Renting a Car in Europe: When It Helps and When It Hurts
A car transforms rural travel in Europe and actively damages city travel. The trick is renting one for the part of the trip that needs it and not for the part that does not.
7 min read
Where a car earns its keep
Rural Tuscany and Umbria, inner Provence, Puglia, the Scottish Highlands, the Dolomites for trailheads, Andalusia's white villages, the Portuguese interior and most of Iceland and Ireland.
What these have in common is thin rural bus coverage and places worth reaching that are 20 minutes from a station.
Where it is a liability
Any large historic city. Italian cities enforce restricted traffic zones, the zona a traffico limitato, with cameras, and fines arrive by post months later, one per entry. Parking in Lisbon, Naples and Palermo ranges from expensive to genuinely difficult.
The pattern that works is train between cities, car for the countryside stretch only, collected and returned outside the centre.
- Collect from an airport or peripheral station office, not a city centre one
- Check whether your accommodation has parking before booking
- In Italy, never drive into a signed ZTL, even briefly, even following a local
Insurance in plain terms
The base rate includes cover with a large excess, often 1,000 to 2,500 EUR. The desk will offer to reduce it at a high daily rate. A standalone annual excess policy bought separately usually costs less than a week of the desk product.
Whichever you choose, decide before you arrive. The counter is the worst place to make a financial decision while jet-lagged.
Fuel, tolls and admin
Take full to full fuel policies and refuse prepaid fuel. Photograph the car from all four corners plus the roof and wheels before leaving the bay, and again on return.
Motorway tolls are common in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. Portugal's electronic-only tolls need a transponder from the rental company, which is worth taking to avoid penalty admin fees.
Licences and cards
Non-EU licences often require an International Driving Permit, and rules differ by country. Check the specific requirement for your licence and destination before travelling, because a refusal at the desk ends the plan.
A credit card in the main driver's name is usually mandatory for the deposit. Debit cards are frequently refused.
