Italy is a wonderful country much of which is inaccessible without a car
Hiring drivers can be a solution but it can also be very expensive. If you would like to avoid renting a car and driving, you can stay in a town with good transport connections and still have a fantastic time taking local trains or busses, and taking guided tours.
But if you want to stay in the countryside the only logical solution is to rent a car. The purpose of this article is to point out some tips and traps to be wary of when renting a car in Italy.
Let me say at the outset that driving in Italy is generally a pleasure especially in the countryside. Driving in cities is more challenging, just as in most cities worldwide. If you are not a confident driver it would be wise to consider driving in the countryside and using public transportation/taxis in cities. Two particularly difficult cities for driving are Naples and Rome.
THE LAW
As a citizen of most countries outside of the European Union (EU) including the USA, you are required to carry with you at all times while driving the following three documents;
· Your home country Driving License (DL)
· Your passport
· An International Driving Permit (IDP).
The first two are obvious and you will not be able to rent a car anywhere without producing both your passport and your driving license.
The IDP however causes a lot of unnecessary confusion. Often a Rental Agency will not require sight of this before renting a car and this leads folk to assume it is not necessary. The truth however is that the Police that stop you at random (this happens a lot in Italy), or after an accident will require this document and will issue you a ticket if you are unable to produce it. This may also result in your insurance becoming invalidated since you are driving illegally.
The International Driving Permit is simply an authenticated translation of your DL into the various languages of the EU. It is issued for a period of 12 months and can be issued for a future period up to 6 months before your date of travel.
In the USA you can purchase an IDP online, but the easiest way to obtain one is to stop in at any AAA office with two passport sized photos. The cost is around $20 for AAA members and a little higher for non-members. They will take the photos for you if you prefer for an added fee.
INSURANCE
By law the Rental Company has to include Liability coverage when renting you a vehicle. This provides coverage for anything or anyone outside the vehicle that you may hit and be responsible for. It does not provide any coverage for damage to the vehicle that you are renting.
The rental company will (sometimes aggressively) offer at least one and usually two insurance packages to go along with the rental agreement at additional cost. The cheaper of these will provide insurance for damage to your rented vehicle, usually with a significant deductible and some exclusions such as damage to glass, tires and wheels. The more expensive option will reduce the deductible or eliminate it entirely and include the items excluded by the cheap option.
You can of course purchase either of the options offered by your rental company. This is the most expensive option. It is however the safest and easiest option and appeals to many for this reason. It should also be borne in mind that when driving in a foreign country with different road signs, different driving traits and unfamiliar routes one is more likely to have an accident than at home. With the premium insurance you can return your rental car, scratched, crashed, broken into and walk away with no further responsibility on your part for the damage caused.
Alternatively you can research your credit card (the one used to pay for the rental). Many premium Visa/Mastercard/Amex cards offer primary insurance coverage.
This can offer considerable savings. Over a two-week rental the savings can be several hundred dollars. If you decide to go this route you should be aware of the following;
· If you decline the optional insurances the rental agency will likely place a ‘hold’ of several thousand dollars against your card pending safe return of the vehicle. Depending on your credit limit that could be a problem for future vacation purchases.
· If you get in an accident the rental company will almost certainly place a large charge against your credit card, pending resolution of the insurance claim.
· You will need to be actively involved in the management of your claim. You will need to file the claim with your credit card company.
· Not all premium cards offer primary coverage, and some cards exclude Italy (and Ireland and New Zealand). For example no American Express card offers coverage in Italy.
· Coverage only exists for periods of up to but not exceeding 30 days. If you rent for 31 days you will have no coverage for the entire period.
· Coverage is restricted to certain classes of vehicles. Often Mercedes, and more exotic cars are excluded as are pick-up trucks, vans etc.
· Since you are taking responsibility for any damage it is essential that you photograph/video the exterior of the car, in the rental lot, before driving it away. I take pictures of wheels/wheel arches, all flat surfaces, windshield, wing mirror housings, and I then take a video of a walkaround. If dropping off the vehicle out of hours without an inspection by the rental company I will repeat the process. Having evidence of the vehicles condition prior to the rental and when I drop it off has helped me avoid damage fees on several occasions.
The golden rule is to plough through the specific details of YOUR card’s benefits before you rent to be clear on what is and more importantly what is not covered by your card or cards. I have used this method for decades and have saved thousands of dollars by using premium cards to avoid having to buy the optional coverage. For me it has worked out well. On the other hand if you are perhaps only ever going to take one overseas trip, then buy the insurance and save the worry.
LOCAL TRAITS
Driving in Italy you will quickly become aware of two traits of Italian drivers. One, they tend to drive considerably faster than the typical American and two they will overtake a slower car at any opportunity, even if it seems quite unsafe.
DRIVING ON THE AUTOSTRADA
Autostradas (Freeways) are mostly only accessible through a toll gate. Make sure to choose the correct entrance gate (some cars have automatic passes and can go through the automatic "Telepass" gates). Rental cars will typically not have an automatic pass, so you need to go through the slower ones where you pick up a ticket which spits out either as it feels the car come up, or you will have to press a button. The bar will go up and you can enter the Autostrada when you take the ticket, "biglietto" in Italian. Make sure to keep this ticket as it will determine the trait that you've driven and you will pay only for that. If you loose the ticket or somehow entered without taking it, you are responsible for paying the longest possible distance which can be well over 100 euro.
You will observe that unlike in the USA, Italians observe strict lane discipline, they will pull into the passing lane only to pass one or more cars and then return to the ‘slow’ lane or lanes. Equally, drivers that are passing will become extremely irate if a slower car is lingering in a passing lane. If you are in any lane other than the right (slow) lane, do not be surprised to find much faster cars coming up behind you at speed and pretty much hanging off your rear fender while flashing their lights. This is because you have inadvertently lingered too long in, or are going too slow, in a passing lane. The simple rule is to keep an eye on your rear-view mirror and only pull out to overtake when the road behind you in the overtaking lane is clear and then return to your lane as soon as you have completed your pass. Bear in mind that the closing speed of an Italian in the fast lane can be considerable!
DRIVING ELSEWHERE, ESPECIALLY COUNTRY ROADS
One of the great pleasures of driving in Italy is getting off the Autostrada and onto the country roads where you can enjoy the beautiful countryside, small towns and sights along the way at a relaxed pace. You will likely drive at a speed that is commensurate with viewing the scenery and it is very likely that you will find cars lined up behind you and eager to pass. Impatient following vehicles may try to pass you at places you consider risky or even dangerous. This is the time to pull over at the earliest opportunity and let the local traffic pass. They know the road and are in a hurry to get somewhere, let them pass and you can enjoy your own pace rather than feeling pressured to increase your speed to ‘keep up’.
SPEED
The article is primarily focused on visitors to the Tuscany region of Italy. Tuscany is probably the most popular region for foreign visitors to rent cars to explore it. Perhaps as a result of this, speed traps are becoming ever more popular as a cheap, low labor means to control speed.
Italians do tend to drive fast, however they also are very aware of the locations and signage of speed traps and you may be surprised to see a fast moving car, suddenly slow for 100 metres then pick up speed again on a straight empty road. What he or she knows, and you do not, is that there was a speed trap behind that tree.
Consequently, it is easy to fall into the trap of speeding along with the general flow of traffic and this can catch you out.
Automatic speed traps are called Autovelox. There are at least two types. One type takes a picture of speeding cars at they pass the “box” installed at the side of the road, the other has a high mounted camera which looks down the street and takes a picture of cars approaching the camera. Both types are typically accompanied by a small “AUTOVELOX” sign about 50 metres ahead of the camera and another sign at the camera location. It is worth familiarizing yourself with these signs ahead of time.
These traps are typically set to capture any vehicle speeding 10% above the speed limit or 5 kph above the speed limit whichever is the greater. So in a 30 kph town zone that will result in a ticket for driving 33.5 kph.
Because the rental car is registered to the agency you rented it from, any infraction ticket will be sent to the rental agency. The agency will provide the relevant police agency with your contact address. The rental agency will then issue a charge against your credit card for providing this service. The charge in 2024 varies from 25 to 50 Euros depending on the agency. This is not your ticket, it is just an administrative charge. They will also send you a letter or email to let you know to expect a ticket in the mail (not by email) from the relevant court. his ticket will take up to one year to arrive in the snail mail and by that time it may have accrued unpaid penalties in addition to the basic fine. If you do get a ticket, see if you can make the payment at the issuing website. The notification will provide you with the website address and a login/password. However it will likely not accept a USA based websearch, so either use your cellphone rather than your computer, or activate an Italian IP address using a VPN on your computer. It is worth noting that the website will ask you to enter the date you received the summons in the mail. Since you only have 5 days after receipt to pay the fine without a penalty being added you should always ensure that you pay within the 5 days of the date of receipt that you entered.
DRIVING IN CITIES AND THE DREADED ZTL
Many Italian cities were built way before cars were invented. Streets can be narrow and twisting. Parking can be a nightmare and parked cars add to the congestion. Direction signposts often have so much information on them that it can be difficult to pick out that one sign for the route you are looking for. Complicating this is that your GPS Google Maps/Waze cannot always keep up with your progress, since the signal is frequently blocked by the close stone buildings. Adding a final complication is that many cities and even small towns have implemented ZTL – Limited Traffic Zones. These zones prohibit most traffic during specified periods (or totally) and there are severe fines for breaching these zones. Worse, the zones are not identified on Google Maps as of yet. So your GPS guidance is quite likely to take you through a prohibited area where your vehicle will be photographed and a ticket issued - see above under SPEED.
I am a confident driver and have driven in London, Naples, Rome, Paris and Florence. However I choose not to when I do not have to. Parking is an immense problem and this, together with the problems outlined above make city driving challenging and frustrating. Most savvy travelers will use public transportation and taxis in large cities and only rent for countryside or cross-country excursions.
On the plus side Florence is very walkable. There is parking outside the centre within 20 minutes’ walk (see below) and there are shuttle parking areas outside the city which will take you right into the city. There are also premium underground parking garages in the center which you must reserve in advance and the parking fee includes use of the ZTL zones to and from the garage. All of these have websites and are locatable on Google Maps.
ZTL is shown clearly also in all the small villages around Tuscany as you see in this photo.
STREET PARKING
Street parking is another option, if you are willing to walk 10–20 minutes into the historical center. The best spots are usually on the edge of central Florence. These are the cheapest parking places, and therefore the most challenging to find as they also used by the locals.
It is important to note the different coloured spaces.
White lines mean this space is for residents. If your car is parked in a white parking space and you fail to show a resident pass, you will receive a fine.
Yellow is for disabled parking; once again you must display the appropriate pass.
Blue is paid street parking.
You are required to find a working parkometer and pay Monday to Saturday 08:00–20:00. Prices vary. Once you have your ticket, leave it on the dashboard of the car.
If you intend to park your car overnight, check local signs which indicate when street cleaning is done. Cars left in a street where cleaning must be performed are towed away.
These are some of our most reliable Florence street parking spots:
Porta San Frediano, near Santo Spirito
Lungarno della Zecca Vecchia, near Santa Croce
Lungarno del Tempio, near Piazza Ferrucci
Lungarno Ferrucci, near San Niccolò (this is where you would park if you are driving in to take a wine tour with Grape Tours - or we can meet you at the Bottai parking just off the highway exit ‘Impruneta‘).
RANDOM TRAFFIC STOPS
Unlike in the US, Italian police have the right to stop anyone at anytime and ask for identifying papers. They do not have to suspect a crime, this is the Napoleonic code and if you travel to Italy you just have to go along with it. If you are driving, it is usually a roadside stop and a policeman waving a white paddle with a red reflective bezel on it selectively stopping traffic as it passes by. They will ask you for your papers. If you do not have your passports and your IDP with you, they will likely detain you temporarily while someone in your group is dispatched to retrieve your papers from your hotel. Some people carry copies of documents, believing that the originals are safer left in the hotel safe. It is possible—but by no means certain—that they may be accepted in lieu of the originals. I would not count on it though!
The flip side of this is that they are generally not looking for short-term visiting tourists. So when I am stopped I immediately lose all my hard-won Italian phrases and speak slowly and clearly in English. So far I have been waved on both times I have employed this strategy.
DRINKING
The traffic laws in Italy have recently become a lot stricter with higher fines for speeding, using a phone, and driving under the influence. The limit is 0,5 so one glass of wine, one beer, or one shot, and then wait an hour.
There is zero tolerance for drunk driving which results in jail time (this is not how you would want your holiday to end, right?!), so please make sure you have a designated driver—or hire a driver or do a guided wine tour ;)
Here's an article that explains the stricter traffic laws in Italy.
WHICH RENTAL COMPANY?
I am often asked which rental company I use. I rent cars in Florence or Rome 4–6 times a year. I have used most of the local and international brands at one time or another and I find it hard to make a recommendation of any specific company. I have found that each rental experience is unique and can be great or bad regardless of brand, and dependent on the agent and the vehicle.
CONCLUSION
I hope that these driving in Italy must-knows have been informative and haven't put you off driving a rental car in Italy. Forewarned is forearmed and with this information you will hopefully have an amazing experience and make discoveries that only a self-drive rental car can offer.
This informative article was written by our friend Allan Teed who we thank for sharing—first hand knowledge is priceless—and adapted to this blog by Grape Tours' Rebecca Gouttenoire Christophersen.