It is a quintessential American trait that we love our cars. It's ingrained in our cities, our habits and our ethos. So, it's no surprise that among the most common plans that fellow US travelers make when heading to Europe is reserving a rental car. It's completely understandable, if you think about it. With very few urban exceptions, vacation travel within the United States pretty much requires that you a rent a car. It's natural that travelers heading to Italy would carry that belief across the Atlantic. Including me.
It was May of 2000, and a buddy and I had been invited to friends' wedding in Tuscany. Searching for ways to save money, we scored bargain flights to Nice. As a nice bonus, renting a car in France was a fraction of the cost of renting one in Italy at the time. So, we figured we'd save a bunch of money by using Nice as our gateway, and could do some sightseeing along the coast on our way. The truth is, it worked out fine. But it was not without its lessons.
For starters, driving in a new environment, even if you're in the prime of your life, is challengeing. Doubly so after an international red eye. Add the chaos of a large city, and the difficulty level rises significantly. Then there's driving on the highway. Even for a lead foot like myself, the speeds are dizzying, which was confusing, since every so often we'd see someone pulled over by traffic cops armed with submachine guns. By the time we crossed into Monaco - less than an hour's drive - I was stressed and exhausted. And we still had another five hours of driving ahead of us.
On the plus side, having a car at our disposal was an absolute must for all the day-tripping we had in mind for Tuscany. But even that was stressful - especially the time I inadvertently entered a one way school zone going the wrong way. (Those Italian crossing guards take their job seriously!) By the time our week in Tuscany was up, the tension in the car had reached a boil, and I completely lost my composure after my friend navigated us straight into a horrific traffic jam in the middle of Pisa. That's not fun.
On several subsequent trips, I continued to rent cars, apparently determined to make as many mistakes as possible and learn from none. But with age comes (eventually) wisdom. Here are a few things I remind myself of when planning:
Travel to/from airports should always be on public transportation, preferably rail. It takes traffic out of the equation.
Cars are a liability in and around urban centers. Most Italian cities' roads are barely checked chaos, and have large pedestrian zones, nonexistent parking, and insane traffic.
Rail travel between urban centers is reasonably-priced, comfortable, stress-free, punctual, and fast.
When venturing beyond those places served efficiently by public transport, rental car outlets are usually available nearby the closest train station.
Nowadays, my planning usually takes a hybrid approach to rental cars. If we're heading someplace we can't easily (or comfortably) get to on a train, we'll take a train as far as we can, and pick up a rental car there. For example, leaving Rome for the Umbrian countryside, we took a chill train ride from Roma Termini to Orvieto, where there's an Avis across the street from the station. Same thing for exploring the Valpolicella wine region. No muss, no fuss.
But most of the time, really, we don't need a car at all. And that really helps make for a more relaxing vacation.