If you're traveling through the Italian countryside or renting a villa, a car is a necessity.  For instance in Tuscany, train lines don't run to most of the small towns and buses are few and far between. Without your own wheels, you'll miss the great scenery along the back roads. 

A rental car offers the most flexibility since you can come and go without having to adhere to a schedule.  Plus, in Italy you can return your car to a different destination from the pickup location for no extra charge!

If your vacation includes visits to the big cities, remember that you'll probably have to be pay for parking.  Hotel parking can cost as much as 30 euros per night and even those who don't mind driving in Italy sometimes find city driving daunting.  You may want to return the car and use Italy's great train system for city visits.

Other things to keep in mind:

• It is easy to get lost in Italy. Rent a GPS. It is worth the small added cost.
• You absolutely want to reserve your car before you leave the U.S. because it costs more to rent a car when you're already in Europe.
• Unlike in the U.S., your rental car is likely to take diesel gasoline. Be sure to double check before you leave the rental office.

Optional Extras:

• GPS - 19 Euros per day or 90 Euros per week.
  If you have a one-way rental (drop off location different from pick up location) another 50 Euro surcharge is also added to the rental of the GPS.  We can reserve the GPS in advance for you, however these fees are paid directly at the car rental office when you pick up your car rental.
• Baby/Infant Seats - 27 Euros per day or maximum 108 Euros per rental
• Booster Seats - 7 Euros per day or maximum 28 Euros per rental
• Snow tires – 20 Euros per day or maximum 240 Euros
• WiFi – 20 Euros per day, 140 Euros per week, 300 Euros per month (available only at airports and major cities)
• Refueling Service Charge - 20 Euros per rental (does not include the cost of the fuel)

VAT Tax of 22% is added to any of the above mentioned extras

For Venice Car rental drop offs:

• All car rental companies are now imposing a drop off fee for returning cars to the Piazzale Roma location in Venice. It is 49.50 Euros (appx $60) and must be paid to the garage directly - you cannot pre-pay this fee to ItalyVacations.
• We encourage you to return cars to the airport location to avoid this fee. There is also an office in Venice-Mestre that is opened Saturday mornings – dropping it there also avoids this fee.

One-way Drop off Fees:

Below are all fees for the one way rentals when the drop off location is different from pick up location. These fees must be paid to the car rental office in Italy directly. You cannot pre-pay these fees to ItalyVacations.

Manual Economy/Manual Compact/Manual Intermediate Car:
Between Mainland Italy and Sicily = 80 Euros (appx $95)
Between Mainland Italy and Sardinia = 300 Euros (appx $357)
 

Minivans/Automatic Compact/Automatic Intermediate Car:
Sicily to Sicily = 75 Euros (appx $90)
Sardinia to Sardinia = 75 Euros (appx $90)
Between Mainland Italy and Sicily = 150 Euros (appx $178)
Between Mainland Italy and Sardinia = 400 Euros (appx $476)

VAT Tax of 22% will be added to any of the above mentioned extras.
 

> Fleet of Cars Available in Italy

Extra Information about Renting a Car in Italy

Refueling Options

When you pick up your car in Italy, you will be given a few options for refueling the car.Although the prepaid options are convenient, they might be very expensive. To avoid and misunderstandings and extra costs, we recommend declining any prepaid options and making sure you refuel the car before you return it.

Driving in Italy

Limited traffic areas have been created in most of the historical centers of Italian cities. This measure has been taken to increase pedestrian areas, commercial activities, and reduce pollution to preserve historical sites.

In these limited traffic areas only authorized vehicles are allowed to drive, such as: buses, police cars, ambulances, etc. Residents have access as well. All of authorized vehicles have their license plate registered with the Municipal Police.

If a vehicle crosses a limited traffic area, cameras will take a picture of the license plate.

The photo is automatically sent back to a computer of the Municipal Police and if the license plate is not registered a violation ticket is generated and sent to the owner of the vehicle. You WILL eventually receive a charge on your credit card of approximately Euro 36.30 for the moving violation and a second charge in the same amount for an administrative charge imposed by the rental car company to retrieve your rental records and advise the Italian authorities. This can typically take 3-9 months to appear.

The limited traffic areas are clearly indicated with a sign marked with a white circle with red borders (see picture above), stating the hours in which the area is restricted.

If you think you will be driving in one of these limited traffic areas, call your hotel after you rent the car, so they can tell you where you can drive. Some hotels also offer their customers a shuttle which picks up passengers from a parking garage, located outside the Limited Traffic Areas. However some hotels have a limited number of passes that they make available to driving customers when they make a reservation. If you are not staying in a hotel, contact the car rental company or the person who you are renting from and ask for indications on how to go about driving in the area without incurring a traffic violation.

Hotels and rental car companies can also register your rental car’s license plate number for a very brief period of time with the local authorities exempting you from a traffic violation for just the time permitted for you to enter or exit your hotel’s zone or the rental car company location. If you think that you may have crossed a limited traffic zone in order to reach either of these ask them to contact the local authorities on your behalf. This can only be done on the spot – it cannot be done at any later time.

Based on our customer’s experiences, Florence seems to be the city where many foreign drivers receive the most amount of traffic violations due to limited traffic access. If you are forced to drive into a restricted area in order to arrive to your hotel or the rental car office, you should ask them to report your vehicle’s license plate to the authorities to avoid fines. If they are located within the restricted area, they can provide this service for you. We suggest you use the utmost caution when driving downtown Florence and watch for signs carefully. You may want to arrange pick up or drop off a rental car at the Florence airport which is located just a short distance outside the city center and avoid the problem completely.

You may also see signs in major cities that light up and say VARCO ATTIVO which indicates you are entering a restricted driving area of the city during the restricted time and if you are not authorized you will receive a traffic violation. The same sign when indicated VARCO NON ATTIVO means that that time the restriction has been lifted. These signs are widely used in Rome.

Typically moving violations will show on your credit card about 3-9 months after your trip and are usually Euro 30.00 + 21% VAT tax for a total of Euro 36.30 converted to your local credit card currency. A second charge for the same amount will also appear from Hertz Italiana SPA and this is an administrative fee for pulling your rental file at the request of the Italian authorities and reporting your credit card and address on file. To avoid these fines we suggest you drive carefully, avoid speeding, parking or driving in unauthorized parts of the cities.

In Italy there is also an electronic speed control called Autovelox, a hidden camera system placed on the sides of regular roads as well as highways. There is always a warning sign indicating that the road is being monitored by cameras (see picture) below.

If your speed is 5% or above the limit, a traffic violation will be issued.