Renting a car in Verona: the honest guide

Renting a car in Verona is worth it if what you really want is everything around the city: Lake Garda, the Valpolicella, the Lessinia and the Dolomites. For the historic centre alone a car is a burden: the Città Antica is a zona a traffico limitato, a restricted-traffic zone watched by cameras, so it is better to leave the car in one of the car parks ringing the old walls and walk in.

The rest comes down to three decisions: where to pick the car up, choosing between the airport, the station and an agency in town; what the figure you see actually includes; and how much is blocked on your card as a deposit.

Where to pick the car up: airport, station or an agency in town

Valerio Catullo airport, at Villafranca, is convenient if you fly in and head straight for Garda or the Brenner. Verona Porta Nuova serves those arriving by train, and those who land and prefer the Verona Air Link shuttle into town. Agencies in the city, outside the walls, mostly serve locals, house moves and weekend trips. In every case: if your flight or train can be late, pick a location with wide opening hours, because a closed counter when you arrive is the most ordinary and most expensive thing that can go wrong.

The Città Antica ZTL: how it actually works

Verona's restricted-traffic zone covers the historic heart inside the bend of the Adige, between the Ponte Scaligero at Castelvecchio and the Ponte Aleardi. You enter through electronic gates called varchi: a camera reads the plate and, if it is not authorised at that moment, the violation is recorded automatically. There is no barrier and nobody stops you, which is why many people only discover they went in long afterwards. With a rental car the notice goes to the registered keeper, meaning the agency, which passes your details to the authority and usually bills you its own admin charge as well.

• The rules, the hours, which gates are active and the amounts are set by the Comune di Verona, the city council, and they change over time: check the council's own official page, not a third-party guide.
• If you are staying somewhere inside the ZTL, ask the hotel to register the rental car's plate: that is the normal way in to drop off luggage.
• Note the exact plate at pick-up and photograph the contract: if a notice ever arrives, you will know which vehicle and which date.
• The ZTL and paid parking are two different things: you can be outside the ZTL and still in a paid zone. If your route touches Milan, check the Comune di Milano's site, as the city applies its own access measures to the central areas.

Where to leave the car in Verona

The local habit is to park in the ring just outside the walls or just outside the ZTL and walk in: from the perimeter car parks the Arena, Piazza Bra and Piazza delle Erbe are a short stroll. During trade-fair weeks, starting with the big spring wine event, and on opera-season evenings at the Arena, vehicles and parking spaces run out early: that is the one real reason to book well ahead.

• Multi-storey car parks on the edge of the centre: the calmest choice with a car that is not yours, because they are covered and supervised.
• Strisce blu, the blue-marked paid bays in districts just outside the centre such as Veronetta, San Zeno or Cittadella: pay at the meter or in an app and display the ticket, checking the street signs because the maximum stay can vary.
• Yellow markings are reserved and not for you. White markings are free where they exist, but near the centre they are rare.

What the price you see has to include

The daily rate is the least useful piece of information on the page. What decides your real spend is the list of what is and is not included, and you should see it in plain sight before you confirm.

• The excess, or franchigia: the share of any damage that stays with you even with the basic cover.
• The deposit: the amount the agency blocks on your card at pick-up and releases on return. You should see it before booking, not at the counter.
• Mileage: unlimited or capped. If your plan takes in the lake and the mountains, this line matters.
• The fuel policy: full-to-full is the most honest and the easiest to verify.
• The extras that appear later if you do not ask first: additional driver, child seat, winter equipment, returning the car in another city, and the type of card required with the name that has to be on it.

At the counter: the mistakes that cost real money

1. 1Walk around the vehicle calmly and film every side, the wheels, the windscreen and the roof: a short video is worth more than ten photos.
2. 2Check that every existing scratch is marked on the handover form, signed by both of you, and that the warning triangle and the reflective jacket are on board.
3. 3Save the number to call in case of breakdown or accident; if your trip crosses a border, ask whether the vehicle is allowed to leave Italy.
4. 4At the return, do the same walk-round, ask for written confirmation that the rental is closed, and keep the fuel receipt.

Out of town: Garda, Valpolicella, Lessinia

This is where the car pays for itself. Westwards you reach the Verona shore of Lake Garda in about half an hour, past Peschiera, Lazise and Bardolino; in high season the lakeside road clogs up, and for the lake villages a compact car is wiser because the centres are narrow. To the north, the Valpolicella hills can only be explored on minor roads, where no bus gives you the same freedom: if a cellar tasting is on the plan, decide who drives before you start. Towards the Lessinia in winter, the road authorities' own orders can require winter equipment, so check with the agency how the vehicle is fitted out.

The road rules that apply to you

• Motorway: 130 km/h for cars, dropping to 110 km/h in rain or snow.
• Main extra-urban roads with separated carriageways: 110 km/h, dropping to 90 km/h in rain or snow. Secondary extra-urban roads: 90 km/h. Built-up areas: 50 km/h.
• Newly licensed drivers, meaning a licence held for less than 3 years: a maximum of 100 km/h on the motorway and 90 km/h on main extra-urban roads.
• Blood alcohol: 0.5 g/L. For drivers with a licence held for less than 3 years, for anyone under 21 and for professional drivers the limit is 0.0 g/L, that is zero tolerance.
• Tolls: most of the motorway network in the north is tolled and you pay in cash, by card or with Telepass; ask the agency whether the vehicle carries a device.

How DRIVO sets it up

DRIVO is a European marketplace for renting vehicles directly from independent and local agencies and from private owners. You see the total with every line, including the DRIVO service fee shown as its own line and refunded with a free cancellation or an agency cancellation. The deposit and what is included are stated before you book, confirmation is instant, cancellation is free up to 48 hours before pick-up, and at checkout you can add an optional full-protection cover to lower the excess.