Renting a Car in Italy – 7 Things to Know (2024)

Renting a car in Italy is probably one of the best ways to explore the country’s famous countryside and medieval hilltop villages, among other stunning places!

I lived in Italy a while ago and I visit the country frequently, so I know it pretty well! On our last trip there, we rented a car to explore the Tuscan region and I’m excited to share my experience with you and all the tips that I’m sure you’ll find useful. 

I’ve also made sure to read all the rental companies’ reviews, compared rental prices and included in the article all the things that you should know about the roads in Italy plus many other tips. 

Before we dive in, check out this table with general information about renting a car in Italy:

Age	21 or older (double check with your rental company)
Documents needed	Passport or ID, driving license (domestic or international), credit card
Driving license requirements	in English or International Driving Permit
Speed limit	120 kph on highways, 50 kph in cities, and 90 kph on single carriageways, 110 kph on dual carriageways
Which side of the road	Right
Children rules	Children less than 12 must have an appropriate car seat (you can rent one from the car company)
Alcohol allowed	BAC less than 0.05%
Metric or imperial system	Metric (speed in kph, fuel in liters)
Toll roads	Electronic and cashless; ensure the rental car has an e-tag or create an e-toll account yourself
Where to book	Rentalcars or DiscoverCars

1. Prices for renting a car in Italy

Before we jump to more serious things, let’s check out the prices for renting a car in Italy! 

Below you’ll find the prices listed according to season and the model of the car 

1.1 Prices by car type & season

Check out the table below where you can see an estimate of the prices for renting a car per day, depending on the season and the type of car that you’ll want for your trip (for this table the pick-up and drop-off is Rome, so the costs may differ if you choose another location). 

Type/Price per day	Low season	High season price
Compact/economy	US$30 – 50	US$60 – 90	Best deals
Sedan	US$50 – 60	US$90 – 130	Check the rates
SUV/4×4	US$60 – 140	US$95 – 180	Book here
Minivan/campervan	US$200 – 300	US$250 – 600	Explore more

As you’ll notice during high season (June to late September) the car prices are higher since lots of people visit Italy during that period for holidays

In the low season (November to February) you’ll find some lower prices although the difference isn’t super big. Still, if you rent a car for more than a few days, in the low season rather than in the high season you’ll save a more substantial amount of money. 

1.2 Gas prices 

If you want to check current gas prices in Italy, you can do so on GlobalPetrolPrices, where they update the prices pretty frequently. 

Depending on how big the car’s tank is and what type of car you’re driving, you’ll pay somewhere between US$75 to US$90 to fill it up. 

NOTE: If you’re traveling on a budget and looking for ways to save fuel then make sure you don’t drive too fast or too slow (if possible) as that can eat up your fuel. 

1.3 How to choose the type of car that is perfect for you?

• Economy/Compact Cars – this type of car is perfect if you’re not planning to drive on highways a lot while in Italy. If you get a small car and go even at 120kph and there’s a string wind, you might feel that in the car 
• Midsize/Sedan Cars – I personally prefer these ones as they offer a bit more space and comfort and they’re great for families or if you’re traveling with a small friend group
• SUVs/4WDs – these ones are perfect for those who want to feel more safe or for those going on an off-road adventure 
• Campervans – if you’re traveling in a group or have a family of more than 5 people and you need all the space, go for this one 

NOTE: If you choose to book an electric car, make sure you check that you have charging stations where you’re going, that’d be the only thing to worry about.

1.4 Tips on how to save on your rental car 

Looking for some ways to save money when renting a car in Italy? Then check out the section below:

• Book through rentalcars.com where you’ll find the best deals and sometimes much lower prices than you would at a normal rental company
• Prepare your trip and book your car in advance to find better deals
• If possible travel during the low season or even shoulder seasons when there aren’t as many tourists 
• If you don’t need a bigger car or to drive a lot on highways (but mostly on city/country roads) pick a small one which are usually much cheaper 
• Get a car with unlimited mileage if you know you’ll drive a lot. Some basic rates are limited to 200 km/day (124 miles) and companies will charge extra for every kilometer that’s more than that limit

1.5 Car rental insurance prices

Most if not all rental companies will push their insurance, which is great on one side because you’ll basically be responsibility-free if something happens to the car, but on the other side it can double the final rental price (especially if you book for 2 weeks or more). 

Usually, you’ll get this insurance from the counter when you do the paperwork or directly from the car rental website.

What I usually do (and what I did when I rented my car in Italy as well) is to book my car through rentalcars.com and get their insurance which basically says that you will have to pay if you do anything to the car but they’ll reimburse you. 

However, bear in mind that it might take a couple of months to get your money back (if something does happen to the car), so if you’re not comfortable with that maybe opt for the normal insurance which frees you of all responsibility. 

2. Road tolls and fines

Here’s everything you need to know about road fines and road tolls and how to pay for them:

2.1 Road tolls in Italy

Road Tolls can be pretty expensive in Italy, and cost you even as much as fuel! 

You can easily pay by: 

• Card (contactless or inserting the card)
• Cash 

NOTE: Some rental companies offer cars with electronic toll systems, usually for higher-class cars that are more expensive. But double check, maybe the car that you pick is equipped with that. 

As for the prices you can expect to pay around US$8 to US$10 / 100kph depending if the road is flat or mountainous. 

2.2 Road fines in Italy

Here’s a short list of the most common offenses in Italy and how much you could pay for each:

• Speeding – up to US$3780
• Driving in restricted areas (usually marked with a big sign that says ZTL which means Zona Traffico Limitato) – up to US$333
• Parking in the wrong place – from US$44 to US$371
• Jumping the red light in traffic – US$194
• Driving without the seatbelt – US$95
• Using your phone while driving – US$182
• Driving drunk – From US$171 to US$1100

3. Road quality

From my experience, driving on highways and on main roads in Italy is great, those roads are amazing and usually, you won’t encounter any issues. 

However if you go on smaller roads (maybe so that you can avoid the road tolls) you’ll find that the roads have some bumps, holes, or they’re just in a poor condition. So you’ll have to take a bit of extra care (and this is where you really want insurance!). 

For example, when we visited Tuscany, we wanted to check out all the amazing viewpoints that the region is known for, so we had to drive on a lot of unpaved roads. Which weren’t so bad, however, they do have a higher risk of getting a flat tire (it didn’t happen to us, but make sure you’re careful and the car has a spare).

PRO TIP: If you know you’ll explore a lot of unpaved roads or country roads maybe consider renting an SUV or a cross SUV, basically something that has stronger tires. 

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4. Parking rules and fees

As a general rule in Italy you can park in the following spots:

• In designated spaces (lines marked on the road, or signs indicating parking is allowed)
• Parking garages
• On the side of the road, even if it’s not marked as a parking place as long as it’s in an area where you’re allowed to park your car 

PRO TIP 1: Be careful with the designated parking spaces as many of the spots are designated for residents, especially on certain days

Also make sure you look for indicators that show that you can’t park in that area. Usually the sign showing a red circle with a red slash on a blue background, means no parking 

In Italy, the parking spaces lines have different colors (blue, white, yellow, pink, and green), each color has a meaning and I’ll tell you all about it below: 

• Blue lines  – usually these are for paid parking spaces, but they can also be free, or require payment for certain days (eg: weekdays from 8 AM to 8 PM)
• White lines – these are usually saved for free parking spots or resident parking 
• Yellow lines – this one indicates you need permission to use it (eg: you’re loading and unloading goods, or you’re a taxi driver)
• Pink lines – saved for pregnant women and parents with small children
• Green lines – these indicate spaces saved for electrical cars 

There are some one-way streets where you can park for 1h between 8 AM to 7 PM as long as you have what they call a “Disco Orario” (parking disc), that you place in your dashboard. Usually rented cars come with one but if they don’t, you can get one from a gas station, tabaccheria or newsstand. When you arrive you turn the parking disc on, and then you can head off but be sure to return within the hour, otherwise you risk getting a fine.

PRO TIP 2: Download and use the Easy Park app, which will help you find parking spaces and also you can register your rental car and just pay online. 

As for parking fines, they usually start somewhere at US$44 and can get up to US$332, depending on the infraction. 

5. Other expenses

It’s good to know from the beginning that renting a car will come with lots of other costs! This is not to bum you out but rather to prepare you, from the start! 

Here are some things that will increase the costs of renting a car in italy:

• Insurance
• One-way car rental (this is when you rent the car from a destination and then drop it off in another destination, like another city) 
• Administrative fees
• Fueling
• Cleaning the car
• Car seat for the child
• Passing the mileage limit
• Fee for a young driver
• Additional driver (someone else who is registered to drive the car during the time you’re renting it)

6. Useful apps

Here are some apps that you’ll probably need when renting a car in Italy:

• Waze 
• Google Maps
• Easy Park 

NOTE: In order to stay connected at all times and not pay a huge phone bill, I recommend getting an eSIM (like Airalo) so that you can buy a plan and have all the data that you need. Or you could also download offline maps so that you can use them anytime. 

If you’re looking for more useful apps that you might need on your holidays, here’s a post with the top 20 free travel apps. 

7. Tips for when you receive the rented car

There are a couple of things that you definitely need to check out when you receive the car, I’ve included the main ones below. I highly recommend following these, so you avoid any extra (and unfair) charges: 

• Check the fuel to see if it’s how much they said it is (for example if they say the tank is full and you signed and agreed to that but you discover later that it wasn’t full, you’ll end up paying for the extra fuel you’ll add at the end)
• Do a thorough check of the car and look for any scratches or things that don’t appear on the initial report of the car (I recommend taking a video of the car, where you can see all the scratches or dents, that way in case they wrongly accuse you of doing something, you can just show them the recording
• Don’t forget to check the tires as well (sometimes they’ll also look at the exterior of the tire to see if chipped or dented) 
• Make sure all the documents are inside the car

PRO TIP: Usually you don’t get the car that you pick from the website, you get the same class. So if you don’t like the car that they offered you (eg: they give you a manual one and you’d rather have an automated car), just ask them nicely if they have anything else available in the same class. If they have it, they’ll usually give it to you and sometimes it can happen that you’ll get an upgrade for free

🚗 Economy car:	US$30-50
🚜 4×4 price:	US$60-140
🚐 Campervan price:	~US$200
👶 Driving age:	21
⛽ Gas price:	US$2 per liter
✈️ Cost of traveling:	medium
👍 Most popular car:	Toyota Corolla or similar
🚙 Top rental company:	Rentalcars & DiscoverCars

FAQs about renting a car in Italy

Final thoughts

Alright everyone! I hope that this guide on renting a car in Italy gave you a lot of insight on how to do this and what the costs would be.

I know there’s a lot of information to take in, so I’d recommend going slowly over each point to see if this is something that you’ll want to do, during your trip!

We’ve had an amazing experience with our rental car in Italy and it was such a pleasure to drive and admire all those stunning landscapes! 

As always, if you have any questions, just drop them below and I’ll make sure to answer them!

Happy exploring, 

Yulia

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