Snow chains and winter tyres in an Italian rental car

In Italy there is no nationwide winter-equipment rule: it is decided road by road by whoever manages that stretch, through a seasonal ordinanza, a local order that can change from one winter to the next. With a rental car the practical consequence is this: the duty to be driving on fitted winter tyres or carrying approved chains sits with the driver, while whether that equipment is actually in the car depends on where you pick it up and on what the contract says.

The unwritten rule of the Italian rental trade is simple. At northern branches and mountain branches, in season, the car almost always arrives on winter tyres or with chains in the boot. At city desks far from the snow, in the south and on the islands, often it does not. If the Dolomites, an Alpine pass or a weekend in the Apennines is on your plan, ask for the equipment in writing when you book, rather than hoping for it at the counter on the morning of departure.

Why Italy has no single nationwide rule

The Codice della Strada, the Italian highway code, does not impose winter equipment everywhere: it gives the owner or manager of a road the power to prescribe it on a stretch, for a defined period. Hence the winter orders, which usually cover the cold season from the later part of autumn into spring and can be extended if winter drags on. Two roads that cross each other can therefore carry different rules, and last year's order guarantees nothing about this year: check the road manager's own site a few days before you set off.

• Motorways and tunnels: the concession company running the stretch decides, and international tunnels have rules of their own.
• State roads: usually ANAS, the national road body, with decisions that differ from one regional department to another.
• Provincial and regional roads: the Region, the Province, or the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano, which are strict across the Dolomites.
• Inside villages and ski resorts: the comune, the municipality, which adds its own bans, parking rules and restricted traffic zones.

The two signs worth learning

The first carries the chain symbol: it prescribes winter equipment, and the supplementary plate nearly always makes clear that winter tyres count as the equivalent of chains on board. The second is the temporary measure that appears during or after a snowfall, when the road is open only to vehicles with chains actually fitted: at that point winter tyres are no longer enough. It happens on the ramps up to the passes, in front of tunnels and on the climbs to ski areas, often with patrols filtering traffic.

Winter tyres, chains, snow socks: what counts

The Italian code speaks of mezzi antisdrucciolevoli, anti-skid devices, and the family is broader than people assume. On the sidewall, the M plus S marking is a manufacturer's own declaration; the alpine symbol, the mountain with the snowflake, certifies grip testing on compacted snow. Many orders accept either marking, some explicitly require the alpine symbol, so this is the first thing to get the agency to put in writing.

• Winter or all-season tyres carrying the alpine symbol: the most comfortable answer, because you fit nothing in the snow.
• Link chains: the classic kit, accepted under every order, to be fitted on the driven wheels.
• Snow socks and textile devices: light and quick, but valid only if approved and only where the order allows them. Some tunnels exclude them.
• Spider-type chains and quick-fit systems: handy, but they need clearance in the wheel arch and will not fit many small rental cars.

What the rental includes and what it does not

This is where most nasty surprises start. Winter equipment is not a luxury accessory but a condition for driving, and many mountain agencies treat it as part of their seasonal standard. Others treat it as an add-on applied at handover. On the final bill, the difference is substantial.

• Fitted winter tyres: at northern and high-altitude branches this is often the seasonal standard, with no surcharge.
• Chains in the boot: sometimes standard, sometimes an accessory to reserve, sometimes present but the wrong size because the car handed over has different wheels.
• Ski racks or roof boxes: almost always separate accessories, with limited availability during the ski holidays.
• The warning triangle and the high-visibility reflective jacket must be in the car by law: check them, because with chains you will genuinely need them.
• The category you booked is not a guaranteed model: tie your request to the winter equipment rather than to one specific car.

The questions to ask before you book

1. 1Does the car have winter or all-season tyres, and what exactly is the marking on the sidewall?
2. 2Are the chains already on board or an accessory, and do they match the wheels I will be given?
3. 3Is the equipment included in the price I can see now, or added at handover?
4. 4May I leave the region and, if my route crosses a border, drive into Austria, Switzerland or France?
5. 5Who answers for a wheel rim damaged by a badly fitted chain, and does the protection I am buying cover it?

Area by area: what to expect in season

Not every branch lives the same winter: an office up in the mountains thinks like a mountain garage, one in a big city thinks about urban traffic. This table is there to tell you what kind of conversation you will have, not to let you take the outcome for granted.

Driving in snow in a car that is not yours

In winter there are two unknowns at once: the road and the car. You do not know how the steering is weighted, you do not know how worn the tread is, you have no idea how this model behaves braking on a wet surface. It is worth spending the first few kilometres learning that on a quiet road, before the hairpins. And worth remembering that winter limits are not summer limits.

• In rain or snow the limits drop: 110 km/h on the motorway and 90 km/h on main dual-carriageway roads outside towns. Secondary roads stay at 90 km/h and built-up areas at 50 km/h.
• With a licence held for less than 3 years the ceiling is 100 km/h on the motorway and 90 km/h on main roads outside towns, in any weather.
• The blood alcohol limit is 0.5 g/L, but it falls to 0.0 g/L for drivers holding a licence for less than 3 years, for anyone under 21 and for professional drivers.
• The reflective jacket must be worn before you step onto the carriageway outside a built-up area: fitting chains in the dark on the edge of a state road without it is a hazard and a fine at the same time.
• Historic centres and many resorts have a ZTL, a restricted traffic zone, watched by cameras that read the plate. With a rental car the notice arrives months later through the agency, which adds its own administration charge: rules, hours and gates are set by each municipality, so check the comune's own site.

Fitting chains without fighting the cold

1. 1Open the box before you leave and do a dry run on a dry car park: finding a broken tensioner in town beats finding it on a pass.
2. 2Keep work gloves, a head torch and a mat in the boot.
3. 3Stop somewhere lit, not on a bend and not mid-climb: in season there are dedicated laybys before the critical stretches.
4. 4Fit them on the driven wheels, check they sit centred and retension after a few metres.
5. 5Drive very slowly, with no sharp steering, and take them off as soon as the asphalt is clear.

Booking in ski season without surprises

During the ski holidays availability tightens and counter add-ons hurt more. The only serious defence is to see everything first: full price, deposit, what is included and what equipment comes with the car. DRIVO is a European marketplace for renting directly from trusted independent and local agencies and from private owners, across Europe and North Africa, and it is built on exactly that principle.

• Upfront pricing: every line is shown before you pay, including the DRIVO service fee, shown on its own line and refunded with a free cancellation or an agency cancellation.
• Instant confirmation and free cancellation up to 48 hours before pick-up: useful when mountain weather rewrites the plan.
• The security deposit and what is included are visible before you book, so the conversation about winter equipment happens now.
• An optional full-protection add-on at checkout to lower the excess, plus listings and support in five languages with WhatsApp and in-app concierge help.