Five reasons why it’s best not to rent a car in central Rome

Are you visiting Rome for the first time? Are you traveling with tons of luggage and don’t feel like lugging it around on cobblestone streets? Maybe you have a walking disability or are traveling with children? If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you may have felt tempted to go for a car or a van rental to make your life (and vacation) easier. In today’s blog post, we’re here to tell you why this may be a great idea in other countries but not in bigger cities in Italy (yes, this is the same in other places like Florence, Bologna, Milan….). Better yet, we’re going to tell you why… five times!

Avoid these car-induced headaches!

You may not have researched the topic thoroughly, or your friendly car rental agent may have neglected to tell you about it (and honestly, can you blame them? They’re in the business of renting more cars, not less!), but here are some of the things a “newbie” to traveling in Italy may have overlooked when it comes to cars. Information is the key to understanding what you want out of your vacation!

Reason no. 1: Limited Traffic Zones (ZTL) and parking: difficulties are everywhere

We have talked about ZTLs a few times before (for example, here) on this blog. In a nutshell, this is the measure devised by the Italian government to protect its historic architecture from damage caused by vehicle emissions. While the number of residents in the more central parts of the cities has decreased, these measures essentially favor tourists, who are given the chance to enjoy the more important landmarks without cars parked up to world-famous statues or fountains, as it was the norm up to 30 or 40 years ago (and no, this was not just an exaggeration immortalized in “La dolce vita”!).

ZTLs are controlled by cameras rather than traffic police officers, which is why most foreign visitors are fined and only find out months later – when their license plates are checked against a list of authorized cars – and cry scam: they do not understand how the system works. It is also important to know that ZTLs do not operate 24 hours a day, and while the general opening and closing times tend to stay the same throughout the year, there may be exceptions, total closures or total openings depending on major events happening in the city – this is the part that is difficult to know in advance.

Parking in the city center is equally complicated. Parking spaces at street level follow a color code: white spaces are free, blue spaces are paid, yellow spaces are reserved for disabled residents, taxis or official (e.g. police) vehicles, and pink spaces are reserved for pregnant women. Paying for parking is done through special apps or by getting a parking receipt that you have to put on your dashboard. For those of us who live in the city, these are all time-consuming activities that shouldn’t interfere with your vacation.

Reason no. 2: Why mess with the walkable (and pedestrianized!) historical centers?

If the ZTL is something you’re familiar with because your hometown has a similar system, or you’re sure about the availability of parking near your accommodation (in an underground garage, for example), you may feel that it’s okay to rent a car anyway.

Well, think again: the compact nature of the city center in a place like Rome means that the majority of tourist attractions, restaurants and shops are within walking distance. Using a car with navigation systems like Google Maps may be tempting, but what these systems often don’t “know” is that there are some streets that are completely pedestrianized, or that ongoing renovations have changed the signage or the way you can drive in certain areas of the city.

For example, a system like Google’s suggests a five-minute drive from the Altar of the Fatherland to the Jewish quarter, but this is incredibly inaccurate: you won’t be allowed to get your rental through or to many of the streets there, including Via del Portico d’Ottavia, the main street of the Jewish quarter, because it has indeed been pedestrianized. Imagine the same happening for dozens of landmarks, with temporary obstacles to be considered at the same time (example: restaurants with tables outside in the middle of the street)… You can see how this is stress-inducing!

Reason no. 3: Can you adapt to the chaotic driving style?

We have talked about this on this blog several times before, including here, and it bears repeating: Roman drivers, and particularly those who more commonly go to the city center (taxi drivers, couriers, delivery truck drivers) are extremely aggressive but also extremely good at what they do. The same cannot be said for, regrettably, many first time visitors who are simply not used to this attitude.

Reason no. 4: Public transportation is plentiful

While not all parts of central Rome are served by the metro, the public transport system includes frequent and inexpensive buses that cover the areas with the most attractions for first-time visitors. Strikes notwithstanding! At current prices, a 3-day public transport pass in Rome costs about the same as 2-3 hours of parking in the city centre, and with the recent increase in the city tax, cutting costs (fuel costs, parking fees, potential fines) may be something to think about.

Reason no. 5: Is it worth the stress?

The psychological stress of having to deal with aggressive drivers, navigating unfamiliar roads that were not built with motor traffic in mind, as they predate the invention of the car by several centuries (at best!), or even having to learn different road signs… This is a little too much for a vacation that will last less than a week on average!

A final note: you can still rent a car if…

Of course, there may be still reasons why it makes sense to rent a car: you may be staying outside the more central areas, you may be traveling from a different part of the country that is not connected to the main high-speed train network, or you may want to reach attractions that are in remote areas. However, the five tips above apply to more general cases and are not something that most first-time travelers will have thought about, so consider these like a crash course in navigating a city like Rome!