Why is Car rental so expensive this year

Greetings! Our younger 18 year old son will be studying in Florence for the year, and we'd like to visit him following a work trip to Monaco. I have a two part question.

Traveling with my husband and me will be our 21 year old special needs son. We are open to suggestions from experienced travelers as to our transportation and itinerary.

Our 21 year old is hyper-verbal and has an intellecutal disability along with autism, so visiting very quiet museums, churches, etc is something where his vocalizations may not be welcomed and also where the content isn't something that would interest him. He's sweet as can be but a bit loud.

I was thinking of taking a train to the Italian border and then perhaps renting a car. From reading other forum posts, I *think* there are two towns near the border where there are rental car agencis. That said, in the US where we are from, there is a major shortage of rental cars. I don't know whether that is so in Italy or Europe overall, but it seems like smaller cities might be more impacted than say Rome or Milan, etc.

We would enjoy spending a day or two in the Cinque Terre area. Our older boy enjoys easy hikes, walking along the beach, and perhaps a boat or ferry ride. Other than that area, I am entirely clueless as to what might be lovely spots to visit. I'm betting that there are many, but we again need to take into consideration our 21 year old's disabilities.

The conference in Monaco finishes on Thursday, October 21. Our younger boy will be out on a 10 day break through Sunday evening, October24th, so he can meet us.... somewhere.. for a couple of days, depending upon where he might be traveling with his college classmates. Or we can just meet up with him in Florence where we do plan to spend a few days.

Can you tell we are just at the very start of figuring this out?

Is renting a car and driving to Florence adviseable? Or is rail the way to go? My husband and special needs boy will likely fly back to the US from Florence after several days, but I may meet a gal pal there and extend the trip. Thank you for your patience in reading and for any ideas you may have to assist us. Grazie mille!

We are travelling to croatia next year but want to do a week in Italy too. As we can't fly direct to naples, is sicily worth a visit followed by 4 days in amalfi or praino before flying to dubrovnik? I have found a lovely place in praino but wondered what it is like as a town and if a visit to amalfi or positano is worth it, or alternatively fly to another city and them on to naples??

Thank you

Hi there,

My family of 4 (kids aged 9 and nearly 5) are planning a trip to Sicily for 4-6 weeks in 2023 (and other parts of Italy too after the 4-6 weeks are up). We will rent a car for most of our stay.

We are planning to come in mid-June, which is the earliest we can arrive that spring.

My main question is: We aren't certain though if we should stay through to the end of July (6 weeks)?

We don't really know what its like in July, as we've been to Sicily in different periods befo

* early-mid June a few years ago (a bit north of Catania, Ortigia, Agriturismo Silitti near Caltanisetta, Marsala, Scopello); and

* a few days in early October for our honeymoon about 10 years ago (Ortigia and an agriturismo called Zottopera near Chiaramonte Gulfi).

We would ideally like to have a relaxing time with the kids in Sicily - and are hoping to avoid extreme heat (e.g. over 33 Celsius) during the middle of the day, crazy busy-ness and the worst of the Italian school holidays.

We are planning to stay in 2 or 3 spots as bases (about 10 days each): something like beachside near Noto/Ragusa, another near Palermo; and possibly an agriturismo in a central region or near a nice village (in a different region) as a third base. With possible weekend stays in Ortigia, Palermo, Cefalu and San Vito lo Capo.

Most places in Italy we'd like to visit mention September/October as ideal timing to visit, which I believe is also true for Sicily. But if we can visit Sicily at the start of our trip, we can leave September for areas like further north like Tuscany, Urbino, Ascoli Piceno.

Approved COVID-19 tests include a nucleic acid amplification test (e.g. PCR test) or a viral antigen test that is approved by the local health authority--- so in italy this chain offers

BIANALISI

PCR, Antigen & Antibody tests PCR-PCR

Nasal/Throat Swab

24 Hours

EUR

€70

Antigen

Saliva Swab

20 Minutes

EUR

€28'

SO is the 28 euro test acceptable for flight(antigen saliva swab)

I've searched this forum and there does not seem to be any updated taxi tariff info or photo links. I can find one dated 2017 but would assume the rates have increased since then.

Party of 2 needs to get from Naples Central to either Molo Beverello or Calata Porto di Massa (depending on our travel connections) on a Sunday in early October. I understand there is a fixed fare which is 13 euro (from the 2017 tariff). Is this still the fare in 2021? Can anyone provide a link or photo of the tariff for me with the current year?

Also, with the fixed fare does this amount already include the baggage supplement or is it extra? An will the fixed fare be the same for Sunday or is there an additional supplement. Thank you for any help.

We are 2 families - one : 2 adults and 2 children (18,21) and other family: 2 adults with a six year old child who shall be going overland from Sicily to Amalfi Coast in early July 2021. We were considering driving to Messina from Raguza area, take the ferry and drive to Maratea and stop overnight. The next day we shall drive to Sorrento and stay there for a few days. This was our draft itinerary so far.:

DAY 1 :

Drive to Messina - Ferry to Villa San Giovanni, Drive to Maratea and stay Maratea

DAY 2 :

Drive and stop to visit Salerno, then Vietri sul mare, Cetara and finally Sorrento and

stay at Sorrento (accommodation for next few days)

DAY 3 :

Drive and stop to visit Positano and then Praiano and see town centres. Return Sorrento

DAY 4 :

Drive and stop to visit Ravello and Amalfi and see town centres. Return Sorrento

DAY 5 :

Visit Sorrento Centre and Drive to Napoli or Salerno to catch Ferry to Palermo or Messina in the evening- overnight stay on the ferry

DAY 6 :

Arrive Palermo or Messina - depending on the ferry trip and availability. Spend a day in Sicily and end of trip.

Any suggestions please re entire itinerary. Not sure whether we should stop in Maratea or somewhere close - not to have a long way driving and whether to base ourselves at Sorrento. We are also undecided whether to catch the Ferry To Palermo or to Messina?

Please advise

raqdan

Hi,

My wife and I are due to travel to Sicily from the UK for a 2 week trip, last week of September/first week of October. This would be our first visit and we planned to rent a car and tour some of the island staying in a few different places - Palermo, Cefalu, Aelion islands, Taormina, Syracuse.

Now that the yellow zone restrictions have been reintroduced, we were hoping for some first hand experiences as to what impact this might have for us? Ideally from locals or people who have recently visited or are currently visiting Sicily.

We would obviously follow all the local restrictions and mask rules, we are fully vaccinated ourselves, plus both recovered from previous covid infections some time ago. However we have some concerns that our plans to tour around might mean we would be wearing our masks pretty much all day every day (when not driving) and that the restrictions will result in places we would like to visit being closed or very restricted.

So we are now considering whether to book elsewhere and head to Sicily another time. Or are we worrying too much?

Hi! I'm planning on doing a long holiday in Italy from the end of September until November. I will be doing most of my transport via public transport, but biking/hiking or renting a car every now and then might be an option too.

What I'm currently thinking about:

- Enter sicily by train, hop off on the east coast. Visit Taormina, Catania, Siracusa, and possibly Ragusa as main sites. 5 days?

- Take the ferry from either Pozzallo or Augusta to Malta

- Spend about a week on Malta

- Take the ferry back, see (possibly Ragusa here) Valle dei Templi, and the north and west of sicily. About 10 days?

- Take the ferry from Palermo to Cagliari

- Spend about two weeks on Sardinia (not sure what places yet)

- take the ferry from Porto Torres to Barcelona

Is this a feasibily itinerary? The suggested staying times for these places seem to be all over the place (e.g. 5 days enough for Sicily, two weeks in Malta) so I'm wondering if I'm taking it easy enough or if I could include Amalfi for example. Is two weeks in Sicily enough if I go by public transport? I want to see the main sites and take some relaxed days off too. I don't need to spend days in every town exploring every alley.

I plan on staying in hostels and cheap hotel rooms mostly. I can also bring camping gear but I'm not entirely sure if it's worth it as I think a lot of campings will already be closed in October. I don't particularly have a set budget but I prefer to spend my cash on good food and perhaps some guides. I don't have a need for luxury hotels or driving a car everywhere.

I would appreciate your recommendations for 2 or 3 hotels in Pisa. We (two adult) plan to spend 2-3 nights in Pisa and have a budget of €100-€150/night. Planning travel in April/May 2022.

I have looked at reviews for numerous hotels, but have found most have a bunch of negative reviews. Even ignoring the bottom 10% of negative reviews, I have not been able to narrow my choices done to 2 or 3 hotels.

Arriving by air, departing by train.

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

I have found the timetables for 2021 but do they run year around? Will be visiting 1st couple of weeks in October.