Car rental Italy

General information and regulations

In order to rent a car you must be at least 18 years old (age may vary by car category) and have held your licence for 1 year. Drivers under the age of 25 may incur a young driver surcharge.

Seatbelts are mandatory and children under 12 must wear an age-appropriate restraint. The speed limit in the city is 30mph/50kph, on local roads 66mph/110kph and on highways 81mph/130kph.

Italy has a high density of cars, please note that many roads are crowded. Traffic travels on the right in Italy.

Driving in Italy with a rental car

Italy has a good network of roads with no less than 6,400 km highways and 288,000 km 'regular' roads. The well known 'Autostrade', or highways, are scattered around the entire country both in the length and the width of the peninsula. The roads are divided into 'Strada Statale' (state-owned roads with a total length of 12,000 km), 'Strada Provinciale' (province roads) and 'Strada Communale' (municipal roads).

Besides the beauty of the churches, cathedrals and lovely museums in the cities, the scenery is well worth a visit. A nice trip is the drive from North to South. During such a trip you will notice the difference in welfare and the 'roughness' of the South. The North is richer, has the most fertile land and the most important harbour (Genua) although the South includes charming cities as well. A fine example is Palermo.

Main areas of interest in the North include the Italian Rivièra, the Alps (Dolomites) and the lakes, under which lake Garda. Taking a trip from Florence (Tuscany) to Naples is recommended (409 km) and you can continue from Naples to Messina or Palermo (both situated on Sicily). Traffic can be heavy on the ferry to Sicily. Rome is situated centrally and trips to the North or South are easily arranged.

Renting a car in Italy

All of the main airports have plenty of car rental companies at your disposal. Some of these companies include: Avis, Alamo, Budget, Europcar, Hertz, Maggiore, National, Sixt and Thrifty.

Another option is booking a car through EasyTerra. This organization compares the rates of well-established car rental companies for your convenience.