apply to the centers of larger cities and not on country roads or outlying areas. Theft of cars and their contents are problems. Also be aware that the Italian auto club recommends that you not use a fob remote to lock your car and to instead use the physical key as thieves have been able to clone keys in less than a few minutes by intercepting the fob signal to the cars. Unlocking with the fob is OK. As mentioned above, you must always keep to the rightmost lane except to pass. If you stay in a left lane, you can count on faster traffic aggressively letting you know that you should not be there, or have the rare police car pull you over and fine you. There are from time to time road blocks with machine-gun wielding enforcement officers. The enforcement officers can be from the police (generally light blue and white cars), carabinieri (dark blue and red cars) who are a combination of federal police, military police and FBI, Vigili urbani (generally dark blue and white cars without the red highlights of the carabinieri) who are more akin to municipal police and Guardia di finanza (generally greenish/greyish/brownish cars with yellow lettering) which are the taxation police [I was stopped more than once by them when I lived in Italy!] The enforcement officers are virtually always in pairs.

[dustyrider]

Many years ago I rented a car in Italy. They ended up not having the econ styles left when I arrived for pick up, so they upgraded me to a Jaguar. The biggest concern I had was using diesel in the car. It was big for the cities, but we just parked and walked most of the time anyways. I didn't think anything of their driving style, but I learned to drive in Massachusetts...:)


Have fun! I'm envious of the food you will enjoy.

[Powerful Pete]

Always find these threads interesting. I suppose it is all cultural - I find driving in the US absolutely terrifying given the utter lack of attention while behind the wheel. I always let my American wife drive when in the US if I can get away with it... :)

Also, do get an international DL - it is easy in the US (it requires you paying a small fee and picking up the booklet - it is essentially an official translation of your DL and nothing more) - no one will ever ask you for it and it won’t be an issue until it is. If you get in an accident or get pulled over, you might have an extra headache without it.

Do a bit of research so you’re not that guy - as polyglot noted, understand the basic signs (like ZTL - Zona Traffico Limitato) and you’ll be 90% there.