Many companies renting a car in other EU countries will not allow you to take the car into Italy, so check that out in advance of making any arrangements. Second, most credit card companies will not cover CDW inside Italy, whether the car was rented there or elsewhere. There may be exceptions to both the rental companies terms and credit card coverage for CDW but I haven’t found any. I always purchase the €0 Excess CDW with the car company, mostly because it’s a business expense that I don’t absorb. However, I know a few cases in which people have reported that they thought they had CDW with their credit card only to find out after an accident or theft that the fine print excluded them from cars rented within Italy. I’ve been looking for years for someone to publish a comprehensive guide to understanding the CDW situation of renting cars in Italy or for a credit card company to come out and clearly state, in non-legal weasel-worded language just what is covered and what isn’t. Don’t believe what the agents from the rental companies tell you over the phone or what the credit card agents tell you. Try to get something in writing which will be perfectly clear before you make your deal with either renting in another country and driving into Italy or conversely renting in Italy and declining CDW for card coverage. And if you get some clarity on all this, please come back and post it - it’s a real mystery!