Boom… this is a perfect opening remark for our new startup. Spoiler… we are bringing (to few locations) cheap (and small in size) cars to Italians small and medium sized villages. A fraction of the cost of a rental, no crazy bureaucratic stuff for new residents and ready to go for few hours or entire day. It has also some impact locally, but it’s far from a charity! Because, unless you live in a major city, unfortunately you do need a car in Italy. And villages want small cars (no big suvs)… and rental cars charge you 3 or 4 times the actual cost… imagine zipcar or turo in rural Italy… so watch out for our new venture by ITS ITALY, launching soon Q4 2026 🚗
Yep, it’s really not a big market. Wondering about a Turo style option- if that’s even legal. It’s probably my lack of Italian (going to try Antonio’s program) but every interaction and signature seemed like a scam. Guys arguing in Neopolitan about the “upgrade” car I was being offered in one of the scams did not help the vibe. They did overlook my lack of EU permit however, for an up charge. The car was properly undersized but seriously underpowered for the mountains of Pollino.
Which cities? I’m spending May-June 2027 in Calabria considering lamezia Terme for the flight rather than Naples this time. I love driving in Italy and had a wonderful experience out of Rome with an A3 (car not autostrada) but a bad one out of Naples last year
We have, on a few occasions, spent too long standing beside the road waiting for a bus that ran less often than we thought, or combing through websites with conflicting info about bus schedules, or asking Italians who gave us conflicting info about where the correct bus stop was, BUT…
We have been able to get all over the place in Italy by bus. Even way out to a wine tasting at a rural Tuscan winery, to Lugano Switzerland on a “school” bus from near Lake Como, to a tiny hill town miles from the nearest train station, and many more. Yes, it takes patience and the willingness to feel foolish as you ask, yet again, if this is the right bus, the right stop, the right direction. But we have learned so much by putting ourselves into the same system Italians use. We have seen landscapes and towns that we would have missed if one of us was focused on the road, and the other on the navigation app. We have been forced to use our basic language skills again and again. (You don’t learn Italian in a car negotiating with Google Maps!) Yes, we also take taxis and have hired a driver, as Antonio suggests, when there seemed to be no other option. But the money and stress we have saved by NOT having a car? Priceless! (My basic Italian isn’t good enough to handle a furious or injured person after an accident. No thanks!)
We had some issues with the local trains our last visit. And we went to Civita de Bagnoregio, and it was well worth the hike. We were lucky that our Airbnb host’s Dad volunteered to take us to Bagnoregio and drop us off where the buses live. Getting back to Orvieto on the Cotral was challenging, even with the app and taking to the locals. The buses kept getting canceled and we spent a lot of time sitting and waiting. But finally it came and then dropped us off in a remote parking lot in Orvieto, which thankfully we had found (another Airbnb host asssist), by walking to the day before. After that experience we got stuck in Spello at the train station, again the locals could not even figure out where the bus substitution was to pick us up, so we ended up splitting a €60 taxi back to Perugia with a young grad student who said, “Here they locals say it’s better to just walk”. We need these experiences to familiarize us with how the system “works”, test our Italian communication, as well as our survival skills!
Here’s another tip. Apple Maps will send you places you can’t go even with the smallest car. Rental cars don’t do well with stairs, as we learned in both Bisignano and Civita. But I still love the freedom of a vehicle. Americano!
And driving in Naples is thrilling in a medieval jousting kind of way. 4 lanes of zipping nut-jobs in a roundabout striped for only three. My wife was quite impressed. Sense of great accomplishment. No damage to the A3.
Every time Alicia sees me drive in Italy, she's blown away by how "zippy" I am compared to my North American driving style. There, you have to be, for safety.
Great article! I would love to see an article that is the opposite of this. I want to move to a relatively small town to test the waters for a longer term move. I want to rent first and not necessarily take tax residency just yet. I have no doubt I will need a car. Can you write something on how to buy a car, get insurance , and what to do when I’m driving for more than a year? There must be a way!
Thank you very much, JD! And yes, a version of this is on the list.
I won’t write the article in this comment section but I’ll bring up a few points to give you something to consider in the meantime:
1. Buying a car in Italy requires residence. Specifically, residenza anagrafica and a codice fiscale. Without them you can’t have Italian plates and get insurance.
2. The trick for long term trials is noleggio a lungo termine. You pay a monthly fee that is somewhat reasonable and can drive with nothing registered in your name, requiring no residenza.
3. If tax residency is a concern, that kicks in after 183 days of residenza. So the trial might have to be shorter if you want to avoid that. If you are a non-EU citizen visiting, you’re often capped at 90 days stays in the first place.
4. Your home license is only valid for one year. After the one year, if Italy has a bilateral agreement with your country, you convert it. If they don’t, and Canada and the US don't, you have to get an Italian license from scratch, taking both theory and practical exams in Italian. And there is no easy workaround. The play here is to start the process of getting an Italian license months before your home country one will no longer be accepted.
The article will expand upon these points and add a few more critical details, but that’s the gist of the situation.
Boom… this is a perfect opening remark for our new startup. Spoiler… we are bringing (to few locations) cheap (and small in size) cars to Italians small and medium sized villages. A fraction of the cost of a rental, no crazy bureaucratic stuff for new residents and ready to go for few hours or entire day. It has also some impact locally, but it’s far from a charity! Because, unless you live in a major city, unfortunately you do need a car in Italy. And villages want small cars (no big suvs)… and rental cars charge you 3 or 4 times the actual cost… imagine zipcar or turo in rural Italy… so watch out for our new venture by ITS ITALY, launching soon Q4 2026 🚗
Yep, it’s really not a big market. Wondering about a Turo style option- if that’s even legal. It’s probably my lack of Italian (going to try Antonio’s program) but every interaction and signature seemed like a scam. Guys arguing in Neopolitan about the “upgrade” car I was being offered in one of the scams did not help the vibe. They did overlook my lack of EU permit however, for an up charge. The car was properly undersized but seriously underpowered for the mountains of Pollino.
Which cities? I’m spending May-June 2027 in Calabria considering lamezia Terme for the flight rather than Naples this time. I love driving in Italy and had a wonderful experience out of Rome with an A3 (car not autostrada) but a bad one out of Naples last year
Ops... we'll start in Tuscany / Umbria and Marche. Moving then to Puglia and hopefully to Sicily.
But Calabria will be a bit challenging at the moment. Sorry!
We have, on a few occasions, spent too long standing beside the road waiting for a bus that ran less often than we thought, or combing through websites with conflicting info about bus schedules, or asking Italians who gave us conflicting info about where the correct bus stop was, BUT…
We have been able to get all over the place in Italy by bus. Even way out to a wine tasting at a rural Tuscan winery, to Lugano Switzerland on a “school” bus from near Lake Como, to a tiny hill town miles from the nearest train station, and many more. Yes, it takes patience and the willingness to feel foolish as you ask, yet again, if this is the right bus, the right stop, the right direction. But we have learned so much by putting ourselves into the same system Italians use. We have seen landscapes and towns that we would have missed if one of us was focused on the road, and the other on the navigation app. We have been forced to use our basic language skills again and again. (You don’t learn Italian in a car negotiating with Google Maps!) Yes, we also take taxis and have hired a driver, as Antonio suggests, when there seemed to be no other option. But the money and stress we have saved by NOT having a car? Priceless! (My basic Italian isn’t good enough to handle a furious or injured person after an accident. No thanks!)
Great advice and a great piece! I actually just touched on some of this in my last article. Great minds think alike…
We had some issues with the local trains our last visit. And we went to Civita de Bagnoregio, and it was well worth the hike. We were lucky that our Airbnb host’s Dad volunteered to take us to Bagnoregio and drop us off where the buses live. Getting back to Orvieto on the Cotral was challenging, even with the app and taking to the locals. The buses kept getting canceled and we spent a lot of time sitting and waiting. But finally it came and then dropped us off in a remote parking lot in Orvieto, which thankfully we had found (another Airbnb host asssist), by walking to the day before. After that experience we got stuck in Spello at the train station, again the locals could not even figure out where the bus substitution was to pick us up, so we ended up splitting a €60 taxi back to Perugia with a young grad student who said, “Here they locals say it’s better to just walk”. We need these experiences to familiarize us with how the system “works”, test our Italian communication, as well as our survival skills!
Complimenti per la descrizione! Confermo tutti i tuoi suggerimenti, saranno molto utili a chi visiterà l’Italia!
Here’s another tip. Apple Maps will send you places you can’t go even with the smallest car. Rental cars don’t do well with stairs, as we learned in both Bisignano and Civita. But I still love the freedom of a vehicle. Americano!
And driving in Naples is thrilling in a medieval jousting kind of way. 4 lanes of zipping nut-jobs in a roundabout striped for only three. My wife was quite impressed. Sense of great accomplishment. No damage to the A3.
Every time Alicia sees me drive in Italy, she's blown away by how "zippy" I am compared to my North American driving style. There, you have to be, for safety.
It’s true. When in doubt, accelerate.
Also, show no fear.
Antonio
Great article! I would love to see an article that is the opposite of this. I want to move to a relatively small town to test the waters for a longer term move. I want to rent first and not necessarily take tax residency just yet. I have no doubt I will need a car. Can you write something on how to buy a car, get insurance , and what to do when I’m driving for more than a year? There must be a way!
Thank you very much, JD! And yes, a version of this is on the list.
I won’t write the article in this comment section but I’ll bring up a few points to give you something to consider in the meantime:
1. Buying a car in Italy requires residence. Specifically, residenza anagrafica and a codice fiscale. Without them you can’t have Italian plates and get insurance.
2. The trick for long term trials is noleggio a lungo termine. You pay a monthly fee that is somewhat reasonable and can drive with nothing registered in your name, requiring no residenza.
3. If tax residency is a concern, that kicks in after 183 days of residenza. So the trial might have to be shorter if you want to avoid that. If you are a non-EU citizen visiting, you’re often capped at 90 days stays in the first place.
4. Your home license is only valid for one year. After the one year, if Italy has a bilateral agreement with your country, you convert it. If they don’t, and Canada and the US don't, you have to get an Italian license from scratch, taking both theory and practical exams in Italian. And there is no easy workaround. The play here is to start the process of getting an Italian license months before your home country one will no longer be accepted.
The article will expand upon these points and add a few more critical details, but that’s the gist of the situation.