For some travellers, renting a car in Italy is a dream come true. For others, it’s a nightmare. We’ve rented cars in Italy a few times, but we’ve also visited Italy and not rented a car.

The first thing to decide for any trip to Italy is whether you want to or need to rent a car. We’ll help you decide, and if you do, we have the big list of “renting a car in Italy tips”.

Our goal is to make it as easy and inexpensive as possible.

Let’s say you’re mainly visiting cities in Italy. You’re going to fly to Rome or Milan and also visit Florence and Siena. Our advice is not to rent a car. Take the trains between cities. The sleek Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) trains between major cities such as Rome and Florence are spectacular.

Trains take you from city center to city center and taxis are waiting outside the station. Or, if you’ve planned ahead, you might be able to take a bus or the subway to your hotel or apartment. So much easier than renting a car.

Yes. In many cases, that’s the only way you’ll be able to conveniently reach smaller towns and villages. Although Italy has a good system of trains and buses, they don’t go everywhere and not at the times that might be convenient to you.

The country roads are quite wonderful and there’s nothing like driving from village to village on your own schedule.

So, if you’re flying in and heading right to the country, rent your car at or near the airport and hit the country roads, away from the cities.

Three main reasons:

• If you’ve never driven in an Italian city, you’re just not qualified. Sorry. Italians have their own way of driving. You’ll be a nervous wreck in no time. Worse yet, you could be in an accident which will really put a dent in your vacation.
• You aren’t allowed to drive in many city centers in a rental. You’ll likely be in be a ZTL zone (Zona Traffico Limitato or Zone of Limited Traffic, for local drivers with permits only) and you’re guaranteed to get hefty fines. There are cameras everywhere.
• You won’t find a parking spot. If you park illegally, another big ticket.

Let’s say you want to spend most of your time in cities, but also enjoy day trips in the country. Our suggestion would be to research tour operators who can take you where you want to go and provide a great experience.

Of course, you could rent a car for a day or two. But for us, being in the Italian countryside usually includes wine, and no one wants to be the designated driver.

You’ll find all kinds of tours from all the major Italian cities and towns. They can be private or small group tours. We went on a tour of six people from Florence into the Chianti region, visiting two wineries, with tastings and lunch. It was perfect. Met some new travellers, no worries about driving, back in Florence in time for dinner.

Obviously, you need room for your passengers and luggage. Once you’ve figured that out, try for the smallest car available. Why? In Italian villages, and on the little roads that connect them, tolerances are tight. Lanes are narrow. Some of them used to be donkey paths.

For one of our rentals, we asked for a small car but ended up with a Volvo SUV. It felt like a whale navigating ancient village streets. We would have been much happier with a Fiat 500.

Finally, European car rental firms are catching on that most North American drivers want an automatic transmission, not manual. But still, the majority of their cars will be manual, so book early to reserve an automatic.

This is where is really pays to shop around. Some rental car companies charge a significant premium for automatic, while others charge the same as manual. Make sure you specify when you’re comparison shopping.

Thinking of dropping off your rental at a different location than where you’re picking up? Price shopping pays. For some car rental companies, this seems to be a big deal and you’ll pay a surcharge, even if it’s within the same city. Other companies don’t seem to care so much.

In North America, we’re accustomed to driving wherever there are roads, whether we’re visitors or locals. But in Italy, it’s different. Most major Italian cities and many small towns have ZTL zones, generally in the town centers. Only locals with permits are allowed to drive there. In some cases, cars are restricted just during certain hours, but often the restrictions are 24/7.

Drive a rental into a ZTL zone in a city, and you’re guaranteed a fine because you will have been caught on camera. See the section further down about speeding tickets. The same applies to ZTL tickets.

Keep an eye out for the red circle ZTL signs. Often, they’re blank in the middle, sometimes they actually say Zona Traffico Limitato on them. If only one type of vehicle is prohibited, the sign will show it in the middle of the circle – no buses, no big delivery trucks, no motorcycles, no cars, etc.

On our last trip, we accidentally drove through a ZTL zone in a small town. Luckily, they didn’t have cameras there, so we got out as fast as we could.

Your GPS doesn’t know about ZTL zones and may direct you through them. That will be an expensive route to follow. Always keep an eye out for the ZTL signs.

If you’re staying in a hotel in a downtown area that’s in a ZTL zone, and you plan to bring your car there, you have to talk to them ahead of time. They need to call the police for you with your car license plate number to get you registered. That way, you avoid a ticket upon entry.

However, that doesn’t mean you can necessarily drive all around the city. Legally, it means you can drive into the ZTL zone to your hotel, and then leave when you’re ready to go.

Technically, it doesn’t matter. If you’re already in, you won’t get a fine for going out. Cameras only catch you on the way in.

But here’s where it gets tricky. You’ll want instructions from the car rental company about the most efficient way to get out of the city. You don’t want to mistakenly take a route that takes you out of the ZTL zone, but then back into the zone.

Italy has a reputation for speed – after all, it’s the land of Ferraris and Lamborghinis. But that has all changed.

Today, Italy is the land of speed trap cameras and big fines. You might never see a police car or motorcycle, you may never get pulled over and you won’t notice anything when you return your rental.

But weeks later, you could get a letter notifying you of your speeding fine which will show up on your credit card bill. It will be billed through the car rental company. To add insult to injury, there will be a hefty charge from the rental company for administrative fees to process the speeding ticket.

The answer is simple, just follow the speed limits. On the highways, you may find different speed limits for each lane. Drive appropriately.

Green highway signs are for the Autostrada which means they are toll roads. Blue highway signs are non-toll roads. Brown signs point you toward historic or tourist attractions.

Wikipedia has a great page showing all the Italian highway signs. Worth a look.

The good news is that Autostrada tolls now take credit cards. But you might find it faster going through if you have cash on hand. Watch for the lanes with blue or white signs. The yellow ones are for Telepass only, which you won’t have.

On our last trip to Italy, we spent time both in cities and the countryside. We scheduled it so that we started with cities (Milan, Venice, Bologna, Florence) and did that part by train. No car required. It was easy and convenient.

Then, leaving Florence, we rented a car for 10 days and drove through the Tuscan countryside, up the Ligurian coast and back towards Milan where we left the car at the airport. We avoided any cities and were careful about ZTL zones in the towns.

This agenda helped us reduce our car rental days and our costs. It also cut down on other car-related expenses such as parking and gas.

We rented Airbnbs in the small towns and always made sure they included parking (Airbnb money-saving tip – look for rentals with free parking if you need it). Sometimes the parking was on the property, other times on the street, but legal for us to park. We had no problems.

There are a few countries where you have to buy the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) as part of your car insurance, and Italy is one of them. No matter what credit card you use, you can’t use the card’s insurance. You have to buy and pay for it through your rental. No sense arguing, it’s the law.

If you’re returning your rental car on a Sunday and you’re planning to return it with a full tank, start looking for an open station well ahead of where you’re dropping off the car. On a previous trip, we were leaving the car at the Rome airport on a Sunday. We passed three closed gas stations before finally finding one that was open.

I read in a few places that in addition to your regular driver’s license, you need an International Driver’s License for renting cars in Italy. I got one at CAA (AAA in the U.S.) for $25.

When we rented, they didn’t ask for it. However, if you happen to get stopped by police, they will ask for it. Don’t have one? You’ll likely get a fine. So, better safe than sorry, I guess.

Thoughts before taking an 11-day photo trip to Venice. Would it be worth it? Would I enjoy it? Yes and yes…

Read about the exceptional week we spent in Venice in September – including opera at La Fenice.

Join us in learning about Mariano Fortuny, a true renaissance man of Venice, and make sure you visit his palazzo.

Read about the extraordinary kindness from Italians we experienced every day in Italy.

Take advantage of our Top 5 Tips for visiting the Vatican, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s in Rome.

This account of Monticchiello, a small Italian hilltop village, will open your eyes to its history and brush with annihilation.

We planned to go to Cinque Terre, but didn’t. Why not?

Resources

There’s nothing like having WiFi wherever you go. We rented a Teppy portable WiFi and carried it with us everywhere. With a Teppy, you can connect your phones, tablets, laptops and gaming consoles just like you connect to WiFi at home.

Use the apps on your phone including your favorite GPS apps without paying expensive cellular service fees.

It’s also perfect for uploading pictures, sending emails or just web browsing. We also used it for online work on the road including web updates and social media.

Teppy portable WiFi works around the world. Try it on your next trip.

Along with the websites and other travel planning tools, we still like to have a guide book handy. We’ve tried them all, and these days we prefer Lonely Planet books. Use our link to get 10% off your total order when you enter EARTHTRIPPERS10 during checkout, where it asks for the Discount Code. Please note, this offer is valid only in USA and Canada.

For hotel accommodation, we like Booking.com. Photographs show off the properties, and real reviews help you choose the hotel that’s best for you. You’ll find a great selection, current prices and pages that make booking easy.

Remember, Italy is one of the world’s most popular destinations and can get very busy, so book early to get the best selection and price. Click here, and you’ll get $25 off your next reservation on Booking.com.

We’ve also rented Airbnb throughout Italy. We wrote an article about renting Airbnb, 12 Tips for a Great Renting Experience to help you make the right decision. If it’s your first time renting Airbnb, click here to get the equivalent of $50 CDN off your first booking.

These days there are many things that can happen when you travel, aside from getting bumped from a flight. That’s why we always get insurance for our trips. It covers damage, loss or theft of our belongings, health issues and if necessary, emergency evacuation. Better safe than sorry.

Whether you’ve just booked your trip or are already underway, you can get covered by World Nomads. It’s one of the most popular insurance companies designed specifically for travellers. See if it’s right for you.

Portugal, outside of the main cities, is a wonderful country to drive. We rented a car for three weeks and the drives were one of the highlights of the trip. Here’s what you need to know for a great experience renting a car in Portugal.

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