Travel

[Boehm Collector]

My DH and I are planning a trip to Italy.   We want to rent a car.  The last we went to Italy we didn't make arrangements to rent a car until a few days before we needed it.   By that time there was a shortage of cars with automatic transmissions.  We ended up getting a Mercedes.  It was a beautiful car but it was really expensive.   How far in advance should we make the arrangements for our rental car? 

[kaydee50]

Is there a reason you want to rent a car?  Train travel in Italy as I recall is pretty efficient and widespread.  Certainly in the big cities, i.e, Rome, Venice and Florence driving is NOT recommended.  We have been to Italy 4 times and never rented a car.

Good luck!

[Boehm Collector]

@kaydee50    We aren't going to use it in the large cities like Rome.   But to get around the vicinity of my parents' home town a car is necessary.  And we don't want to bother relatives to drive us around.    The last time we went we rented a car and it was the best thing we ever did. 

[ALRATIBA]

I would suggest to make the car reservation when you have your trip schedule finalized.

We flew into Milan and used the train between major cities, but when we got to Rome, we rented a car so we could visit some relatives who lived outside of Rome.

Best fun .... we took the car on the overnight ferry from Naples to Sicily and did lots of driving looking for specific "ancestral" places - then flew back to Rome and back to NY

[ahoymate]

FYI.............there's been a car rental shortage. It's been in the news for a while. It may be getting better in 2024?

[SaveTheTurtles]

I'd think you'd want to lock in your rental as soon as you have your dates. 

[granddi]

Call a Travel Agent. 

[Stray]

Our travel agent booked a car at the time of our reservation. We live PT there but don’t have a car so we lease one.