Renting a car in Genoa

[cruisnfool]

Would like to rent a car and wondering if anyone has any knowledge with this. Looks like the rental cars are at the airport and not sure how far that it. We are American and not sure if there is any special other than our license.

[Hlitner]

As one who has often driven in Italy (more than 10,000 miles within the country) I will gently offer some advice.  Driving in Italy can be tricky (the Italians are crazy...but usually safe drivers) as you must deal with some strange parking rules, ZTLs (limited driving zones), speed cameras, etc.  Most rental cars in Italy are stick shift (automatics are sometimes available for more money) which is a problem for many in North America who have never driven a stick.

 

As to renting in Genoa, there are some rental locations in town (an example is Hertz who has 2 city locations).  If you rent at the airport you will need to find/pay a taxi for the 4-5 mile ride.  It almost goes without saying that when driving in Europe we strongly advise having a working cell phone which you can also use as your GPS.  

 

As to licenses, you are legally required to carry a valid International Driving Permit (easily obtained at any AAA office).  While it is unlikely that anyone will ask to see that IDP document, it is the law in Italy and is nice to have in case you get stopped by the police.

 

Also beware of insurance.  Some credit card insurance do not include Italy!  Make sure you have adequate coverage and beware of the "excess" (which is similar to a deductible) which can be quite high with some rental companies.

 

Hank

[edinburgher]

11 hours ago, cruisnfool said:

Would like to rent a car and wondering if anyone has any knowledge with this

If reading the above hasn't put you off, (!) ( and Hank 's advice should not be ignored) where are you actually trying to get to that you must have a vehicle?  Italy is well served by trains, public buses, and from Genoa, also ferries, and in addition to areas of many cities and towns which cars cannot enter,  (ZTLs mentioned by Hank) finding any parking can be a total nightmare.

 

In general if you can use public transport that would be the easier option.

Edited October 19, 2023 by edinburgher

[Girr]

4 hours ago, edinburgher said:

If reading the above hasn't put you off, (!) ( and Hank 's advice should not be ignored) where are you actually trying to get to that you must have a vehicle?  Italy is well served by trains, public buses, and from Genoa, also ferries, and in addition to areas of many cities and towns which cars cannot enter,  (ZTLs mentioned by Hank) finding any parking can be a total nightmare.

 

In general if you can use public transport that would be the easier option.

Also, the inevitable ticket that always shows up 3 to 4 months later.  Plus experience has taught me to always take out the full insurance!  For the most part I never plan on renting a car in Italy, but it is always part of the backup plan.

[Galveston Cruiser]

Having lived and driven worldwide, I thoroughly enjoy driving in Italy.  As in any big city, traffic and parking can be problematic.  I just drove from Marco Polo airport to Florence, Montepulciano and Civitavecchia.  Highway system is great with tolls paid by credit card.  I can drive a stick, but got a luxury SUV (automatic) for less than a pregnant roller skate.  Parking was a somewhat a problem in Civitavecchia, but finally located one a block from where we stayed.  Loved having the vehicle for a week to take us wherever and whenever we wanted to go.  I have an international driving permit and credit card covers all insurance.  BTW: I'm female and 77!!

[Hlitner]

 A few related things about "tickets" in Europe.  Unlike here in the USA, most speeding tickets (and ZTL violations in Italy) are handled by cameras (some hidden and some well known).  If you get nailed by a speed camera (it recently happened to me in the Czech Republic) you will not even no for many weeks (or months).  Speeding tickets are generally handled by your rental car company who must pay the fine (usually under 100 Euros).  The rental car agencies will later charge your credit card, add their administrative fee (usually about 25 Euros) and send you some kind of notice.  End of problem, and other than losing some money it is not a hassle.   But parking tickets can be very interesting and varies between countries and even places within a country.  We used to laugh that we could paper a bathroom wall with all of our Italian parking tickets.  In many cases, these will not be handled by the rental car company so we have no clue how many we have received and never paid.  But in one case, we got a parking ticket at a small commune in Chianti.  We saw the police leaving our car as we were returning from a market and that ticket quickly became more trash.  

 

A few months after we got home, we received a Registered Letter from that small Italian commune.  The letter, written in Italian, explained the parking ticket and demanded payment in Euros!  I recall that the postage to get that letter to us was nearly 20 Euros (which they paid).  We kept it for a souvenir, and it generated some laughs at parties.  To this day we joke that we will get locked up when we return to Italy (it will not happen as even many Italians do not pay parking tickets).  

 

I do not know how ZTL violations are handled (we have never had one) but assume it is also processed by the rental car companies which means an extra admin fee.  My advice with Italian ZTLs (only found in cities and some larger towns) is to do your pre-trip homework.  You can find ZTL maps online and many of them are in obvious places such as much of central Rome and Florence.  There is also a tricky ZTL around Pisa's Field of Miracles which can be avoided if one is aware.

 

Hank