amyers

I know, busy streets, crazy driving and all that. But, has anyone had any experience renting a scooter for a day in Rome? I'm thinking about that. What are the requirements, costs, parking at restaurants, parking at tourist sites, etc.?

Perche

As a former rider myself, I wouldn't recommend it. But if you insist, there are Vespa rental places all over Rome. They'll even deliver one to your hotel. You need a drivers license from your country, plus an international drivers license. In the USA an international driver license takes about 20 minutes and costs about $15. How much it costs depends on the time of the year, but it's not much. They provide helmets. You are responsible for any damage to yourself and others. You'll need to leave a deposit on your credit card, the size of which depends on the size of the bike, 500 euro deposit for a 50cc one, up to 1000 for a 250. While emergency health care in Italy is free, shipping you back to the USA is not, so check your insurance.

Perche

Although there is designated bike parking, you can park pretty much any place the bike fits. Although you get some insurance, you are responsible for the bike if it's damaged or stolen, and responsible for everything if you are at fault. It's not no fault insurance. And they know how to collect. There are also services available where you are the passenger and ride on the back with an experienced driver. There are also companies that do group tours. A group of riders goes out with an experienced guide on a tour. But if you want, you can just walk into a store and with a valid ID and drivers license and 1000 to encumber on your credit card, you can just drive away. For a really experienced rider, it's not totally ridiculous providing you don't head downtown, but instead, out of town, or drive slowly through back streets. Italy requires helmets. Many states in the USA do not. There is very little drunk driving in Italy, but drunk and/or drugged driving is rampant in the USA, which puts bikers at great risk. Just for the record, I wouldn't recommend it unless you know your way around bikes, and know your way around Italy. Someone who knows how to ride, and who knows the unique rules of the road, and who's body is able to handle a potential smash and a couple of fractures and still be the same after, can do it. It's not impossible.

KLouis

There is one item that non-Romans don't think about when driving a scooter in Rome, and which adds a completely different aspect of danger! A very large proportion of Roman streets (especially in the centro storico) are paved with Sanpietrini, i.e. the Roman kind of cobblestone. Not only do these provide for a very bumpy driving, whenever they're damaged, they'are nowadays replaced by regular asphalt, introducing additional bumps (google Sanpietrini images to get an idea of the differences in quality of pavement). So, be extremely careful with a scooter in Rome!

PS When writing this, I remember my first ride down via Nazionale, from La Sapienza to Botteghe oscure. God, my behind hurt so much that I was considering getting off and pushing the Vespa home. I then got used to that, it took a few days, though.

amyers

ah, ok. you guys talked me out of it. I ride a Harley now and have a couple of scooters as well so I do know how to ride. What I don't know very well is my way around.

I just thought maybe instead of using the Metro or walking, scooters would be faster, easier and more fun.

Thanks for the info.

mromalley

You could do a scooter tour. http://www.scooterroma.com

They have a self driving one, where you drive your own scooter but you are with a tour guide.

KLouis

Or get a rental scooter for a Sunday morning drive through the empty city. Fabulous, especially if you carry somebody in the back seat that makes you feel like Gregory Peck!

Perche

When I lived in Torino there was "bike-sharing." There are racks of bikes all over, owned by the city. It was automated. You could pick up a bike, pedal to where you wanted to go, and usually there would be a city bike-sharing stop nearby where you could drop off and lock up the bike. You often used one to carry your groceries home. The city would charge you by the minute. The goal was to reduce air pollution. Milan, a city with horrific air pollution, has bike sharing too, and it's very popular there.

Rome is not quite as polluted as Milan, but it started bike sharing a few years ago for the same reasons. The only problem was, within a few months Romans had stolen most of the bikes, so the city gave up on the idea.

In Spain there's a company called Cooltra. They rent Vespa-like scooters, using the same format as bike-sharing. They recently opened in Rome. They'll even deliver the scooter to your hotel if you're not near a stop. They have a pick-up/drop-off point at Termini. I don't think they have that many spots yet, but for example, you can go to Termini, rent a scooter (comes with 2 helmets) and drive to the beach instead of taking a taxi. You handle it all with the eCooltra app on your phone.

They're electric "vespas," with zero emissions. Although it's a private company, Rome is hoping that this becomes popular, and that citizens will use them to get around, thus reducing pollution.

After having two serious motorcycle wrecks in my younger years, although those were on monster bikes, I'm not encouraging anyone to rent a scooter in Rome. But if it suits your fancy to have that Gregory Peck/Audrey Hepburn experience, it's at https://www.cooltra.com/en.

If you do this, unless you have lots of driving experience in Rome, I'd suggest heading outside of the city center and not towards it.

rickg523

^^

amyers

Got back from Rome. I should have rented a scooter for the fun of it. It did really look too intimidating.

My only problem would be that I would not know where to go, that is, I would get loss. But, since, at least in my opinion, Rome center is small, I would eventually get back on Via del Corso, Via del Quirinale or Via Nazionale and find my way.

KLouis

There are actually hundreds of tourists every day who get lost in the centro storico and walk around like zombies until they're picked up by the trash collectors early in the morning.

amyers

Walking around wasn't too bad. Was able to get my bearings after I understood the roads. Problem is that I wasn't used to the narrow streets and not being able to see over the buildings. Like a maze until you hit some piazza then it opens up.