car rental In Civitavecchia

[paulred]

Another "asked and answered" question, but I can"t find a thread for this.

 

Arriving in Civitavecchia, we want to rent a car. Does anyone know where the car rental places are, in relation to the port entrance/exit?

 

Thanks.

 

Paul

[HeinBloed]

Arriving in Civitavecchia, we want to rent a car. Does anyone know where the car rental places are, in relation to the port entrance/exit?

 

HERTZ is about 2 blocks away (half way from Port Entrance to Station) from Port Entrance on the left side.

 

Regards,

HeinBloed

[Hlitner]

Europcar is a bit further than Hertz and quite a few blocks towards the left (away from the train station). When we were last in Civitavecchia (May 2), we were able to get the port shuttle bus driver (this bus is free) to drop us at a smaller gate (this was after he dropped everyone else at the main gate) which was much closer to Europcar. The rental car dealers are a bit scattered in this town, so you need to carefully check on the location from wherever you rent. We find it useful to use GoogleEarth to double check locations in relation to port entrances, but of course you have to know where the port entrance is located to take advantage of this idea.

 

Hank

[Babs02]

We're thinking of hiring a car from Rome Airport to the Port in Civitavecchia does anyone know what the road is like for driving between Rome to the port.

 

We've been told it can be quite horrendous!

 

Babs

[paulred]

Thanks for both the tips on rental locations. I've google earthed them both.

 

One question left. Do I just ask the shuttle driver about the "small gate" or ask him to drop me off as near to Europcar as possible?

 

cheers

 

Paul

[Hlitner]

We're thinking of hiring a car from Rome Airport to the Port in Civitavecchia does anyone know what the road is like for driving between Rome to the port.

 

We've been told it can be quite horrendous!

 

Babs

 

Heavens no! The road is quite good. In fact, almost all of the drive is on wide, fast, mulit-lane interstate type roads. Once you leave the airport you just follow signs to the A12 and than head North at about 70 MPH. That road takes you to right outside Civatavecchia and you just follow the signs off the exit. The biggest hassle is getting the rental car companies to shuttle you to the pier. Most will not do this, but you can either walk to the port entrance (where there is a free shuttle to the ships) or you can have the rental car dealer call a taxi.

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

Thanks for both the tips on rental locations. I've google earthed them both.

 

One question left. Do I just ask the shuttle driver about the "small gate" or ask him to drop me off as near to Europcar as possible?

 

cheers

 

Paul

 

Well, we were quite lucky because we happened to have a shuttle driver that spoke some English, and he overheard me complaining to another rider that the taxis would not take us to Europcar for less than 30 Euros (its about 1 mile from the ship). The driver than turned around and told us he would help. When we got to the port entrance, he motioned for us not to get off the bus, and than took us to the other exit. We have been through this port more than 7 times, and never even knew there was another gate. Previously, we had walked from the port entrance to Europcar (quite a hike) or I would leave my wife near the entrance and go get the car and come back to get her and the luggage. This back gate cuts down the walk to about 3 blocks, but there are some steps from the port road up to the small gate.

 

Hank

[Babs02]

Thanks Hank this certainly puts my mind at ease.:D

 

Babs

[DavidandPaula]

We used hertz last year. Pre booked over the internet but rang the night before to upgrade from a Pinto to a Diesel Focus. No problems with the change and no problems on the day with the hiring, all went smoothly but was asked for the International drivers permit as well as my regular license.

 

The office is almost next to the station in the service road next to the main road along the beach. Not open Sundays.

 

We were a bit late returning but had been told to drop the keys in the mailbox. As it turned out finding a parking spot would have been impossible but luckily the clerk was still there and took the car off our hands and then we rushed back to the ship to make dinner so I did not do my normal walk around check with the clerk. Had filled up the tank and we were about 3kms short of the 150km limit. I was a bit worried for the next month to see if any additional charges would appear on the final bill but was very surprised to see it was actually a little less than I expected. I have nothing but praise for the service we got and have used Hertz ever since.

 

As for driving we had the additional issues of being on the opposite side of the road (and car) plus the car was a manual shift (not a big problem but a long time since I have used a manual gearshift on the right, last time was an open wheeeled racing car). Italian drivers have a reputation of being quite mad but I found it quite easy to settle into their pace and attitudes (what does that say about me I wonder).

 

I would recommend a GPS to help with the navigation however.

 

We actually did venture into Rome but the busier roads were not a problem by the time we got there.

 

David

[KY Deb]

Do you need the international driver's permit? Looked at the Hertz website, no mention of that need. Thinking about renting at the FCO airport to drive to the ship.