mapleleafsno1

My wife and I are going to Italy for one week in November. We were able to pickup one of those amazing mistake fares to Asia with a stopover in Europe back in May. We are looking for suggestions on a car rental for a week and some help with our itinerary as we have never before been to Italy.

We fly into Milan Malpensia (MXP), any suggestions on a rental car? Ive been looking at rentalcars.com, but I am concerned that there will be additional charges at the rental desk upon arrival. Anyone with experience booking at MXP? We will return the car to MXP when we fly out to PRG, so we are not looking at different drop-off location.

Our plan is as follows:

Monday - land MXP 7:30am. drive to Rome.
Tuesday - Rome sightseeing
Wednesday - Rome sightseeing. Drive to Florence.
Thursday - Florence sightseeing.
Friday - Tuscany sightseeing. Drive to Treviso/Venice.
Saturday - Venice sightseeing.
Sunday - drive to Milan Malpensia (MXP). Fly to PRG

We already have all our overnight accommodations in these locations. We were thinking that a rental car is the most flexible as we have free parking in the cities where we stay and can take public transportation for the days of local sightseeing. Any suggestions?

THanks!

bdemaria

Where are you starting? I would not suggest picking up a rental car and then driving across 1/2 a country after an overnight int'l flight. In fact, I wouldn't bother w/the car until you leave Rome - at the earliest. I'd take the train from Milan to Rome, its faster, cheaper and much easier.

KLouis

Certainly cheaper by train when travelling alone (expensive gas + expensive toll). But with two people on board, a car may well be cheaper. Definitely not faster, though, for the itinerary indicated.

bdemaria

If you add in the two rental days in Rome when the car is just sitting there - I still believe it will still be cheaper for two people to take the train.

PWMTrav

The train is more comfortable and can get you right to the city center. I grew up in NJ and I don't know that on my best day I'm crazy enough to drive a car into Rome. They could probably make a prequel to Mad Max by setting up some cameras there.

Perche

Hard to see any reason for a car with this itinerary except on Friday, to explore the countryside. In addition to just sitting in Rome for two days it will also be sitting for a day in a huge garage outside of Venice.

Perche

It's hard for a hotel in Venice to give you free parking, since there are no roads (just Piazzale Roma).

A note of caution. When we think of Venice we think of islands in the lagoon, canals, etc. On the mainland there are polluted, industrial towns like Mestre and Marghera that are part of Comune of Venice. Hotels in those towns advertise themselves on the internet as being, "in Venice." Technically, that is true, they are in the commune. But they are not in the city of Venice. The most disappointed tourists in all of Italy may be those who booked a hotel in Venice, only to find out that they are on the mainland in Mestre.

I don't see how a hotel in the city of Venice offer you free parking unless you show up there in a boat. If they did make such an offer, you very well may be in a hotel on the mainland, Comune of Venezia. I would look into the location of the hotel if I were you.

TWA884

I spent a few weeks driving through France and Italy this summer.

Assuming that most of your long distance driving will be on the the Autostrade, you are looking at well over €100 in tolls (here's a link to a toll calculator). Figure on about €1.70 per liter of diesel fuel (more for gasoline). In addition, you will be paying €21 - €26 a day for parking in Venice; you must leave the car in one of the large parking structures (Venezia Tronchetto Parking, Piazzale Roma Car Park) near the railroad station and then take a water taxi or a vaporetto into Venice. If I remember correctly, my hotel gave me a 15% discount voucher for Tronchetto.

I don't think that you will be saving any money. It may very well be considerably more expensive and take longer to drive between the cities than to travel by train.

Have a great trip.

slawecki

i have on at least two occasions taken a car into florence. had great difficulty getting into the old part of florence. on one occasion, parked in a garage, and rent was by the centemeter(!!!!) overnight was about 40 euro. second occasion, dropped off stuff at hotel, and went around the corner and dropped off the car at the rental agency.

Murphy123

My vote is for the train. Driving in Italy is quite the experience - and you could well end up with multiple fines arriving by mail - the first from your car rental agency advising that you have been charged an admin fee for it to provide your contact information to the police (about 35 euros PER incident) and then the fine from the police - and they have a year to collect - and the fines will be PER incident. Your great airfare could well end up costing you more in fines. The police fines could easily be 150 euros each - and they will come after you no matter where you live. I know a woman who has 5 such tickets - and she was not speeding etc.

allset2travel

Renting a car in MXP is easy enough. Hertz is there and many others.
If you truly interested in sight-seeing, I would suggest modify (mainly reduce) your itin. You jam-packed so much in such a short time, you’d end up spending too much time on the road (if you drive, which I don’t recommend) or on the train (if you take the train).
After getting off the plane (if TATL), I would not drive from MXP to Rome (500+ km), to Florence perhaps. So reshuffle your itin so that it has a logical flow (distance and direction wise). Understand if you had pre-paid all your hotels, then scrap my suggestion.
With 6 days, why not just do Florence, Venice and Milan? A car for this makes sense. But so does the train.

Perche

There are no roads to drive cars on in Venice. Trying to get around by car in Venice is like trying to get around by boat in Milan.

PWMTrav

A car for Florence, Venice and Milan makes almost no sense. The train will likely work out cheaper once you factor in gas, parking and tolls, not to mention bringing you right to where you want to be without having to worry about ZTL, parking, etc. Plus, the trains are nice. It's not greyhound.

lhrsfo

Absolutely agree with most of these comments. And definitely cut one city from the itinerary - probably Rome and save it for another day. It takes 3 or 4 days to get the hang of Rome in the first place, which leaves no time for anything else.

Forrest Bump

Perhaps worth repeating that the best out of a car rental in Italy can be had outside the main cities, hence well out off the beaten tracks, where 90% of tourists stick.

Sneaking throughout Naples, Rome, Florence, Milan, Venice the high speed train is the best bet, even better if booked in advance with often €9/19/29 per segment on offer.

Car is necessary, and part of the fun, when swinging over the Tuscany and Marche hills, disclose the real Sicily, getting to Leuca in Apulia stopping by Gallipoli, Otranto, Lecce, Torre dell'Orso, Ostuni, Alberobello enroute, positioning for some trekking in the Cinque Terre (Liguria) or exploring the less known but truly charming Piedmont countryside.
Not to mention the incredible coastline of Sardinia, well deserving an entire month long trip.
Each stop can be greatly rewarded by the local choice of food specialities, which vary considerably from region to region, even in a handful of Kms.

It goes without saying that also the taste is off the beaten tracks, a planet apart from the tourist traps you just left behind in the major city centers.
Options are virtually endless.

What you just don't want to do is renting a car and find yourself driving in the nightmarish CCTV-filled streets and alleys of our old towns.