Do Not Want to Rent a Car in Italy

[Rianne]

We're traveling to Sicily in October with another couple. Our villa (VRBO) is in the small village of Trecastagni. It's nestled in the hills about 1/2 hour from Catania, not on the beach. Has anyone traveled to Sicily and hired drivers instead of renting a car? We'll be there for 17 days and will likely take small trips to see historical sites, and spend time on the beach.

I ask this for several reasons. Third-party car insurance does not sit well with me. Driving in Italy, especially in the busier cities and high-traffic tourist areas is a nightmare. I simply know this from visiting the country 7-8 times in the last 30 years. We have family who live there, who are experienced drivers who scared the crap out of me. And going to restaurants on our ventures, drinking wine, and eating a lot makes one very sleepy. We could just spend the night at the location and only drive during the day, still. The family members will not be with us. We'll be on our own this time. Any suggestions?

 

[COcheesehead]

Uber.

 

[brett]

We spent three weeks in Sicily. A combo of rentals, bus, train, and ferry. October.

Driving in Sicily is a snap. We had insurance through our rental agency, autoeurope (our go to for European rentals), and our credit card.

We flew into Catania from Malta. Took a bus directly from the airport to Taormina. Three days, then we picked up a rental for 14 days or so. We traveled around extensively. Can not imagine not having the freedom of a rental car. The roads were good, well marked, and the local drivers are fine. We have driven all over southern Europe multiple times. Typically we do one way rentals. Greece, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Portugal. Sicily for us was easy driving. But...I am used to driving a standard transmission and prefer it in some areas.

We are spontaneous travelers. After leaving Erice we decided en route at the last minute to detour and spend time on the beach. We had two glorious days on a deserted beach. The water was incredibly warm. Having our own car allowed us to do this type of thing multiple times while in Sicily.

We did not drive in any large towns. We drove past Palermo on the bypass and dropped the car off in Cefalu. From there we did train/ferry to the Aeolian Islands via Milazzo.. Then trained back to spend four wonderful days in Palermo before flying out of Palermo to Rome.

We never rent cars while in large towns. We pick them up as we leave or drop them off as we enter town. Especially so in Italy.

DW wants to return to Malta and to Sicily.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have not been to Sicily, in fact any place in Italy south of Amalfi.

But I have driven perhaps a few thousand miles in Italy. In the cities like around Florence (not inside the ZTL), it was bad, but I am not sure if it was worse than in Boston or NYC (I have not been there in recent years). In the northern regions or in Tuscany where it was less populated, the drive was mostly enjoyable.

For insurance, we always bought the full insurance, no deductible, from the car rental agency. Expensive, but I did not want any worry. Have not put a single scratch on any car, fingers crossed.

 

[rodi]

Uber.

Uber isn't available in Sicily... This is as recent as this past April. But taxis are available.

We've done public transit and have rented cars. Like Brett, were used autoeurope, which is a broker for the various car rentals.

It's hard to get from the Catania area to some of my favorite places in Sicily without a car... Agrigento, Caltigirone, Raguzza, Scilli, and Modica. You might consider doing a few day rental, mid trip, to use for day trips.

Do not try to drive in or near Palermo or Central Catania. The rest of the island is fine to drive around.

I haven't used a driver service so no advice there.

If you want to figure out transit options look at the website rome2rio.com - a great resource for figuring out your options.

 

[rodi]

I take it back... It looks like Uber has become available in/around Catania. But is significantly more expensive than a taxi.

 

[mystang52]

Personally, I would not drive anywhere outside of US (well, maybe Canada). If it's available, I'd follow the advice given to buy full insurance from rental agency.

 

[brett]

Another thought....

We have traveled throughout Italy by train during sections of our various trips. We have always found Trenitalia service to be good, affordable, and ON TIME.

The exception is Sicily. The train on the Milzzo-Palermo route was always late. Not five minutes, not ten minutes. More like 30-40 minutes late on trips from Cefalu-Milazzo, and Milazzo-Palermo. And the coaches were not well kept.

If you go to the Aeolian Islands from Milazzo there is a bus at the train station that will take you to the ferry. While you are waiting for the bus, 10 minutes or so, a taxi will no doubt stop. The driver will tell you that you missed the bus and/the next one is not for 60-90 minutes. Or that the bus run has been cancelled? Stick to your plans and wait for the bus. It will show up! The ferry service can be spotty in late October because of high seas.

The taxi drivers at Palermo rail station are a bunch of scammers. No surprise...everyone needs to earn a crust. Ask your host ahead of time what the taxi fare should be!

 

[OldShooter]

Personally, I would not drive anywhere outside of US ...

You're missing out on a lot if that is your rule. When we're traveling alone we routinely rent a car. A couple of times, Alaska and NZ, a mini-motorhome. We do prefer private travel with a guide /driver because I can look around instead of paying attention to the road and traffic plus we avoid the occasional experience of getting lost. In recent years we are grateful for GPS.

That said, I avoid driving in countries where we can't read the street signs, typically Cyrillic, or where signage is poor to nonexistent.

 

[Surewhitey]

Last year we took the train to Spello & rented a car for the week. Great place to have a car. Then we returned to Amalfi, and I'd never rent a car there. For reference, we've lived in Mexico, driven all over there and Belize, Spain, France, Azores & a bit in Canada... Big cities and places limited on space scare the heck out of me & parking is extremely limited or expensive.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have not been to Sicily, and never had a plan to visit. Perhaps it is the aversion of the Cosa Nostra.

Just now, looking at some travel videos, asked myself why not. Nice scenery. Food that I like, at amazing low prices. Hotels too. Cheaper than in the US.

I feel like traveling again, despite just coming back from a month-long trip.

 

[brett]

Sicily is different. It is wonderful. It surprised us...so much that it is back on DW's bucket list and very near the top.

I can plan a trip to just about anywhere as long as we stop in Italy. Even for a weekend. It is a DW thing! Next month we go to Morocco for a month...but no stop in Italy much to DW's chagrin.

My one comment about Sicily is think about where you are. You can catch an inexpensive Air Malta flight or ferry to Malta. Even for a week...a completely different experience. Or...catch an inexpensive flight to Rome on Vueling or some other LC airline.

 

[NW-Bound]

Malta from Sicily? Of course.

Some years ago, I researched the process to get retirement visa to Malta. The financial requirement was not hard to meet. Of course I did not do it, because I thought if I stayed at one place too long, it lost its allure and became home. And I already had a home.

But I would not mind spending a week or two in Malta.

Dang! I've got some planning and thinking to do. Maybe Corse (Corsica) too?

 

[Gumby]

I have driven in Sicily. Except for Palermo, I didn't think it was that bad.

 

[brett]

We picked up a last minute med cruise from Rome to Barcelona when we were in Palermo. It came with inexpensive one way airfare home from BCN. Saved us going through London.

What amazed me was the cost and time required to get to Rome. By rail it was something like 14 hours and twice the price of air. From Palermo, where were staying, it was $37. to FCO on Vueling. All we have is carry on so the basic fare is what we typically pay.

 

[Involuntary Retiree]

As mentioned in another thread, I purchased an annual travel insurance policy this past week, which will cover two long international trips for DH and me, one this fall, and another in the early spring. We are COVID-deprived travelers (haven't traveled internationally since 2018), so after the end of the pandemic and DH's employment that kept him engaged during the ickiness, we have perhaps gone overboard on our upcoming travels -- a 56-day trip this fall and over 60 days early next spring.



Our spring, 2024 trip will be in Rome and surrounding areas, Israel, Jordan and Sicily. I'm currently finalizing the Sicily portion of our trip and am super excited! I pretty sure we will ferry either going or coming from Naples to Palermo and/or train from Naples to/from Messina. We are planning to drive in Sicily because there are so many outlying areas that look to be "can't miss" things to see.

 

[explanade]

We're traveling to Sicily in October with another couple. Our villa (VRBO) is in the small village of Trecastagni. It's nestled in the hills about 1/2 hour from Catania, not on the beach. Has anyone traveled to Sicily and hired drivers instead of renting a car? We'll be there for 17 days and will likely take small trips to see historical sites, and spend time on the beach.

I ask this for several reasons. Third-party car insurance does not sit well with me. Driving in Italy, especially in the busier cities and high-traffic tourist areas is a nightmare. I simply know this from visiting the country 7-8 times in the last 30 years. We have family who live there, who are experienced drivers who scared the crap out of me. And going to restaurants on our ventures, drinking wine, and eating a lot makes one very sleepy. We could just spend the night at the location and only drive during the day, still. The family members will not be with us. We'll be on our own this time. Any suggestions?

I've rented many times in Europe, including Sicily and Italy.

I've never purchased excess insurance through the rental agency, always relied on my Chase Sapphire Preferred Visa card, decline CWD and any excess insurance.

Only once had a problem and it was in France where a couple of weeks after I returned a car very early in the morning before the office was open, the agency claimed there was a scratch on one wheel. They wanted around $600 with various administrative fees.

I made the claim to the Visa Benefits Manager and they paid out the claim.

One claim out of decades of renting cars in Europe.


That said, I would make some suggestions in renting cars:

1. Don't rent from Italian agencies like Maggiore or LocAuto or others as they tend to have the most complaints on Tripadvisor and other travel forums.

That doesn't mean renting from a Hertz or Avis or some other international brand will mean there wouldn't be any shenanigans. These brands franchise to local owners in Europe and some of them have really bad reps. You can see Google reviews for some of these offices and it turns out the same local company owns Alamo and Enterprise franchises on an island like Sicily or Corsica.

But in general renting directly from an international brand like Sixt and through AutoEurope in theory will give you some protection.

2. Take photos or make a video before departing from the rental office of any blemishes or dents or scratches with your phone. They will disclose some scratches on the rental agreement but if you look closely enough you may find more. If I'm in doubt whether a blemish is a scratch or maybe some stain fro a bug, I take pictures or record video of it.

3. On Sicily, the bigger challenge will not be driving, especially between towns, but in parking. So in a place like Taormina or Ortigia, you will likely have to park far from your hotel. May have to take a bus or even a taxi to take yourself and your luggage from parking to the hotel. I'd search for hotels which have some kind of parking solution, either private parking, free or paid, or can tell you the public garages near the hotel. They often will have deals for parking rates which are better than you going in and getting a timed ticket from the gate.

This is true of all Europe, not just Sicily.

4. In Italy in particular, you have to be observant of Zona Traffica Limitada or ZTL. Towns designate centers as ZTLs so if you drive in, you may be subject to hefty fines. Some of the bigger cities like Florence have cameras which take pictures of every car and its license plate if you cross into some ZTL border.

Then they send the bill to the rental car office, which forwards it to you along with their own administrative fees. They have international collection agencies.

Some hotels have arrangements so that you can enter the ZTL to reach the hotel, either to park or to at least drop off your luggage. In those cases, you tell them your license plate and they contact the police with temporary exemptions for your car.

So Ortigia has it and I would imagine Catania and Palermo have it. Some smaller towns may not have them. Best to ask your hotel.

5. Agree, avoid Palermo and Catania and the ring commuter roads around them. Well I never tried but I've seen warnings about them. But I've rented cars out of both PMO and CTA airports and drove towards other towns. I would not bother to have a car if staying in either city because the parking costs and ZTL hassles are probably huge.


As far as hiring drivers, I've seen discussions on other forums. It sounds prohibitively expensive, an outing would cost at least a couple hundred Euros. If you hired a driver to take you to and from the airport for say a distance of 20 miles, you're probably paying well over 100 Euros. They would have to come out to the airport and after transporting your, have to drive back home.

So each time you hire someone to come out to that little village, drive you around and go home, I would guess at least 200 Euros and much more depending on how many hours it takes for the driver to take you around to various places and take you back.

 

[explanade]

I have not been to Sicily, in fact any place in Italy south of Amalfi.

But I have driven perhaps a few thousand miles in Italy. In the cities like around Florence (not inside the ZTL), it was bad, but I am not sure if it was worse than in Boston or NYC (I have not been there in recent years). In the northern regions or in Tuscany where it was less populated, the drive was mostly enjoyable.

For insurance, we always bought the full insurance, no deductible, from the car rental agency. Expensive, but I did not want any worry. Have not put a single scratch on any car, fingers crossed.

Malta from Sicily? Of course.

Some years ago, I researched the process to get retirement visa to Malta. The financial requirement was not hard to meet. Of course I did not do it, because I thought if I stayed at one place too long, it lost its allure and became home. And I already had a home.

But I would not mind spending a week or two in Malta.

Dang! I've got some planning and thinking to do. Maybe Corse (Corsica) too?

Been to Sicily 3 or 4 times, Malta once, Sardinia once, Corsica twice, the last time back in June.

You can easily spend 10-14 days or more on each island, especially Sicily.

Malta is tiny but part of the charm is Gozo, which I only visited as a day trip but could see spending a few night at least.

Sicily has antiquities, was a big part of the Greek empire but it's been visited or attempted to be conquered by many different cultures over the centuries or millennia.

Malta has some of the sites where Game of Thrones was filmed. It's beautiful like the other islands in the summer Mediterranean sun.

Corsica also great, I revisited the places I saw on the previous trip, still beautiful especially the calanques in the Bay of Porto and Bonifacio, the fortress up on a cliff overlooking both a long natural harbor and the sea.

The terrains are rugged, some places require navigating up and down steps so a challenge to those with limited mobility.

 

[Drake3287]

Although not Sicily (yet), I've been renting cars in Italy for years when I'm staying outside of the larger cities and I simply stay away from the busy city centers and it's not all that difficult. I also try to rent car's from offices outside the city centers such as at the Florence airport just so I don't have to deal with crazy city traffic not to mention ZTL area's. I also always buy the full insurance when I rent through Autoeurope.com

If you do decide to rent a car just remember that you need to purchase an International Drivers Permit through AAA. I do agree that I'm never as comfortable driving there as I am here at home. I tend to drive like an old lady in Italy just to keep from getting speed camera tickets.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have been renting through Auto Europe and buying full insurance. Have not had an incidence in my travels and about 20,000 km, but I feel peace of mind is worth the money. It's my own BTD.

I was always leery of ZTLs. They have them in Spain and Portugal too. I always studied the maps very carefully to avoid driving into a ZTL if I did not stay in a hotel in the ZTL. And yes, if you do, you need to let the lodging know that you drive and supply them with the license plate, so that they can report to the local police to not issue a citation.

And yes, parking is a big deal. Very big deal. Locating a parking place is a big part of my travel planning when driving. Google Map with its Street View is very useful for me for pre-travel planning. I often had to drop my wife off with the luggage, then drove to park the car 1/2 mi from the lodging.

It took some work, but I have stayed in Lisbon and Porto with a car. It can be stressful at times. One would not think that, in a secondary town like La Spezia it would be so hard to find a parking spot. Other times, I looked for lodging on the outskirts of town, but near train/tram stations to get into town.

 

[Involuntary Retiree]

And yes, parking is a big deal. Very big deal. Locating a parking place is a big part of my travel planning when driving. Google Map with its Street View is very useful for me for pre-travel planning. I often had to drop my wife off with the luggage, then drove to park the car 1/2 mi from the lodging.

It took some work, but I have stayed in Lisbon and Porto with a car. It can be stressful at times. One would not think that, in a secondary town like La Spezia it would be so hard to find a parking spot. Other times, I looked for lodging on the outskirts of town, but near train/tram stations to get into town.

For us, parking in Lisbon was shaping up to be too stressful, so we parked at the airport and rode public transportation to our Airbnb. It was cheap, fairly easy and kind of an adventure. Our Porto Airbnb had assigned parking underneath the unit.

 

[DrRoy]

Personally, I would not drive anywhere outside of US (well, maybe Canada). If it's available, I'd follow the advice given to buy full insurance from rental agency.

You're missing out on a lot if that is your rule. When we're traveling alone we routinely rent a car. In recent years we are grateful for GPS.

That said, I avoid driving in countries where we can't read the street signs, typically Cyrillic, or where signage is poor to nonexistent.

+1 We could not do most of what we want to without our own car.

 

[brett]

We have rented cars throughout Europe. In Africa, Central and South America, and Australia. Plus North America of course. With the exception of an AI we have always had rental cars.

Last two trips we passed on rentals.

Went back to Portugal for the third time a year ago June. Decided, based on our plans (and the incredible high price or rentals) to do trains. It was perfect.
Trains and a few short bus rides. Algarve to Coimbra.

We did the same in Mexico on our winter trip prior to covid. Cancun, Merida, Playa, Puerto Morales, Huatulco, Puerto Escondido, Acapulco, Zihautanejo, PV.
We did it by plane, bus, etc. Great trip. The big surprise for us....how comfortable the Mexican highway buses are. Better seats and more room that an airline business class seat.

So...we do both.

 

[NW-Bound]

For us, parking in Lisbon was shaping up to be too stressful, so we parked at the airport and rode public transportation to our Airbnb. It was cheap, fairly easy and kind of an adventure. Our Porto Airbnb had assigned parking underneath the unit.

Yes, the Airbnbs we rented in both places had parking, where we kept the car for most of the stay.

In Lisbon downtown, my stress came from illegal parking on the street while waiting for the landlord to show up.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have driven in Sicily. Except for Palermo, I didn't think it was that bad.

Hmmm... I remember your post about that trip. That's a long time ago. Or maybe you have made multiple trips.

The reason I remember was I had not driven in Italy at that time, and I was impressed with your "bravery". And I remember your boast about speaking Italian too.