Planning a trip? Why not rent a car? My sister came to visit this past week and while she was here, we rented a car and drove to visit our family in Caserta (about an hour outside of Naples). Before she arrived, I went to Borgo Ognissanti to research our rental car options. Due to the overwhelming hike in Italian tourism during the months of March through May, renting cars becomes rather trying. Car rental reservations should be made at least 5-7 days before the actual day of pick-up; I, completely unaware and uneducated as to the proper car rental procedure, did not make a car reservation as recommended, leaving my sister and I with one compact, and rather stereotypically European option: the Smart Car.
Caserta is about four hours south-west of Florence and while the Smart Car is effective for navigating the tiny streets of Florence, the autostrada demands a well, faster car. Looking back on the trip, the Smart Car did work very well. The Smart Cars seem to be uncomfortably small, but in actuality, the car fit both me and my sister very comfortably, with enough trunk space for a large piece of luggage and two full backpacks. The size and gas efficiency worked to our advantage as well.
The only problem that we did encounter with the Smart Car was the speed restraint and lightness of the car. Traveling on major Italian autostrada’s at speeds reaching 120 km/hour (about 85 mph), proved to be a challenge for our little friend. Our mobile was barely reaching 120 km/hour, while fellow drivers were passing us at speeds much faster. My cousin informed me that there are driving constraints placed on cargo trucks in Italy, and the highways are always filled with trucks Monday-Friday. The weekends are reserved for car travel; trucks only use the highways during the week. The wind created by the surrounding trucks was unsettling for our automobile, leaving our Smart shaking, literally, as we approached higher speeds.
Focusing now on price, many car rentals have a flat rate per day depending on the car of choice (economy, medium, luxury, etc.), but be weary of extra costs. Some dealers latch an extra fee for kilometers over a certain flat rate. For example, our car cost an extra € 0.13 for every kilometer over 250 kilometers per day. Our trip was about 900-1000 kilometers and we had a total of three rental days. If you do the math, we paid a bit more than we originally bargained for. Also, if you are not familiar with the roads, you can ask about a TomTom navigation system. This usually comes at an extra cost of € 8-10 euro per day. We rented a TomTom and this was invaluable during our trip—we would have been lost without it. Finally, potential car renters, make sure you factor in toll and gas costs. Our trip was € 24 Euro in tolls, both ways, and it cost us about € 40 Euro to fill up the tank of the Smart Car. We made it on two tanks.
In general, before renting a car, buying a train ticket, or booking a flight, the best option does not always have to be the most cost-effective. While our car rental cost a bit more than a round trip train ticket to and from Caserta, our experience would not have been the same on the train. Traveling on A1 provides you with a different view of the Italian countryside and gives you the freedom to stop in small cities along the way. On our way home, we stopped in Orvieto and enjoyed the underground city tunnels and the rolling, wine-producing hills. We found that we preferred the rental car for this trip in particular and no matter the price, we would have done it again given the chance.
No comments:
Post a Comment